Friday, January 16 2009
This month, we speak with Jesus Fuego, president of Tabacos S.A. The last time I interviewed Jesus was in 2003 when this newsletter was called "Shop Talk," and he spoke to me about the
Vega Talanga
wrapper leaf he developed. At that time he was still with Centro America Cigars S.A.
Jesus's career led him to create many of Rocky Patel's most prestigious cigars, and today Jesus has found a market for his own line of cigars: J. Fuego Gran Reserva, J. Fuego Natural, J. Fuego Delirium, and 777 series cigars. Jesus also blended Defiance cigars, which are marketed through XiKAR, Inc., and even more recently, developed Royal Nicaraguan cigars, a new, affordably-priced bundle selection in three unique wrappers, created expressly for Famous Smoke Shop. I've been a fan ever since I first met this very gifted cigar maker, and felt it was time to catch up. - G.K.
What was the first cigar you ever smoked, and what do you remember about it?
Jesus Fuego: It was a half smoked cigar that my father left unattended on my nightstand. He used to read stories to put me to sleep while puffing on his house blend; so he left to the bathroom and I took the cigar and puffed on it. I was dying to try it. What I remember? It was disgusting. I was around eight years old. Can you imagine? [laughs]
Tell us about your family and background in growing and blending tobacco.
J.F.: My family started growing tobacco in the 1870s, settling in an area that was later known as El Corojo. They started renting land to grow tobacco and later on, bought a piece of the original El Corojo farm and named it “Corojo No.1.”
In the 1950s, my grandfather was part of the board of directors of “Coopera” where he later became president. That was the first experience the family had on the blending and final product of tobacco production. “Coopera” was a cigarette factory based on an idea of Father Claudio Ojea (the local priest) and designed as a cooperative society to help the local growers protect their prices by using some of the tobaccos they could not sell to the -traditional- dealers, for a reasonable price.
When Fidel Castro came to power in 1959, Coopera was nationalized and the family gradually lost most of their properties. The Fuego family, like many others, was forced to reduce their operations to grow a small farm and sell all of their product to the government controlled industry.
It was in the early 1990s, when I was finishing college, that I obtained permission from the government to get training at “Fabrica de Tabacos Francisco Donatien” in Pinar Del Rio. That’s the place where the brand “Vegueros” was started, and those were the first cigars I was involved with at a factory level.
Around 11 years ago I moved to Honduras. Hired by the Eiroa family, it was under Julio Eiroa’s experienced eyes where my relationship with high quality cigar making in Central America began.
How did you end up making cigars for Rocky Patel, and which blends are you most proud of?
J.F.: At the beginning of 2002 I was working for US Cigar Sales when Rocky approached them to make a cigar to put his name on. I helped him a little bit as part of the team that developed the cigars. Those cigars happened to be the Vintage ‘90 and ’92. In 2004, when the US Cigar factory changed hands to General Cigar, Rocky offered me a job to supervise all the production being made for him from various factories. Rocky is one of the most amazing salesmen that I have ever met, and a lot of fun to work with. It was his enthusiasm, passion for cigars, and above all, his desire to learn about all aspects of cigar making, such as the fermentation and blending processes (which normally take years, if not generations, to master) that convinced me to work with him. I am proud of every blend that I helped him develop, but I would say the Sun Grown is my favorite of the entire R.P. line, and I still smoke one from time to time.
What was it like "going rogue" and starting your own line of cigars?
J.F.: It was easy and rewarding. Easy, because I was born in the industry and am of the fifth generation in my family to be in the tobacco business, so it all came very natural to me. Rewarding, because I always felt the Fuegos were meant to make cigars, and now I have the freedom to do it 100% my own way.
Tell us about how you developed your Gran Reserva Corojo and Delirium selections?
J.F.: The “Gran Reserva Corojo No.1” is a cigar dearly close to me because it was the first cigar that my father and I blended together to put our family name on. The cigar uses a sun grown Honduran wrapper, Costa Rican binder, and Nicaraguan / Honduran / undisclosed filler. 100% of the blend uses Corojo tobacco grown using seeds from our family’s Corojo No.1 farm back in Cuba.
Being rolled in Honduras, the Delirium blend is a very interesting cigar. The wrapper is a maduro grown by my father in Brazil, and has very aromatic characteristics. The binder is a rich Costa Rican Corojo leaf, and the filler is composed of Nicaraguan and Honduran Corojo tobaccos.
Aside from having good tobacco to work with, what is the most important element in terms of how you blend your cigars?
J.F.: Aside from having good tobacco, the most important element is having good tobacco. [laughs] Then time. It is crucial to be patient if you want to have a refined product. Variety is also very important, and I blend our cigars to be very complex and offer a multitude of flavors.
How did the idea for the Royal Nicaraguan Cigars come about?
J.F.: Believe it or not, Royal Nicaraguan is a project that took a lot of time to develop. I wanted to come out with a value-priced brand that the everyday smoker could enjoy without compromising the quality of the raw materials. We only use premium longfiller tobacco that is good enough for a cigar costing twice as much. Simply said, it was hard to find high quality tobacco and be able to maintain such an attractive price-point. As you can imagine, it is a lot easier to blend and be creative when price is not an issue.
Why did you choose the particular wrappers and fillers for the three blends in the Royal Nicaraguan series?
J.F.: I simply wanted to have as many choices as possible. Since I think this line is something every cigar smoker can afford, I wanted to make sure we would satisfy as many different tastes as possible. The fillers are all 100% Nicaraguan and the different wrappers give each blend it’s own unique character.
Do you see a trend in terms of cigar smokers being drawn more to "boutique" cigar brands like yours?
J.F.: Absolutely.
What's your take on the future of the cigar industry?
J.F.: Cigar smokers are getting more educated every day. To me, the important thing is the growing sophistication of today’s consumer and their ability to identify what a good smoke is. Therefore it looks promising for those willing to put in the time and effort to make quality cigars. I think manufacturers that show respect to the tobacco and deliver consistent cigars will continue to grow.
And what does the future hold for Tabacos S.A.? Anything new you're working on for 2009 that you'd like to talk about?
J.F.: First and foremost is keeping up the consistency and quality of the cigars we are currently producing. Also, we just introduced the Delirium and Gran Reserva lines in the 'Minuto' size, available in tins of eight cigars or boxes of 60. As far as what else is coming this year, there are a few interesting projects in the works. It is very likely that we will introduce a very unique blend that could be released on a limited edition basis. £
