Beginning with just a few bales of tobacco, three rollers and about $100 to their name, Manuel, Alvaro and Manuel Sr. started the cigar business by making just three brands: Sosa, Fonseca and Ma’Haya. Through the years, the factory’s production grew to include cigars it made for other companies, such as Nat Sherman International, as well as new brands that sprang up to accommodate the seemingly ever-changing tastes of the worldwide cigar market. Today, the family produces brands bearing the Fonseca and Quesada names and recently introduced Vega Magna; it also sells Casa Magna, a brand made for the company by Plasencia Cigars in Nicaragua.
Manuel points to Fonseca, perhaps the company’s most venerable brand. Fonseca Classic is a mild cigar, but as people’s palates began changing, Quesada Cigars found that they had to add other expressions to the Fonseca line. The Fonseca Vintage added a little more creaminess to the flavor profile. The Fonseca Cubano Limitado added more intensity. The limited-edition 120th Anniversary added a lot more intensity to the line.
“Fonseca as a brand has evolved in upping the intensity of the palate following the trends in the market,” Manuel says. “The same thing has happened for Casa Magna out of Nicaragua and the Quesada and Vega Magna cigars out of the Dominican Republic. We make medium-range cigars with a lot of flavor, and we make cigars with a little higher intensity and a more narrow scope of flavor. We are proud of every cigar we make because we make them consistently and with quality. Our name is on the cigars, and we take great care to ensure that our name is associated with the very best cigars that are available. If you like our cigars, you’ll like them forever. If you don’t like them, you will dislike them forever, but it won’t be because the cigar isn’t made well.”
Bold Future
At this year’s Procigar Festival, Quesada Cigars gave attendees an opportunity to enjoy a preview sampling of one of its latest cigars, the Quesada 1974. Now available in Spain, the Quesada 1974 will make its American debut at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR) trade show in July. Commemorating the year in which the family launched Quesada Cigars, Quesada 1974 offers connoisseurs a full flavor and medium-body smoking experience that is complemented by a rich, luxurious and pleasant aroma. Made using an Ecuadorean wrapper, Dominican binder, and Dominican and Nicaraguan filler tobaccos, Quesada 1974 will be offered in three sizes—Lancero (7 x 38), Corona (6 x 43) and Robusto (5 x 50)—and it features an MSRP of less than $10 before state and local taxes for all of the cigars in the line. The Quesada 1974 both evokes memories of the family’s humble beginnings in tobacco in Cuba five generations ago and offers a tantalizing glimpse of the company’s plans for the next
45 years and beyond.
“While the past 18 months have seen a lot of changes, we believe that they have made us better than ever,” Raquel concludes. “We’re back, and we’re excited about shaping the next 45 years of Quesada Cigars.”
Despite all the changes through the years, the Quesada family’s ability to make great cigars remains unblemished, proving the old adage true: The more things change, the more they remain the same.
This story first appeared in the May/June 2019 issue of Tobacco Business magazine. Members of the tobacco industry are eligible for a complimentary subscription to our magazine. Click here for details.
– By Stephen A. Ross, senior editor of Tobacco Business Magazine.
