Partagas

Partagas is one of the most storied of cigar brands. Today, there are two separate cigar makers making cigars under the same name. One is based in Cuba, its country of origin, and the other is based in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican cigars are only ones legally available for sale in the United States.

Ramón Cifuentes, who left Cuba after the revolution, started the Partagas brand in the Dominican Republic. These cigars have the numbers 1845 (representing the brand’s Cuban birth date) in the famous gold-and-red band replacing the world Habana. General Cigar, a U.S. company that offers the cigars in 16 sizes, now owns this brand.

The filler of the Dominican-made cigars is a blend of tobacco grown in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. The binder is also of Mexican (San Andres Valley) origin and the wrapper is from Cameroon in a new combination that continues the Cifuentes cigar-making tradition.