Partagás (Dominican)

Partagás (Dominican) is the U.S.-market Partagás. It is a different cigar from the Cuban Partagás and has no Cuban tobacco. It is made by General Cigar Co., part of Scandinavian Tobacco Group, at its General Cigar Dominicana factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic.

The Cifuentes family owned the Cuban Partagás until the 1959 revolution, when Cuba took over its cigar factories. Ramón Cifuentes left Cuba, and in 1974 his family agreed to let General Cigar make a Partagás for the U.S. market. The first cigars were made in Jamaica. Production moved to Santiago in 1979, and it has stayed there.

The classic Partagás uses a Cameroon wrapper. Later lines include Partagás Black Label, which uses a dark Connecticut Havana-seed wrapper, Partagás 1845, and Partagás Spanish Rosado. Most of the blends use Dominican filler, and several add Nicaraguan or Mexican leaf. Strength runs from medium in the classic line to fuller in Black Label and 1845.

Because of the U.S. embargo, the Cuban Partagás cannot be sold in the United States, so this is the Partagás most American smokers know. The museum bands below are all U.S.-market bands.