Fonseca

About

Fonseca Cigars Don Francisco E. Fonseca, the creator of Fonseca cigars, was a man very much concerned with appearance. Born on the island of Cuba, he established a Cuban cigar factory in his early twenties, as well as his own brand. Like many of his peers at the time, he chose his own name to be stamped proudly across his creations. His adherence to contemporary convention ended there. Where other brands chose lithographic art showing fanciful scenes – of Cuba, of the vegas where tobacco was grown, of the great literary works (in the case of Romeo y Julieta ) the name was borrowed from – Don Fonseca selected his own image. This was a man proud of his presentation, who paid keen attention to his tailoring and style of dress. He also applied this to his cigars. Each and every stick leaving the Fonseca factory was wrapped in a fine tissue paper, the cigar band applied to the paper covering rather than the cigar itself. This practice not only served the purpose of protecting the wrapper leaf from damage in transit, but also offered an extra elegance and luxury to the presentation of the product. It is a practice which continues today. This paper – a traditional Japanese product, crafted by hand like the cigars it sometimes dresses, and able to cover the cigar without affecting flavour the way a cedar sleeve can – is not the only innovation Don Francisco is credited with. He opened in his factory a ‘tasting room’, allowing valued clients to come and sample several different blends before deciding on their favourite. This allowed Fonseca cigars to follow the examples of Don Francisco’s revered tailors, creating bespoke cigars to order for special events, celebrations and banquets. In 1910 he began to package cigars in tin tubes, the precursor to the aluminium tubos we have today and a vital method of storage and protection for cigars smoked on the go. While Don Francisco may have had a reputation for maintaining his looks, he was far from an empty-headed model. These days