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Fonseca is the name of two premium cigar brands, one produced in Cuba, and the other produced in Nicaragua for two different companies.
Its founder, Don Francisco E. Fonseca was born in Manzanillo, Cuba, in 1868 (there are variations in birth years across documents). In 1892, he established both a factory and his cigar brand in Havana. He officially registered the brand under his name in 1907. Fonseca, accompanied by his wife Teresa Boetticher de Fonseca, later immigrated to New York. By 1903, Fonseca was overseeing a factory at 169 Front Street. He attained American citizenship in 1895.
Around 1905, the registry of cigar factories documented F.E. Fonseca & Co.'s presence at a new location: 129 Duane Street, situated in Tribeca. Meanwhile, Fonseca maintained a residence at 48 West 73rd Street in New York, where he and Teresa raised their four children, three of whom were named Francisco. Despite his residency in the United States, Fonseca regularly journeyed to Cuba to oversee his tobacco factory, "F.E. Fonseca. Fábrica de Tabacos y Cigarros." [1] Fonseca cigars quickly became a success. Besides having a reputation for selecting the finest quality tobacco, Don Francisco developed an innovative method of packaging his cigars, wrapping each one separately in a tube of tin foil, and then an outer covering of fine Japanese paper, to shield the cigar from atmospheric changes [2] (They are still packaged this way today, with the tubes now usually made of aluminum foil instead of tin). After Don Francisco's premature death of a heart attack in Havana in 1929, [1] his wife Teresa continued the business and merged the brand with T. Castañeda and G. Montero to form the firm of Castañeda, Montero, Fonseca SA.
Production continued uninterrupted after the revolution and the cigars are still produced at the Lázaro Pena Factory in Havana. As a cigar brand, Fonseca is relatively mild by most aficionados' standards, sells for cheaper than most other Cuban cigar brands, and is marketed mostly in Spain and Canada, where the brand is particularly popular.
The following list of Vitolas de Salida (commercial Vitolas) within the Fonseca marque lists their size and ring gauge in imperial (and metric), their "Vitolas de galera" (factory Vitolas), and their common name in American cigar slang. All are hand-made, long-filler cigars with the exception of the Delicias, which use short-filler tobacco.
Hand-Made Vitolas
Spanish poet Federico García Lorca mentions the “blond head of Fonseca” (la rubia cabeza de Fonseca), along with “the pink of Romeo y Julieta” in his poem “Son de negros en Cuba” (Poet in New York).
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.
Diplomáticos is the name of a cigar brand, produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, at the José Martí factory in Havana.
H. Upmann is a Cuban brand of premium cigars established by banker Hermann Dietrich Upmann. The brand is currently owned by a British corporation, Imperial Brands. The cigars are manufactured by Habanos S.A., the state-owned tobacco company in Cuba, and Altadis in La Romana, Dominican Republic.
Romeo y Julieta is a brand of premium cigars, currently owned by Imperial Brands. The brand is currently owned by two Imperial Brands subsidiaries, Habanos S.A. in Cuba and Altadis in the Dominican Republic.
Trinidad is a Cuban brand of cigars, named after the city of Trinidad, Cuba. The production plants are located in Cuba, managed by the Cuban manufacturing company Habanos S.A., and in the Dominican Republic, by the Spanish manufacturing company Altadis, a subsidiary of the British tobacco company Imperial Brands.
Partagás is a brand name of cigars that are made by two independent & competing entities, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company; the other, containing no Cuban tobacco, produced in the Dominican Republic for General Cigar Company, a division of Scandinavian Tobacco Group of Denmark.
Hoyo de Monterrey 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 Honduras by General Cigar Company, now a subsidiary of Swedish Match.
Punch is the name of two brands of cigars, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in Honduras for General Cigar Company.
Vegas Robaina is the name of a cigar brand, produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.
Ramón Allones is the name of two premium cigar brands. The first one is produced on Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company. The other is produced in Honduras for General Cigar Company, now a subsidiary of Swedish Match.
Quai d'Orsay is a premium cigar brand, made in Cuba under contract with Habanos SA.
La Gloria Cubana is the name of two premium cigar brands, one produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic by El Credito Cigar Company for General Cigar Company, now a subsidiary of Swedish Match. La Gloria Cubana was sold to General Cigar Company by Ernesto Perez-Carrillo in 1999 for an undisclosed sales price.
Vegueros is a brand of premium cigars produced on the island of Cuba for Habanos SA.
Por Larrañaga is the name of a cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, as well as a non-Cuban line of cigars produced in the Dominican Republic and Honduras for Altadis, a subsidiary of Imperial Brands. Por Larrañaga cigars have been in continuous production in Cuba since 1834.
San Cristobal de la Habana is the name of a Cuban cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.
Cuaba is the name of a Cuban cigar brand produced in Cuba for Habanos SA, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.
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 cigar owned by El Rey de los Habanos, Inc.
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.
