Arturo Fuente

Born in Güines, Cuba, on 18 November 1887, Arturo Fuente Sr. settles in Key West in 1906, then in West Tampa in 1910, according to arturofuente.com; Wikipedia, for its part, dates his arrival in the United States to 1902. In 1912, aged twenty-four, he founds A. Fuente & Company at 813 Francis Street, West Tampa. In 1924, the factory burns down while he is in Cuba buying tobacco; he spends the following twenty-two years as general manager of a local company.

His son Carlos Fuente Sr., born in 1935, becomes sole owner of the company in 1956, buying out the share of his elder brother Arturo Oscar for one dollar; Arturo Sr., retired, dies in 1973. In the early 1970s, Carlos buys a factory in Nicaragua; according to his son, the first Don Carlos sold, in 1976, was rolled in Estelí. In 1978, the Sandinista rebellion burns down the Nicaraguan factory; in 1979, an ‘accidental’ fire destroys the one in Honduras.

Carlos Sr. goes on producing cigars from the Ybor City site, says arturofuente.com. On 4 September 1980, Carlos Sr. and his son Carlos Jr., known as Carlito, open Fuente Ltd in Santiago de los Caballeros, in the Dominican Republic. The Ybor City site, on 22nd Street, stays open only as a distribution centre: cigars are no longer rolled there by hand.

In 1992, Carlito creates what the house calls the first successful 100 per cent Dominican puro, wrapper included, the Fuente Fuente OpusX, put on sale on 18 November 1995, according to arturofuente.com, which points out that Dominican soils were judged unfit for wrapper tobacco. The wrapper grows at Château de la Fuente, in the mountainous Bonao region, about an hour south-east of Santiago: the family planted its first seeds there in the early 1990s, and the farm opens to visitors of the ProCigar festival.

Carlos Fuente Sr. dies in August 2016, aged 81. Carlito was then president of the company; his sister Cynthia Fuente-Suarez, vice-president according to arturofuente.com, and he are the founder's grandchildren. The house notes that, four generations after the beginnings, the company remains a family business; the book Arturo Fuente: Since 1912 mentions a fourth generation waiting in the wings.

Range Depth

• Opus X

  Wrapper Château de la Fuente (DR) · Strength Full

  Put on sale on 18 November 1995 and presented by arturofuente.com as the first Dominican puro, wrapper included. The wrapper grows at Château de la Fuente, near Bonao. Formats on the house's list: Robusto 5¼ x 50, Double Corona 7⅝ x 49, Reserva D'Chateau 7 x 48, PerfecXion X 6¼ x 48, PerfecXion No.2 6⅜ x 52, Fuente Fuente 5⅝ x 46. Supplied in limited quantities to a handful of retailers, writes Tobacconist of Greenwich in July 2025.

  Robusto · Double Corona · Reserva D'Chateau · PerfecXion X · PerfecXion No.2 · Fuente Fuente

• Don Carlos

  Wrapper Cameroon · Strength Medium-Full

  Takes its name from Carlos Fuente Sr., says arturofuente.com, which describes rare tobaccos aged for up to ten years under a Cameroon wrapper. According to Carlos Fuente Jr., the first Don Carlos sold, in 1976, was rolled in Estelí, Nicaragua (June 2026). Formats on the house's list: Robusto 5 x 50, Double Robusto 5¾ x 52, Belicoso 5⅜ x 52, The Man 5¼ x 50, Presidente 6½ x 50, Personal Reserve Eye of the Shark 5¼ x 52.

  Robusto · Double Robusto · Belicoso · The Man · Presidente · Personal Reserve Eye of the Shark

• Hemingway

  Wrapper Cameroon · Strength Medium

  Released in 1981 according to arturofuente.com, a year after Fuente Ltd opened; the page presents its figurado shape as a first for the industry at the time. Bespoke Unit relates that Carlos Fuente Sr. found old perfecto moulds in a Florida warehouse, and dates Carlito's blend to 1983, in homage to the American writer. Cameroon wrapper over Dominican binder and filler, mild to medium according to that site (2017, updated in 2023). The Masterpiece, 9 x 52, is the longest format on the house's list.

  Classic · Short Story · Best Seller · Masterpiece · Signature

• Añejo

  Wrapper Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro · Strength Medium-Full

  Introduced in 2000 with five formats, according to Cigar Coop (August 2014); the No.77 Shark follows around 2002. Cigar Coop links it to Hurricane Georges in 1998: Carlos Fuente Jr., fearing a shortage of wrapper for the OpusX, is said to have dressed the OpusX blend in a Connecticut Broadleaf. The house writes that the maduro wrapper leaves are aged in cognac casks, and presents the Shark (5⅞ x 48/64) as the first torpedo to move from a rounded parejo to a square press.

  No.46 · No.48 · No.50 · No.55 · No.60 · No.77 Shark

• Casa Cuba

  Wrapper Ecuadorian Havana

  Launched in late 2013 in a limited allocation to retailers, says Cigar Coop, and presented by arturofuente.com as the last blend of the late Carlos Fuente Sr., designed to recall the cigars he rolled and smoked in his youth with his father, with Cuban tobacco. Ecuadorian Havana wrapper over a Dominican binder and longfiller of Cuban seed, rolled at the Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia. The formats carry the names of Cuban dominoes: Doble Dos 6¾ x 42, Doble Tres 5½ x 44, Doble Cinco 5 x 50, Doble Seis 6 x 52, Doble Cuatro 4½ x 54 and Divine Inspiration 6⅛ x 47. Strength described as medium, rising to medium-full over the final third, by Cigar Coop in 2014, and as medium-full by a retailer in October 2026.

• Fuente Fuente OpusX The Lost City

  Wrapper Dominican Republic · Strength Medium-Full

  An edition of OpusX whose tobacco, entirely Dominican, was planted in the summer of 2004 at the Château de la Fuente for the shooting of the film The Lost City, released in 2005 and directed by Andy Garcia, then aged for five years, according to fuenteagedselection.com, which calls it medium to full. Rolled at the Tabacalera A. Fuente; a news report of June 2024 places it in the annual Aged Selection allocation delivered to retailers. Formats: Robusto 5¼ x 50, Double Robusto 5¾ x 52, Toro 6¾ x 48, Lancero 7½ x 38 and Carlito's A 9¼ x 47.

🥃 Pairings

• Rémy Martin XO Cognac

  Spirits

  An XO cognac echoes the Añejo range, of which the house writes that the maduro wrapper is aged in cognac casks: a pairing of resemblance rather than contrast.

• Napa Valley Cabernet 10 years

  Wine

  The power of the Californian Cabernet stands up to the Opus X without dominating it. A pairing of equal force.

• Panama Gesha

  Coffee

  The floral character of a Panama Gesha, served without sugar, offers a contrast of lightness with an OpusX.

👤 Associated figures

• Carlos Fuente Sr.

  Born in 1935, he becomes sole owner of the house in 1956 and, with his son, opens Fuente Ltd in Santiago, in the Dominican Republic, on 4 September 1980, after the fires at the factories in Nicaragua (1978) and Honduras (1979), says arturofuente.com. He died in August 2016, aged 81; the Don Carlos range bears his name.

• Carlos Fuente Jr.

  Nicknamed Carlito, he creates the OpusX in 1992, a Dominican puro whose wrapper grows at Château de la Fuente, near Bonao, a farm where the family planted its first seeds in the early 1990s. His sister Cynthia Fuente-Suarez is vice-president of the house.

✨ Notable limited editions

• Fuente Fuente OpusX Angel's Share
• Fuente Fuente OpusX Serie Heaven and Earth BBMF