Partagas

Don Jaime Partagas Ravelo was a Spanish emigrant who settled in Cuba in the early 19th century. In 1845, he built a large factory he called Real Fabrica de Tabaco Partagas at No. 520 Industria Street, Havana. This is the factory we all know today, still in the same location, and the oldest Cuban factory still in operation. Business was brisk, as the size of the factory was impressive for its time.

Legend has it that Don Jaime Partagas decided to call it «Manufacture Royale» because he counted among his customers many aristocrats from Europe and Arabia. Much of his success was due to the fact that he personally owned a number of tobacco farms in the Vuelta Abajo region, and used only the best tobaccos from them to manufacture his cigars. He is also said to be the first manufacturer to have experimented with different tobacco fermenting and maturing techniques, rather than relying on traditional practices.

In 1860, Jose Jaime Partagas made further history in the world of tobacco, being the first to employ a "reader" to read aloud in his factory. This innovation gradually spread to all factories, making the torcedores' work less boring and, at the same time, contributing to the culture and education of his employees.

On June 17, 1868, at the height of his career, José Jaime Partagas was shot dead on one of his plantations. The circumstances of this murder were obscure...legend has it that it was the result of a rivalry between lovers. His son Jose took over the family business. At the end of the 19th century, the company was sold to the Jose A. Bance bank. Bance who, in 1900, sold it to Ramon Cifuentes Llano and Jose Fernandez.

In April 1916, Don Francisco Pego joined the company as a partner, renaming it Cifuentes, Pego y Cia. Ramon Cifuentes died in Spain in 1938, followed by Francisco Pega Pita on November 13, 1940 in Havana. The Cifuentes family thus became the sole owners of the company, which was renamed Cifuentes y Cia. In 1954, they acquired Jose Fernandez Rocha's Bolivar and La Gloria Cubana brands, and by the time of the revolution, they were the second largest Cuban cigar export company, with 25% of the market in 1958.

After the revolution, the Cifuentes family left Cuba in 1961; production remained fully operational, maintaining its role as a major Cuban brand with Montecristo, Rome y Julieta and H. Upmann.