Smoke Inn Blog
Meet Arturo Fuente Cigars
There is little doubt that Arturo Fuente Cigars and the Fuente family have earned their place in the annals of premium cigar history. Today, the brand is recognized around the world for it’s superlative quality and commitment to Old World cigar craftsmanship. But how did Arturo Fuente Cigars get to the lofty perch it finds itself on today and which of their premium cigars should be in your humidor? We’re about to answer all of those questions and more, come on in.
The Arturo Fuente Cigar Legacy
Our story begins in Key West, Florida in 1906. Arturo Fuente Sr. moves from La Habana Province in Cuba to Key West to join the rest of his Cuban emigree family. The other Fuente family members had already put down roots in Key West and were beginning to build a fledgling cigar operation. At the same time, a few hundred miles to the north another colony of Cuban emigrees in Tampa’s Ybor City were developing a thriving cigar industry as well.
The Dream Becomes a Nightmare
In 1912, just six years after he set foot in the U.S., Arturo Fuente Sr. had established A. Fuente & Company cigar manufacturing in West Tampa, Florida. This business would thrive, hand rolling cigars locally from Cuban tobacco for about 12 years, until 1924, when a warehouse fire burned this 500-employee company down to the foundation. Back then most immigrant-owned businesses were uninsured, so Arturo Fuente Sr would spend the next two decades of his life working his way out of debt.
Arturo Fuente Emerges from the Ashes
Over the next few decades, Arturo Fuente Sr. would build a family in Ybor City, Florida and by 1940, the Fuente family was making cigars once again. The 1950s would be when the roots of the Arturo Fuente Cigar company we know today took hold.
Arturo’s son, Carlos, born in 1935, had a real mind for business and expanded in the business rapidly by selling cigars on credit, which was not common practice at the time. Before long, Arturo Fuente Cigars were being distributed from Miami to Manhattan.
The 1950s were the period when Carlos Fuente assumed control of the Arturo Fuente cigar company. The family patriarch was 68 and ready to retire and Arturo Jr. was working in the peanut business. Throughout the 1960s, Carlos Fuente would grow the company from its home base in Ybor City, Florida.
Following the Cuban Revolution, Arturo Fuente cigars would be one of the first premium brands to begin experimenting with tobaccos grown in Nicaragua, Honduras and Mexico. The brand already had a strong reputation for quality and that trust gave them the latitude to make some moves.
Arturo Fuente Cigars Rises to the Challenge
The company continued to thrive throughout the 70s and 80s, but it was not without its challenges. Arturo Fuente Sr. would pass away in early 1973. Several serious fires, long an occupational hazard in the industry, caused setbacks. In 1978, the Nicaraguan Rebellion cost them a factory with 300 employees that had been producing 18,000 cigars daily.
Under the steady hand of heir Carlos Fuente, the company charged forward and continued to innovate, expanding operations into the Dominican Republic. The development of the Hemingway Series and the reintroduction of the unique Figarado (Perfecto) got Arturo Fuente cigars noticed.
A 1984 article in Cigar Connoisseur Magazine helped introduce the brand to the world. The dream Arturo Fuente had almost 80 years prior had become a reality and his namesake brand was perfectly positioned for the nascent rebirth of the premium cigar industry in the early-mid 1990s. In 2012, the company would celebrate the 100th anniversary of the original A. Fuente & Company that started it all.
Our Favorite Arturo Fuente Cigars
With our primer on the history of the Arturo Fuente cigar brand in place, it’s time to dive into some of our favorite Arturo Fuente Cigars.
Arturo Fuente Hemingway
Most of you won’t be surprised that we’re beginning our list here. The Arturo Fuente Hemingway is a standard all by itself and it helped put the brand on the map globally, so-to-speak. The Hemingway blend was developed in the early ‘80s when classic perfecto-shaped cigars were long out of vogue.
Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. had the inspiration to return this classic, Cuban style to its former glory. At his request, Carlos Fuente, Sr. tracked down the near-extinct perfecto molds needed to craft this unique Figarado variant. Fuente Sr. began to experiment to find just the right Dominican-based blend to fit this reborn vitola.
The final product was the Arturo Fuente Hemingway cigar we know and love today. The Hemingway was first released in 1983 in a single size and has since expanded to 8 different sizes in a range of variations. Using a secret blend of Dominican tobaccos, topped with a golden-brown Cameroon wrapper, the Hemingway offers a classic, distinctly “Fuente” smoking experience—among the more special offerings from the revered Fuente family.
Buy Arturo Fuente Hemingway HERE.
Arturo Fuente Opus X Lost City
As the story goes, filmmaker Andy García was shooting “The Lost City” in 2004, he approached Carlos “Carlito” Fuente, Jr. for help staging a scene in a tobacco field. However, the scene needed to be filmed in the summer, which is the offseason for tobacco growth. So, Carlito made special arrangements, replanting tobacco directly after the spring harvest, allowing for three-foot-tall tobacco to be seen in the film’s final cut.
When asked what he would do with the tobacco, Carlito responded, “If it is good, I will use it.” This was the inspiration for Fuente’s Lost City cigar, which incorporates similar tobaccos used in the family’s legendary Opus X blend, as well as the unique leaves grown in the summer months and shown in Andy García’s film. These unique leaves have been aged for five years prior to being rolled into the finished product. Therefore, only a small allotment is crafted for release each year.
The Arturo Fuente Opus X Lost City offers a full body and supreme complexity—a cigar worthy of life’s biggest celebrations. Expect cinnamon, maple, zesty cabinet spices, leather, deep coffee, and toasted caramel nuances.
Buy Arturo Fuente Opus X Lost City HERE.
Arturo Fuente Anejo Reserva
If you are a maduro fan, then chances are you already know about the Arturo Fuente Añejo. These ebony-colored, Connecticut Broadleaf-wrapped Dominicans are among the most desirable maduros in the premium cigar world. Like every great cigar, they have a great backstory.
The year was 1998. Arturo Fuente’s Chateau de la Fuente farm was devastated by Hurricane Georges. This left the company without its source of Opus X wrapper leaves. But the Fuente family is nothing, if not resilient. Carlos Fuente Jr. rose to the challenge, selecting a special Connecticut Broadleaf to take the place of the Opus X—the marvelous result was the Añejo blend.
The Añejo blend consists of Fuente’s proprietary Opus X recipe, sheathed in a tasty Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper which is aged a minimum of 5 years before undergoing a secondary aging process in used cognac barrels, hence the scarcity of this very special maduro.
Añejo cigars are made in small batches and traditionally only released near Father’s Day and Christmas. Secure your order of these amazing cigars while supplies last!
Due to the limited availability of this product, it is not sold online. For availability and to order, please call 561-721-2383.
Smoke Inn is Your Cigar Shop
We hope you enjoyed reading our piece about the past and present of Arturo Fuente as much as we did writing it. This was the second in our new History and Tour series highlighting the seminal brands in the premium cigar industry for new and not so new aficionados alike.
While we’ve got you—Please be sure to check out our new content features if you haven’t already. You don’t want to miss our new Smoke Inn Customer Reviews section and hear from the Smoke Inn Staff in Smoke Inn Speaks. Finally, there’s the new Cigar of the Month Club section which offers a snapshot of the month’s selections. As always, if you’re local or happen to be visiting South Florida, be sure to reward yourself with a visit to one of the country’s best cigar shops in person. We’d love to see you.
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- Smoke Inn Palm Beach Gardens
- Smoke Inn West Palm Beach
- Smoke Inn Delray Beach
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- Smoke Inn Vero Beach
