Cigar Captain

When I first set out to chart the history of Bauza cigars, I knew a little about the Dominican made version, but had no idea that the story of the Cuban Bauza would be so difficult to document.  Although I was able to track down a torcedor that had rolled the Cuban version on the island, details about the Cuban Bauza remained elusive.  So, here’s what I found…

Cigars bearing the name “Flor de Bauza” or “Bauza” have been produced for decades in Cuba.  In the central area of the island, in the picturesque city of Cabaiguan located in the province of Sancti Spritu, one can find the factory that originally produced these cigars.  The Fabrica de Tabacos de Juan Bauza was once a cornerstone business in this area of Cuba.  At the height of production, the factory boasted a remarkable 400 employees, a number that, at the time, could be said to approach those of the better known factories such as the Partagas factory in Havana.

Unlike most of the Cuban brands you are likely familiar with, Cuban-made Bauza cigars were not produced for international distribution, but were instead a very popular domestic brand.  Along with many other lesser known Cuban brands, these cigars were kept on the local market due to the Cuban government’s desire to limit the number of Havanas on the world market.  Fortunately for the makers of Bauzas, the cigar found a following among tourists and locals both.

Today, Cuban cigars bearing the Bauza name are still produced, however these are not “premium” Cubans.  Today’s Bauzas carry line names such as “Cazadores,” “Fumas,” and “Petit Cazadores” and are labeled with very basic bands.  Today’s  Cuban-made Bauzas are what are known as “peso cigars” for their prices of about one peso per mazo of 25, or about 4 cents American.  These peso cigars are not readily available to tourists and are generally only found in neighborhood “bodegas,” similar to America’s “corner stores.”  This is certainly a brand you won’t find at a Habanos outlet, but if you are interested, and lucky enough to find a source they are surely worth a try, after all, you won’t be out much money and they are still produced using all Cuban tobaccos, although they are made with mixed fillers.

Premium non-Cuban Bauza cigars are produced today in the Dominican Republic by the Fuente family under an exclusive distribution agreement with Mike’s Cigars of Miami, Florida, and this, is their story…

On a particularly sweltering Miami afternoon, the telephone rang in the office of Oscar Boruchin, owner of Mike’s Cigars.  Boruchin answered the phone, not knowing that the call would be the beginning of what would be a long lasting partnership, one that would be developed over the course of several decades.  The phone call was from the Dominican Republic.  On the line was none other than Don Carlos Fuente, Head of the Fuente Family organization.  The Fuente Family, as you no doubt already know, is the maker of some of the best premium, handmade cigars in the world; among them the large Arturo Fuente line of cigars, the Fuente Hemingway series, the Don Carlos line, Ashton, and the world famous OpusX, as well as many more.  Don Carlos asked Oscar if he could help by buying out his cousin was running a small cigar factory in Miami.  The cousin was selling Bauza cigars, and if Oscar would buy the business, Mike’s Cigars would become the exclusive distributor of Bauza in the United States.  Oscar contacted Don Carlos’s cousin and negotiated a deal to buy him out for the sum of $25,000.  But when Oscar and the cousin met some time later in the lawyer’s office for the closing, Boruchin was surprised when he noticed that the final price was raised by the seller to $30,000. Oscar left the room and placed a call to Carlos Fuente in the Dominican Republic about the change. Fuente listened, and being the gentleman that he is, said, “Oscar, pay the man $30,000, the extra $5000 will be the best money you ever spend…,” and it was. Mike’s Cigars became a major distributor of Arturo Fuente cigars in Florida and the southern United States, with exclusive rights to the distribution of Bauza cigars in The United States.

After Boruchin took over, production was transferred to the Fuente’s #2 factory where cigars continue to be produced today.  Under Boruchin’s guidance and with the Fuente’s incredible knowledge and resources, a new Flor de Bauza line was blended by Alberto Soria and Gianni Riocci.  This new blend was completely hand-made by the skilled artisans of the Fuente factory.  This new line went on to become one of the first non-Cuban cigars to receive a 90+ rating from Cigar Aficionado magazine.

The original premium Bauza cigars featured Cameroon wrappers; however, as new, high quality Ecuadorian wrappers became available, this was changed.  Today’s cigars feature a colorado maduro, Ecuadorian sun grown Sumatra seed wrapper.  These outstanding wrappers impart a slightly sweet and spicy component to the blend.  Combined with the select Dominican Cubanito and Olor fillers and a Dominican binder, the Bauza line delivers a smooth, eventful medium to full bodied smoke.

Bauza – By the Numbers

Shape	Name	Length	Ring gauge
Churchill	Casa Grande	6 ¾ “	48
Double Corona	Fabuloso	7 ½ “	50
Corona	Grecos	5 ½ “	42
Lonsdale	Jaguar	6 ½ “	42
Lonsdale	Medalla d’Oro No.1	6 7/8 “	44
Short Panatela	Petit Corona	5“	38
Pyramid	Pyramid	5 ½ “	55
Robusto	Robusto	5 ½ “	50

Flor de Bauza cigars remain a personal favorite of Carlos Fuente, Sr. and represent an outstanding value in premium cigars.  Today Mike’s Cigars of Miami, led by newly named president, Oded Ben-Aire, continues to proudly stand behind each and every Bauza cigar produced.

(Some images provided through the courtesy of Dmitrii Drutsa [http://http://cigarros.ru/] and Trevor Leask [http://www.CubanCigarWebsite.com])

Tags: bauza cigars, carlos fuente, Cigar history, cuban cigar brands, flor de bauza, handmade cigars, premium cigars, Tabacalera A. Fuente, Under the Band

This entry was posted on Friday, October 21st, 2011 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Cigar Reviews, Under the Band. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.