Despite various modernizations and production on a global scale, many of today’s most popular cigar brands are still family businesses at their core. This should come as no surprise for the aficionado, as numerous facets of the business – from tobacco growing, fermentation, and rolling – are skills which for centuries have been taught by one generation to the next. In honor of Father’s Day, here at CIGAR.com we would like to highlight a few prominent and proud family businesses heralded for making some of today’s most popular blends.

ARTURO FUENTE

Having celebrated their centenary anniversary in 2012, the focus of the Fuente family has always been quality. Fueled by their multi-generational passion for premiums cigars, the titular Arturo Fuente left Cuba for Key West before moving north to Ybor City in 1910, founding his namesake company two years later at the tender age of 24. He built and ran a successful factory, but that came with its share of trials and tribulations; after his two sons became school-aged, by the early 1940s part of their homework was to roll 50 cigars apiece in the back of the family home.

Through much blood, sweat, and tears, Carlos Fuente, Sr. paved the way not only for subsequent generations of his family, but also for many others like him who pursued the cigar business. The Fuentes have innumerable accolades and firsts to their name – including the first premium Dominican puro with OpusX – and today, Carlito along with his children carry on their proud family traditions for an ever-expanding legion of fans.

ASHTON

Ashton is more than its titular cigar brand: it’s a brick-and-mortar retailer, online vendor, lounge owner, and home to several award-winning portfolios. Founder Robert Levin learned from the ground-up what it meant to run a bustling retail store after his father purchased Holts Cigar Co. in Philadelphia in the 1950s. Fast forward 20 years later and Robert was running the show, including its burgeoning mail-order business. 

In the early 1980s Levin saw a gap in the market for a truly super-premium cigar brand. He partnered with Carlos Sr. and Carlos (‘Carlito’) Fuente Jr. – a fellow family business – and Ashton was born. Home to high ratings since the beginning, the Ashton family of brands has expanded to meet the changing tastes of the modern enthusiast. Although Ashton’s core blends are still proudly rolled at Tabacalera A. Fuente in the Dominican Republic, in more recent years, the Levins have partnered with another big family business in Nicaragua: My Father Cigars. Working to revitalize and popularize two old Cuban brands (La Aroma de Cuba and San Cristóbal), father-son duo Robert and Sathya Levin sought-out the expertise of Cuban expat and fellow father-son duo, José ‘Don Pepín’ and Jaime García.

MY FATHER CIGARS

José García, better known by his nickname ‘Don Pepín’, was no stranger to praise in his native Cuba. Known as one of the best rollers on the island, he won awards for his speedy hands and high-quality craftsmanship, but as time marched on, he wanted more for him and his family. Noticing the rising popularity of Nicaraguan tobacco beginning in the early 2000s, Pepín seized the day and left for Estelí before emigrating to Miami. It did not take long for word to spread about the Cubanesque blends stemming from his small El Rey de los Habanos factory, and soon came the Cigar Aficionado ratings to prove he was destined for stardom.

Alongside his son, Jaime, and daughter, Janny, Pepín rebranded the company name to My Father Cigars Inc., showing the world that is most definitely a family business. With their state-of-the-art factory and large tobacco farms in Nicaragua, the Garcías have created two #1 Cigars (Flor de las Antillas and My Father), as well as other highly rated blends such as La Antiguedad and El Centurion. Aside from their own portfolio, the Garcías also produce other award-winning labels like La Aroma de Cuba and San Cristobal for Ashton, as well as Pete Johnson’s popular boutique brands Tatuaje and L’Atelier.

PADRÓN

The story of José O. Padrón and the Padrón brand is one of perseverance. Although he was descended from multiple generations of tobacco farmers, after a brief stint on his father’s 230+ acre farm in Pinar del Río, José received an offer to manage a copper mine. Taking up arms against then dictator Fulgencio Batista, Padrón sympathized with a young Castro, and became a lieutenant in the Revolutionary Army. Once Castro assumed power however, José became weary of the new government, fleeing to Spain in April 1961 within an inch of his life.

Working odd jobs in Madrid, then moving to New York, and finally Miami in February 1962, José used a little hammer (martillito) 18 hours a day to save money. Approximately two years later, he had an extra $600 and opened Padrón Cigars with one roller, using tobacco from Nicaragua he knew was like that of his native Cuba. Despite many ups and downs, Padrón Cigars always remained a symbol of high quality, and their consistency has earned them numerous ‘90’+ ratings from Cigar Aficionado year after year. With an entrepreneurial team consisting primarily of family members who learned from José Padrón himself, his legacy will continue to live on through the cigars which bear his name and unwavering commitment to exceptional quality.

PLASENCIA

Eduardo Plasencia made his way from the Canary Islands to Cuba to grow tobacco in 1865. As time marched on, more and more family members got their own farms on the Caribbean Island, having garnered good reputations as tobacco growers, that is until 1963 when Fidel Castro seized all the farmland in Cuba. Then-patriarch Nestor Plasencia fled to Mexico and eventually Nicaragua with his family, the clothes on their backs, and his prized tobacco seeds. It took nearly a decade, but his family name and reputation flourished once again, but the Sandinistas began a war in Nicaragua that had the Plasencias again on the run to Honduras for their safety.

Returning to Nicaragua in 1986, Nestor took over Plasencia tobacco operations from his Uncle who stayed behind during the war. As the first company to manufacture on a large scale for other brands, by the “cigar boom” of the 1990s, Plasencia was producing 33 million handmades annually. Alongside his son, Nestor Andrés, and fellow father-and-son teams that include Nestor’s brothers and nephews, the Plasencia family is the largest grower of premium tobacco in Nicaragua. Together with thousands of employees across four factories and eight plantations, the Plasencia name is alive and well, crafting highly-acclaimed blends enjoyed by enthusiasts worldwide.