Every year for the last decade or so, I have promised myself that the following year will be the one when I finally get to visit one of the main cigar tobacco-producing countries, in particular the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua and/or Cuba, to experience, first-hand, the journey of tobacco from seed to shelf. Yet every year the vagaries of life see me postponing the trip until the next year.
This year, instead of boarding a plane, I was fortunate enough to be invited to attend a cigar tasting hosted by the Embassy of the Dominican Republic in SA in collaboration with and at the Pedro Portia Cigar Lounge. Considering the amount of time I already spend at the lounge and the variety of cigars I enjoy regularly, including those with Dominican leaves, I ought to have known what to expect. I didn’t, but I was very pleasantly surprised.
After a welcome by the Dominican Republic ambassador, Erika Alvarez Rodriguez, and Pedro Ramos, one of Pedro Portia’s proprietors (and, disclaimer, a good friend), we were treated to a peek into one of the country’s cigar brands, Quesada Cigars, via live stream. Led by Raquel Quesada Vega, who runs the manufacturing facility with her sister, Patricia, the team took us through the history and current operations.
The Quesada family has been in the tobacco business for more than 100 years. It started in Cuba, expanded to the Dominican Republic in 1929, and operations were moved out of Havana altogether in the 1960s in the wake of the Cuban Revolution. In the early 1970s, Raquel and Patricia’s grandfather, Manuel “Manolin” Quesada, and father, Manuel “Manolo” Quesada, established Manufactura de Tabacos S.A. in Santiago, Chile, to handle the Dominican Republic operations.
Tragedy struck in 2002 when the team — general manager Julio Fajardo, Alavaro Quesada (Manolo’s brother) and Alvarito (Manolo’s nephew) — tasked with managing Quesada, with Manolo, all died in a plane crash. Raquel and Patricia are the fifth generation of Quesadas to run the business, making it one of the world’s few women-led cigar manufacturers.
Quesada Cigars has a staff complement of more than 130 people, including tobacco planters, leaf sorters/selectors, rollers, quality control, logistics and distribution, some of whom have been with them for over 20 years.
The company has also had its own box factory for about 25 years and also provides box-making services to other cigar companies. Raquel shared, with pride, how over 99% of their cigars are certified and that at least 80% of their cigars are put through a Drawmaster to test smokeability.
There was also a roller in the room to show us the process of rolling a cigar, including the delicate wrapper – which is known as the cigar’s tuxedo and is the most sensitive part of the process. Experienced cigar teams of two can make between 400 and 500 cigars a day.
The cigar for our evening was the Casa Magna Liga F Toro, an extension of the popular Casa Magna line that Manolo Quesada made in partnership with Plasencia. The Casa Magna Colorado Robusto was named Cigar Aficionado’s Cigar of the Year in 2008.
The Liga F — an abbreviation of liga fuerte in Spanish, which translates as “strong blend” — is made at Quesada’s Tabacos de Exportacion factory in the Dominican Republic, has a Dominican binder, a blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican tobacco filler, and is dressed in an Ecuadorian sun-grown Corojo wrapper. Full-bodied and spicy yet sweet. it made for a wonderful evening.
All Quesada cigars are aged for at least 21 days to ensure that the tobaccos, which will have different humidities when rolled, all have the same degree of humidity. From planting to finished product, it takes three to four years of love and heart.
In building on Manolo’s strong foundations — which led to his induction into Cigar Aficionado’s Hall of Fame in 2012 — Raquel and Patricia see the introduction of the next generation of cigar enthusiasts to their brand as part of their mission. As Raquel said in the talk, “the experience of smoking one of our cigars is the most important part of Quesada Cigars’ mission.”
If the Liga F and the Quesada 50th Anniversary Toro Prensado — another personal favourite — are anything to go by, the future looks filled with great smokes.
