Arturo Fuente

[1] By the end of World War II Arturo Fuente had finally recovered from the catastrophic losses suffered in 1924 fire and the Great Depression had abated, making a return to cigar manufacturing again conceivable.

[2] Fuente relaunched his brand "in the garage," so to speak—adding a few rolling tables to the 160 square foot back porch of his home in Ybor City, Florida.

[2] Production was a family affair at the time of the 1946 restart, with Arturo and his wife rolling full-time, joined by a few other hired torcedores.

[2] Carlos Fuente, Sr., the son of Arturo, contracted polio as a boy of 12 but was fortunate in recovering well enough to walk normally, unlike many victims of the disease.

[4] Because the cigar business struggled during the 1940s and 1950s, Carlos, Sr. took a job as a baker to help make ends meet, while his wife worked full-time in another factory while both moonlighted at Fuente.

[5] Throughout the 1950s Fuente remained exclusively a local Tampa brand, with the company's entire production sold in that city on a cash-and-carry basis.

[6] Carlos, Sr. was ambitious and sought to expand the business, first seeking to establish new accounts in other parts of Florida before setting his sights on New York City.

Following the embargo, access to Cuban tobacco was abruptly terminated, forcing every cigar maker to change the blends that they used.

[6] Efforts were made to establish the brand's production in Mexico and Puerto Rico, but quality from these factories was deemed insufficient.

[6] In the 1970s contacts were made between Carlos Fuente, Sr. and a representative of the blossoming Nicaraguan cigar industry and the company soon moved its production to Estelí in the Northwestern part of that Central American country.

[9] The company scored its first success of its "Dominican Period" in the middle 1980s with the launch of the medium-bodied Hemingways line — an attempt to break new ground in the market through the use of special shapes.

[10] At the end of the 1980s the company began to grow its own tobacco on a substantial scale for the first time, investing in roads and curing barns.

[13] The cigar is made in 13 vitolas ranging in size from the 4-5/8 inch by 49 ring gauge "Belicoso XXX" to the massive 9+1⁄4-inch by 47 "Perfecxion A.

The Fuente family packs their cigar boxes with an advanced 2-way humidification device (Boveda) that helps to ensure the stability and freshness of the end product.