Inter-Continental Trading: The Company Behind OHM, Shargio and Kashmir

Turn over a bag of OHM pipe tobacco, a box of Shargio tubes or a pack of Kashmir rolling papers and read the small print. All three lead back to the same office park in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

They are made by one company. Most smokers who use these brands every day have never heard its name.

This guide covers who that company is, how it grew, what each brand makes, where the products come from, and a few facts that retailer copy often gets wrong.

Quick answer: Inter-Continental Trading USA Inc. (ICT) is a tobacco and smoking accessories manufacturer in Mount Prospect, Illinois. Shargio Patel founded it in 2004. It makes OHM pipe tobacco and filtered cigars, Shargio cigarette tubes and Kashmir rolling papers and cones. It also owns 752, Roxwell, Westport and a majority stake in Daughters & Ryan. The company says its products are made in the United States. It does not make cigarillos. When people search for "OHM cigarillos," they almost always mean OHM filtered cigars.

Who Is Inter-Continental Trading?

ICT is a domestic maker of what the industry calls OTP, short for "other tobacco products." That covers everything that is not a factory-made cigarette: pipe tobacco, filtered cigars, cigarette tubes, rolling papers and accessories.

Its brands sit in the value tier. You find them behind the counter at convenience stores, gas stations and smoke shops rather than in premium cigar lounges.

A 2022 trade profile in Tobacco Business magazine described ICT as a one-stop supplier for retailers. The same profile said the company buys most of its raw materials from U.S. vendors, which gives it tighter control over cost and price. It also said ICT holds more than 50 grandfathered tobacco and tube products. Grandfathered products were on the market before the FDA's 2007 cutoff and do not need new premarket approval to stay on shelves.

Inter-Continental Trading USA at a Glance

Chicago or Mount Prospect? 2000 or 2004?

Many retailer listings say OHM is made "in Chicago" and that the company has been making tobacco "since 2000." Both claims are slightly off.

The headquarters is in Mount Prospect, a suburb northwest of Chicago near O'Hare Airport. Some company press releases carry a Chicago dateline, which is probably where the confusion started.

The founding year is 2004. That date appears on the company's own About page and in every ICT press release from 2017 onward.

How the Company Grew: A Short Timeline

ICT did not start with three big brands. It built OHM first, then grew through new product lines and a run of acquisitions.

1. 2004: Company founded in Mount Prospect by Shargio Patel.
2. Early years: OHM pipe tobacco and OHM filtered cigars become the flagship. The 752 line follows with its own pipe tobacco and filtered cigars.
3. 2016: ICT launches a Loyalty Points program. Points printed next to the UPC code on OHM, Au Naturall'e, 752 and Shargio packs can be traded for branded merchandise.
4. December 2017: Kashmir rolling papers launch. They are chlorine-free and sell for 99 cents a pack in 1 1/4, 1 1/2, single wide and jumbo sizes.
5. By 2020: ICT buys the Roxwell and Westport brands from Romar Universal of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The deal covers Roxwell pipe tobacco and tubes, Westport pipe tobacco and Westport filtered cigars.
6. 2020: ICT files 25 product quantity change reports with the FDA. The agency issues acceptance letters on November 17, 2020.
7. November 2020: ICT buys a majority stake in Daughters & Ryan, a pipe and RYO tobacco maker in North Carolina.
8. January 2022: ICT launches VIO Pulse, an e-cigarette with 12 flavors, at the Tobacco Plus Expo.
9. 2022: Kashmir pre-rolled cones arrive, marketed as American-made.
10. July 2025: ICT files new trademark applications for OHM and Shargio, covering a wider range of goods.

Why the Daughters & Ryan Deal Mattered

Daughters & Ryan is no small label. Mark Ryan founded it in 2002 as a roll-your-own tobacco maker, and it later moved into pipe tobacco. According to Tobacco Reporter's coverage of the sale, it runs an 80,000-square-foot plant on a 20-acre site in Kenly, North Carolina.

Under the deal, ICT took control of manufacturing for Daughters & Ryan's tubes and pipe tobacco. Ryan said one reason for selling was to keep his pipe tobaccos on the market. He also mentioned trouble with tube production in the Philippines. His Perique tobacco company in Louisiana was not part of the sale.

For ICT, the deal brought in an established pipe tobacco maker with its own facility, plus a catalog of blends that pipe smokers already knew.

Inter-Continental Trading Brands: The Full Portfolio

Each ICT brand covers a different part of the smoking routine. The three headline names work best together, so it helps to know what each one is for.

OHM: The Flagship

OHM is the brand most people know. ICT sells it in four forms:

1. Pipe tobacco: ribbon-cut Burley and Virginia blends in resealable bags.
2. Filtered cigars: cigarette-sized cigars with a filter.
3. Tubes: OHM-branded cigarette tubes.
4. Au Naturall'e: an additive-free and preservative-free Golden Virginia extension sold in 1 oz and 6 oz bags. Each bag has a two-way humidity pouch. Varieties are Red, Gold and Menthol.

Smokenza stocks eight OHM pipe tobacco blends in 6 oz and 16 oz bags, all listed on the OHM brand. From lightest to strongest:

1. OHM Silver
2. OHM Blue
3. OHM Menthol Gold (Mild Mint)
4. OHM Turkish Yellow
5. OHM Natural
6. OHM Menthol
7. OHM Turkish Red
8. OHM Bold

To try a blend before committing to a pound, the 6 oz bags are the easier start. Good examples are the OHM Silver 6 oz, OHM Blue 6 oz, OHM Natural 6 oz and OHM Bold 6 oz.

One detail most retailers miss: ICT's own catalog names do not always match shelf names. On the maker's side, Menthol is listed as Mint, Menthol Gold as Gold Mint, and the two Turkish blends as Turkish Blend Red and Turkish Blend Yellow. If a distributor sheet does not match the bag in your hand, that is why.

To compare blends in detail, see OHM Bold vs Natural, OHM Silver vs Blue and OHM Turkish Yellow vs Turkish Red.

Shargio: Tubes and Rolling Gear

Shargio is ICT's tube and accessories brand, and it shares its name with the company's founder. The range covers filter cigarette tubes in King and 100mm lengths, color-coded by style (for example, Blue for light and Red for full flavor). ICT also sells Shargio injectors, rollers, machines and pipes.

Shargio tubes sit alongside Zen, TOP, Premier and Gambler in the Smokenza cigarette tubes collection.

Kashmir: Papers, Cones and Wraps

Kashmir is ICT's rolling paper brand, and it has its own website. It started with chlorine-free papers at 99 cents a pack, then added 100% organic hemp and unbleached versions.

The current range covers:

1. Rolling papers in several sizes
2. Papers with tips
3. Pre-rolled tubes
4. Pre-rolled cones
5. Filter tips
6. Hemp wraps
7. Accessories

In 2022, Tobacco Business called Kashmir the fastest-growing rolling paper brand of the previous five years, with an accessory line of more than 75 products. For rolling papers from other makers, see the rolling papers collection.

752, Roxwell, Westport and Daughters & Ryan

These are the supporting brands:

1. 752: a second pipe tobacco and filtered cigar line, priced and positioned near OHM.
2. Roxwell: pipe tobacco and cigarette tubes, bought from Romar Universal.
3. Westport: filtered cigars and pipe tobacco, bought in the same deal.
4. Daughters & Ryan (D&R): pipe tobacco and tubes from Kenly, North Carolina. ICT lists it as "D&R Tobacco."

OHM vs Shargio vs Kashmir: What Each Brand Covers

People sometimes compare OHM vs Shargio vs Kashmir as if they were rival brands. They are not. Each one handles a different step.

The overlap is deliberate. A smoker might fill a Shargio tube with tobacco using a Shargio injector, or hand-roll with Kashmir papers. ICT sells the supplies for both routes, so one company can supply the whole routine.

The whole roll-your-own collection gathers tubes, papers and rolling gear in one place.

Who Makes OHM Cigarillos?

This is one of the most searched questions about the brand, and the honest answer needs a correction first.

Is Inter-Continental Trading a Cigarillo Maker?

No. There are no Inter-Continental Trading cigarillos in the company's catalog. ICT's product menus list pipe tobacco, filtered cigars, tubes, papers and accessories. None of its brands lists a cigarillo.

So what are people looking for when they search for an OHM cigarillos manufacturer? Almost always, they mean OHM filtered cigars. These come 20 to a pack in a cigarette-style box, are wrapped in brown tobacco leaf and have a filter tip. Because they are cigars, many people loosely call them cigarillos.

They are different products:

1. Filtered cigars look and smoke like cigarettes. They are wrapped in tobacco or reconstituted tobacco leaf, have a cellulose filter and are usually inhaled. Read our full breakdown in filtered cigars: definition, sizes and classification.
2. Cigarillos are short, thin cigars, often with a plastic or wood tip but no filter. Think Swisher Sweets or Black & Mild. Our guide what is a cigarillo covers the details.

The same correction applies to the other two brands. Shargio cigarillos do not exist. Shargio is a tube brand, although some older retailer reviews mention Shargio-branded filtered cigars. Kashmir cigarillos do not exist either. Kashmir sells papers, cones and hemp wraps. Hemp wraps are made from hemp, not tobacco leaf.

If a real cigarillo is what you want, the cigarillo collection has the main brands. Our comparison cigarillo vs cigar explains how size and weight decide which is which. For filtered options from other makers, see best filtered cigars by flavor.

Where Are OHM Cigarillos Made?

Taking the question to mean OHM filtered cigars and OHM pipe tobacco, the answer is the United States.

Inter-Continental Trading has said in press releases since at least 2017 that all of its products are made in the USA. Trade profiles back this up. They describe ICT as a domestic manufacturer that buys most raw materials from U.S. vendors. They also describe Kashmir papers and pre-rolled cones as made in America.

Federal records point the same way. The FDA's substantial equivalence review for ICT's 2020 product reports names the company as both applicant and product manufacturer.

What ICT does not publish is a list of factories. Its public address is the Mount Prospect headquarters. Since November 2020, ICT has also controlled manufacturing at Daughters & Ryan in Kenly, North Carolina, though it has not said which OHM products, if any, are made there.

On the tobacco itself, retail descriptions of OHM pipe tobacco consistently describe American-grown Burley and Virginia leaf. ICT does not publish leaf sourcing or nicotine figures for any blend.

Why ICT Builds Around Pipe Tobacco and Tubes

You may wonder why one company makes cheap pipe tobacco, empty filter tubes and filtered cigars rather than cigarettes. The answer is federal tax.

Since the 2009 federal tobacco tax increase, pipe tobacco has carried a federal excise tax of about $2.83 per pound. Roll-your-own tobacco carries about $24.78 per pound. Government audits have tracked how that gap reshaped the market, with many smokers moving to pipe-tobacco bags and tubes.

ICT's lineup fits that market closely. OHM covers the tobacco, Shargio covers the tubes and injectors, and Kashmir covers the papers.

There is a catch. OHM is labeled and sold as pipe tobacco, and its ribbon cut is made for pipe bowls. If you are weighing the two uses, read pipe tobacco vs cigarette tobacco and can you roll pipe tobacco into cigarettes. Both explain the differences in cut, moisture and burn.

For pipe smokers, these guides help any OHM bag smoke better: how to pack a pipe, pipe tobacco cuts explained and natural pipe tobacco.

How OHM Compares With Other Budget Brands

OHM competes with a group of domestic pipe tobacco brands at the same price point. Most use a similar color system, where Silver or Gold means lighter and Red means fuller.

1. Good Stuff: the brand most often compared with OHM. See Good Stuff tobacco colors explained and additive-free tobacco.
2. 4 Aces: Regular, Gold, Silver, Turkish and Menthol in 16 oz bags. Compared in 4 Aces tobacco flavors compared.
3. Gambler and Golden Harvest: long-running value names that also sell tubes.
4. Kentucky Select, Cheyenne and Largo: other domestic bags in the same tier.

For Turkish-style blends across brands, see Turkish pipe tobacco compared. Every brand above appears in the pipe tobacco collection, where you can filter by brand and bag size.

FAQs

Who makes OHM cigarillos?

OHM is made by Inter-Continental Trading USA Inc. of Mount Prospect, Illinois. The company makes OHM filtered cigars and pipe tobacco, not cigarillos. Most searches for "OHM cigarillos" are looking for the filtered cigars.

Where are OHM cigarillos made?

In the United States. ICT states that all its products are made in the USA. OHM filtered cigars and pipe tobacco are produced under ICT's control, and ICT is named as manufacturer in FDA records.

Where is the Inter-Continental Trading tobacco company based?

At 1601 W Algonquin Rd, Mount Prospect, Illinois, a suburb northwest of Chicago.

When was ICT founded, and by whom?

In 2004, by Shargio Patel, who is named as president in the company's press releases.

Does ICT make Shargio cigarillos or Kashmir cigarillos?

No. Shargio is a tube and accessories brand. Kashmir is a rolling paper, cone and hemp wrap brand. Neither makes cigarillos.

Who owns Daughters & Ryan?

ICT has held a majority stake since November 2020. Founder Mark Ryan stayed on after the sale.

Is OHM the same company as 752 and Roxwell?

Yes. 752, Roxwell and Westport are all ICT brands. 752 was developed in-house, and Roxwell and Westport were bought from Romar Universal.

Does OHM publish nicotine levels?

No. ICT does not release nicotine figures for any OHM blend. All OHM products contain nicotine and are for adults 21 and over.

Summary

Inter-Continental Trading is the Mount Prospect, Illinois company behind three of the most common names on the value tobacco shelf. Shargio Patel founded it in 2004. OHM is the tobacco brand, with eight pipe tobacco blends, filtered cigars and the additive-free Au Naturall'e line. Shargio is the tube and rolling-gear brand. Kashmir covers papers, cones and hemp wraps. Acquisitions added 752, Roxwell, Westport and a majority stake in Daughters & Ryan. The company says everything it sells is made in the USA. It does not make cigarillos, and searches for OHM, Shargio or Kashmir cigarillos are almost always looking for OHM filtered cigars. To compare the eight OHM blends side by side, visit the OHM brand.