Vegas de Fonseca Sobrinos

Speaking of Cuba, the Fonseca brand has a stellar Cuban pedigree. The brand is hand-rolled in the Dominican Republic by Manolo Quesada, heir to the Fonseca "first family" of Cuban cigar makers. Quesada's great-great grandfather started brokering tobacco leaf in Cuba in the 1880s. From the mid-1880s until 1960, Quesada's great-grandfather, grandfather, father and several generations of uncles brokered tobacco out of Havana and sold it worldwide. In the 1930s, one uncle started to buy and resell Dominican tobacco, creating a permanent family foothold on the island of Hispaniola. By the time Castro came to power, Sobrinos de A. Gonzales (the company founded by Quesada's great-great-grandfather) and Constantino Gonzales (founded by a great-uncle) were the largest tobacco brokers in the world. In April 1960, Quesada's family was forced out of business by the Castro government. These cigars are still being made in Cuba but the family that created them has been making them in the Dominican Republic for nearly 50 years and Manuel Quesada is considered one of the most knowledgeable tobacco men in the Dominican Republic. Vegas de Fonseca may be his boldest, most daring cigar yet. Distinctive looking, it's made from Dominican and aged Nicaraguan long-filler tobacco. With a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a toothy African Cameroon wrapper, it's everything cigar aficionados have come to expect from a great smoke. Smooth and mild-bodied, the cigar earned a '92' rating from Cigar Insider and a spot on Cigar Aficionado's top 25 cigars for 2004. It's slow burning and offers deliciously intense flavors—look for cedar, sweet pepper, marzipan and sweet macaroon. The finish is spicy. Pair with a VSO cognac or a full tawny port.