Arturo Fuente
Cigars

The history of Arturo Fuente started in 1912 when brand founder and family patriarch Arturo Fuente first started rolling cigars in his home. Born in 1888 Cuba, Arturo Fuente and his family emigrated from Cuba to Ybor City, a haven for Cuban immigrants just outside of Tampa, after the end of the Spanish-American War. He would have Cuban tobaccos shipped to his Tampa home, roll them himself, and sell them to the local community.

The people of Tampa took notice of just how good Fuente’s cigars were, and the popularity of Arturo Fuente Cigars continued to grow. In just short 12 years, Arturo Fuente Cigars grew to a massive operation employing over 500 people, but Arturo Fuente Cigars would soon have its first encounter with its oldest adversary – fire.

Eight separate fires have plagued Arturo Fuente Cigars in its century-long history, and the first was catastrophic. Tragedy came in 1924 when a fire burned down the Tampa factory, forcing Arturo Fuente Cigars to shutter and halt production. It was not until 1946, after the Great Depression and World War II, when Arturo Fuente Cigars was able to start making cigars again.

When Arturo was ready to retire in 1958, he sold Arturo Fuente Cigars to his passionate son, Carlos, who had a vision of making the brand a household name across the country. However, roadblocks would soon hamper Carlos’ dreams for Arturo Fuente Cigars.

In the early 1960s, the United States enacted an embargo against Cuban goods, and Arturo Fuente Cigars was suddenly cutoff from its primary tobacco source. Experimenting with tobaccos from around the world, nothing satisfied Carlos Fuente in his search to replace Cuban tobaccos. With the cost of labor also skyrocketing in the United States, Arturo Fuente Cigars relocated to the fertile soils of Nicaragua.

The times would continue to be tough, as the Sandinista Revolution swept across Nicaragua and Arturo Fuente Cigars’ factory was once again burned down like its Tampa factory all those years ago. Relocating to Honduras, another fire struck the brand and was forced to move once again in 1980, this time to the Dominican Republic where Arturo Fuente Cigars still calls home.

Things began to take off during the 1980s with the release of Arturo Fuente Hemingway, a line of cigars using a Cameroon wrapper and Dominican fillers hand rolled into old-school perfecto shapes and capitalizing on the lack of competition for the format. Arturo Fuente Cigars was also heavily investing in tobacco growing and are credited with being the first to grow wrapper tobaccos in Dominican soil. Find out why they have become renowned within the industry in our Arturo Fuente wrapper guide on the Blending Room.

Some of their top lines include the Arturo Fuente brand and Don Carlos. Both cigars are made with aged tobaccos that offer a truly luxurious smoking experience.

Get a taste of the rich history of perseverance, quality, and passion that shines through in every Arturo Fuente cigar.