Brands
Partagás
The factory that Catalan Jaime Partagás opened in Havana in 1845 was built from the outset on carefully selected tobacco from the Vuelta Abajo — a marca whose reputation has not faded in over 175 years. The later factory building behind the Capitol became a Havana landmark: the Real Fábrica de Tabacos Partagás was for generations a place of pilgrimage for aficionados from around the world, its façade one of the most photographed sights in the cigar city.
Stylistically, Partagás represents the powerful school of Habanos: earthy, spicy, with dark depth — the counterpart to the elegant lightness of other Cuban houses. The most celebrated representative is the Serie D No. 4, a Robusto that ranks among the most smoked Cuban cigars of all; the Lusitania in the Double Corona format is considered the queen of the range.
After the nationalisation of 1960 the Cifuentes family left the island — and as with other major brands, a second version emerged alongside the Cuban one, produced for the US market in the Dominican Republic. But the Cuban Partagás remained what it has been for over 175 years: the embodiment of the powerful Habano.