Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary Heads to Stores

The Manolo Quesada 75th Anniversary is heading to stores.

This release is offered in a single 6 3/4 x 48 parejo vitola that uses an Ecuadorian corojo wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. It is made at the Quesada family’s Tabacos de Exportación factory in Licey, Dominican Republic.

“I have been very fortunate, and blessed, to have worked in the tobacco world for 63 years and for 48 years in the cigar manufacturing side of the industry,” said Manuel “Manolo” Quesada Jr. in a press release when the cigar was announced. “Surprised as I was, I have celebrated my 75th birthday on April 10th and, as I did on my 70th birthday, I have blended a cigar to mark reaching this meaningful stage of my life.”

There are just 1,200 numbered boxes of 10 cigars. Each cigar has an MSRP of $15.

Quesada, like many others, grew up in the business and his roots trace back to Cuba. His family served as tobacco brokers beginning in the late 1800s and left Cuba in 1960. At the time, Manolo was just 13. He would settle in Miami—along with his mother, his siblings and, later, his father—where he would go to school. At the time, his father was helping to establish the company’s new business in the Dominican Republic.

While in college, Quesada Jr. was selected for the draft. Despite not being a U.S. citizen, he chose to go to Vietnam. His service got him American citizenship.

In June 1974, the Quesada family set up Manufactura de Tabacos S.A. (MATASA) with $100 and a chair. The three-roller operation took the Quesadas from a family of tobacco growers and brokers to manufacturers. Over the years, the company has made cigars for a long list of clients, gaining notoriety for making Antillian Cigar Corp.’s Sosa brand prior to and during the cigar boom along with making Romeo y Julieta at one point. Eventually, the family would go on to make cigars under its own name, Quesada, as well as other brands like Fonseca and Casa Magna.