Tabacalera Fernandez, best known to the English-speaking world as A.J. Fernandez Cigars, is a maker of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide. The company is run by Abdel J. Fernandez, a third generation cigarmaker, and is a prominent manufacturer of cigars sold under a variety of labels, including "Man O'War," "Diesel," and "San Lotano".
A.J. Fernandez Cigars traces its roots back to San Luís, Cuba, where Abdel's grandfather started the San Lotano brand.[ citation needed ]
Tabacalera Fernandez started in a decrepit facility in Estelí, Nicaragua with just six rollers. [1] Rather than launching his own brand from the start, Fernandez first established himself as a manufacturer of cigars for other companies, such as the Rocky Patel Summer Blend 2008, which was produced in Fernandez's "Tafenic" factory in Estelí. [2]
A.J. Fernandez (born March 1979) first earned his stripes as the manufacturer of the brands "Man O'War" and "Diesel" for sale by mailorder retail giant Cigars International and its associated companies. [3] Man O'War, introduced nationally in the United States in 2009, is a medium-to-full bodied blend that quickly developed what contemporary cigar historian Richard B. Perelman has described as a "near cult status." [4] In 2010 two new additions were made to the brand, a mild-to-medium product wrapped in a claro colored leaf called Man O'War Virtue, and a full-bodied product wrapped in a Colorado-maduro leaf called Man O'War Ruination. [4] In 2011 a new blend made as a classic Cuban-sized corona with a ragged foot called the Man O'War Puro Authentico was introduced as well as a limited-production super premium called Man O'War Armada.
The Diesel line, also launched in 2009, initially consisted of a single vitola — a thick 5-inch belicoso that the company called the "Unholy Cocktail." [5] This was later supplemented by an even-shorter 60-ring robusto called the "Shorty." [5] A second full-bodied blend, called Diesel Unlimited, was launched in 2010 in 4 vitolas, including a massive 7-inch, 60-ring double corona. [5]
Today, the Fernandez factory in Estelí is among the largest in Nicaragua, and produces almost 9 million cigars a year.[ citation needed ]
In the summer of 2010, Fernandez revived the long-discontinued San Lotano brand previously made by his grandfather in Cuba in the years before the Cuban Revolution of 1959. [6]
A.J. Fernandez Cigars currently sells its products in more than 32 countries, with sales outside of the United States accounting for approximately 10% of the company's total sales in 2013. [7]
Cohiba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for US-based General Cigar Company.
Bolívar is the name of two brands of premium cigar, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic from Dominican and Nicaraguan tobacco for General Cigar Company, which is today a subsidiary of Scandinavian Tobacco Group. Both are named for the South American revolutionary, Simón Bolívar.
Arturo Fuente is a cigar brand founded by Arturo Fuente, Sr. in 1912 in West Tampa, Florida. Following a catastrophic fire in 1924, the brand had a production freeze for 22 years, reemerging in 1946 on a limited, local basis. Ownership was transferred to Arturo's younger son, Carlos Fuente, Sr. in 1958. Following the 1960 United States embargo of Cuba, the Fuente brand began a period of slow and steady growth, emerging as one of the most critically acclaimed makers of hand-rolled premium cigars outside of Cuba. As of 2010, the company was producing 30 million cigars per annum from its factory in the Dominican Republic.
Don José "Pepin" Garcia is the CEO of El Rey de los Habanos, Inc, a cigar company in Miami, also known as My Father Cigars. He is a noted cigar maker living in Miami, Florida. Born in Cuba, he is a master cigar roller and blender, and the creator and maker of numerous popular cigar brands.
Tatuaje is a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by Tatuaje Cigars, Inc. It was founded by Pete Johnson, with the assistance of José Garcia. The cigars are manufactured at the El Rey de los Habanos factory in Miami, Florida, and at Tabacalera Cubana S. A. (TACUBA) in Estelí, Nicaragua. Tatuaje also has a Private Social Club called “Saints & Sinners” which was created in 2011. In 2011, Tatuaje created the private social club "Saints & Sinners".
Don Pepín García is a brand of handmade premium cigar owned by El Rey de los Habanos, Inc.
In Cuban cigar production, the factory name or vitola de galera is a standard name given to the size of the cigar across all manufacturers.
Cuesta-Rey is a brand of handmade cigar, founded in 1884 by Angel LaMadrid Cuesta and Peregrino Rey. Cuesta, a Spaniard, had apprenticed in cigar making in Cuba before he met Rey. They formed the company in the Ybor City district of Tampa, Florida to make 'clear Havana' cigars. As well as making their own brands they made cigars for other companies such as Nat Sherman.
Ernesto Padilla is a Cuban-American artist, graphic designer and cigar maker. He is the son of Cuban poet, Heberto Padilla.
Piloto Cigars Inc. is a private company that produces the Padrón cigar brand from Nicaragua. Commonly known as Padrón Cigars, the company was founded in September 8, 1964, in Miami, Florida, by Cuban-native José Orlando Padrón. In 1970, Padrón moved the company to Estelí, Nicaragua.
Oliva Cigar Co. is the manufacturer of several brands of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold internationally. Melanio Oliva began growing tobacco in Pinar del Río, Cuba, in 1886. In 1964, in the aftermath of the 1959 Cuban Revolution, Melanio's grandson Gilberto Oliva emigrated with his family to Spain before eventually moving to Nicaragua and re-entering the tobacco business. In 1995, Gilberto and his son, Gilberto Jr., launched the Gilberto Oliva brand, which became Oliva Cigar Co. The company is currently based in Miami Lakes, Florida.
Perdomo is a brand of cigars primarily grown and produced in Nicaragua and sold worldwide by Tabacalera Perdomo. Manufactured by Perdomo Cigars, the company is a family owned and operated business headquartered in Miami Lakes, Florida and headed by CEO Nick Perdomo, Jr.
Joya de Nicaragua, S.A., established in 1968, is the oldest brand of cigars made in Nicaragua. The company continues to manufacture its products today from its headquarters in Estelí. Today it is a major manufacturing center of handmade cigars.
Alec Bradley is the name of a popular brand of handmade cigars established in 1996 by Alan Rubin, the son of an importer of hardware supplies. Rubin launched his brand, named after his children, at the tail end of the cigar boom of the 1990s and entered a clogged market. After failed initial schemes at producing cigars targeted to golf courses and flavored after-dinner cigars, Rubin managed to carve out a tenuous niche selling budget-priced cigars to tobacconists. In 2007 the company managed to break through to a broader market with the introduction of its full-flavored "Tempus" line. As of 2011 the company was selling between two and three million cigars annually to consumers around the world. Alec Bradley is today based in Hollywood, Florida. Over the years a number of manufacturers have been used to make Alec Bradley's various products, including Raices Cubanas of Honduras, Nestor Plasencia in Honduras and Nicaragua, and Henke Kelner in the Dominican Republic. In 2019 it became clear that the company had begun using J. Fuego Cigar Co. de Nicaragua factory in Estelí, Nicaragua as one of its mainstay manufacturers.
Camacho Cigars was a cigar company founded in 1962 by Simon Camacho and acquired by the Eiroa family in 1995. Now part of the Oettinger Davidoff Group, the company is based in Danlí, Honduras, and specializes in handmade Cuban seed cigars.
José Blanco is the former Senior Vice President of the oldest Nicaraguan cigar company, Joya de Nicaragua S.A., in Estelí, Nicaragua, and the former Sales Director of La Aurora, the oldest Dominican cigar company in Santiago, Dominican Republic.
Gispert is the name of two premium cigar brands, one previously manufactured in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other in Honduras for the Franco-Spanish tobacco monopoly Altadis S.A., a division of Imperial Tobacco.
Boutique Blends Cigars, formerly the Habana Cuba Cigar Company, is an American manufacturer of premium hand-rolled cigars based in Miami, Florida. The company was established in 1996 during the American cigar boom as the non-Cuban manufacturer of the historic Cuban "Oliveros" brand. The company was sold in 2002 to a new ownership group consisting of the Cuban-born Rafael Nodal, his wife Alina Cordoves Nodal, and Hank Bischoff.
Tabacalera may refer to: