Quintero

Quintero is one of the few Habanos brands not born in Havana. Its founder, Agustín Quintero, settled in Cienfuegos, the pearl of the South, says habanos.com, which does not date the brand. According to Wikipedia, it began in 1924 as Quintero y Hermanos, when Agustín and four brothers opened a small factory in Cienfuegos; a British retailer also gives 1924, with a “believed”.

As for the tobacco, habanos.com writes that the whole blend of the brand comes from the Vuelta Abajo zone, that the strength is medium and that the cigars are entirely hand-rolled, with short filler. A trade-press report (April 2012) gives the Vuelta Abajo and Semi Vuelta zones, in Pinar del Río, for the wrapper, and a British retailer names the same two zones. The house presents the brand as a way into the flavour of the Habano, at medium strength and an affordable price.

According to Wikipedia, the brand became mainly a machine-made cigar after the nationalisation of the early 1960s, and Habanos S.A. abandoned machine-made cigars in 2002 in favour of hand-made versions; a British retailer nevertheless writes that the range still includes sizes that are machine-made or hand-finished, whereas the house's page says they are all entirely hand-rolled: the accounts diverge. A British retailer calls it a major export brand in the 1940s, particularly appreciated in the Spanish market, and still popular with Spanish enthusiasts.

The Favoritos, the fifth size in the range, dates from 2012: 4 1/2 inches (about 114 mm) on ring gauge 50, called Concha No. 2 in the factory, medium strength, sold in packs of five. British retailers also list the Petit Quintero, Panetelas and Tubulares sizes, with no dimensions read.

Where is it rolled? In Cuba the question has a two-storey answer. Since 2002 each Habanos brand has had a mother factory, responsible for leaf selection and blend, and its cigars may be rolled in any of the island's few dozen factories under the mother's supervision; Habanos does not publish that map, the trade press reconstructs it. Habanos does not name Quintero's mother factory. The brand was born in Cienfuegos (habanos.com); Wikipedia places a larger rolling factory in Havana in the 1940s; the present factory remains open. In October 2026, habanos.com places it among its three volume brands — José L. Piedra, Quintero, Vegueros; the trade press announced this classification on 1 August 2019, for cigars sold at more affordable prices. The official page does not date the brand — 1924 comes from usage — but says it was born outside Havana, in Cienfuegos, the pearl of the South, and is all hand-rolled short filler, with Vuelta Abajo tobacco.

Range Depth

• Favoritos

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo and Semi Vuelta · Strength Medium

  4 1/2 inches (about 114 mm) on ring gauge 50, called Concha No. 2 in the factory; the fifth size in the range and the thickest, launched in 2012; medium strength, hand-made short filler, sold in packs of five.

• Petit Quintero

  Wrapper Vuelta Abajo · Strength Medium

  Size cited by British retailers; the house's page gives no dimensions.

🥃 Pairings

• Café con leche

  Coffee

  Suggestion: the sweetness of the milk accompanies a medium strength.

• Manzanilla de Sanlúcar

  Wine

  Suggestion: a dry, light sherry for a medium-strength cigar.