Puros orígenes

Tabacalera held “Puros Orígenes” in Madrid, the greatest event dedicated to New World tobacco celebrated in Spain ever. El Grupo de Maestros and around two hundred specialized tobacconists, arrived from all over the country, attended to the presentation of Henry Clay, the new brand for international markets.

This is how Jorge Fernández Cabezas, marketing manager, expressed it in the presentation of the “Puros Orígenes” event: “Tabacalera is known worldwide for Habanos, of which we are very proud, but we are also in the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua”. So, this is what “Puros Orígenes” meeting was about: the greatest New World tobacco event ever held in Madrid (Spain).

Tabacalera claimed itself as an important player in the main tobacco origins of the Caribbean, not only Cuba, and as the undisputed leader in sales, volumen and value, in the Spanish national market, with VegaFina (three million cigars sold in 2023) and six New World cigars brands more that has almost 50% of the non-cubans cigars market in Spain where two thirds of the market are Cuban cigars, while only one third are non-cubans.

Tabacalera brought together two hundred specialized tobacconists in Madrid, at La Finca La Gaivota, where these professionals from all corners in Spain were able to attend “Puros Origenes”, an informative, educational and very amusing day dedicated to Dominican, Honduran and Nicaraguan tobacco.

With this objective, Tabacalera also brought to Madrid three of its most eminent tobacco masters: Pedro Ventura, from Tabacalera de García (Dominican Republic), Elmer Suárez and Marvin Tabora, from La Flor de Copán (Honduras), all of them members of El Grupo de Maestros of the company and great experts in this three tobacco origins.

Henry Clay and more

“Puro Orígenes” began with a very enjoyable seminar, in which the tobacco masters gave three short, but very informative, presentations on the qualities, sedes and characteristics of the areas where tobacco is grown in Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and Honduras. In a very schematic and direct way, without heavy explanations, Ventura, Suárez and Tabora disentangled the characteristics of the three origins before an eminently professional audience who, as tobacconists, have the responsibility of transmitting it to their clients in their “cavas”.

After the seminar, with the information presented by the masters still fresh in their minds, a blind tasting was organized in which attendees had to distinguish between three cigars: a Dominican, an Honduran and a Nicaraguan one. All three had been crafted specifically for the event, in a robusto format, with wrapper, binder and filler coming one hundred percent from each of the three origins. The challenge was not at all easy and it must be said that the percentage of correct answers was quite high.

At the end of the day, Tabacalera officially presented its new launch for international markets: the traditional, but renewed, Cuban brand Henry Clay, which has been manufactured, since the 90s, in La Flor de Copán (Honduras). As explained by Tabacalera’s brand ambassador, José Andrés Colmena, the brand was created by the Spanish emigrant Julián Álvarez in the mid-19th century, dedicated to an American politician, Henry Clay, whom he admired. In fact, Álvarez met with Clay to request his permission to use his name on a cigar brand and the politician granted it honestly and without asking for anything in return.

The brand was manufactured in Havana, Cuba, until the triumph of the Revolution. With the nationalization of all the Cuban tobacco industry, many brands, including Henry Clay, stopped their production. The brand was then purchased by Consolidated Cigars and began to be crafted in Honduras, in La Flor de Copán factory.
Now, Tabacalera is going to give Henry Clay a boost in international markets with its War Hawk series, in four formats: a lonsdale (171 mm x 42); a petit corona (127 mm x 44); a robusto extra (127 mm x 54) and a toro size (152 mm x 50). The cigars, which will begin to be presented in the main European markets over the following weeks, are made 100% with Honduran tobaccos in wrapper, binder and filler.

This way, as it was shown in the “Puros Orígenes” event, Tabacalera is Cuban cigars, but is also VegaFina, Henry Clay, Flor de Copán, Aging Room, Capitol, Boneshaker, La Finca, Casa de García… Nicaragua, Honduras and Dominican Republic, three pure origins.