“Tobacco is not smoked… it is interpreted.”

In a world that moves relentlessly fast, the cigar demands the opposite: pause. Where everything is immediate, smoke asks for time. And in that time — precisely there — true luxury begins.

Tony Cortés did not arrive at tobacco through trend. He arrived through heritage.

Origin

Some stories do not begin in offices or boardrooms. They begin in silence. In the hands.

“In my 57 years of life, I was raised in a family rooted in tobacco.”

His grandmother, Cuca — a master roller. Her hands — steady, precise — gave shape to the intangible.

His mother, a bander. An almost invisible craft, deeply feminine yet essential: defining the identity of a cigar.

His grandfather, Espina — a Venezuelan émigré — was a shareholder and founding figure in the historic La Corona factory, one of the most emblematic houses of Cuban cigars since the early 20th century.

It was not a profession. It was an ecosystem.

“Tobacco was everywhere… in the air, in conversation, in the way we lived.”

The Cigar as Language

A cigar is not merely a product. It is a cultural construct.

From the rituals of indigenous Caribbean peoples to the great tobacco houses of the 19th century, tobacco has symbolized power, introspection, and belonging.

Cuba did not invent it. It perfected it. And transformed it into art.

Style, Not Posture

When Tony Cortés entered the entertainment industry, the cigar was already part of his identity.

Not as an accessory. As an extension.

In meetings, on set, in business conversations — two elements were always present:

Coffee.
And smoke.

“Smoke tells stories. It builds brotherhood. It closes deals. And it lifts the weight of a long shooting day.”

From Actor to Curator

Over time, his relationship with the cigar evolved.

From habit to knowledge.
From taste to obsession.

While researching productions in Spain and the United States, Cortés immersed himself in the history of brands, vitolas, and lineages.

And he began to collect:

Vintage bands.
Forgotten formats.
Fragments of history.

A Name That Holds Everything

Some names require no introduction.

Tabacalera is one of them.

A concept that spans centuries: monopolies, global expansion, brand-building, culture.

It does not describe a company. It defines a tradition.

“I wasn’t creating something new… I was returning to the origin.”

The Strategic Move

Reclaim the name.
Secure the domain.
Reinterpret its legacy.

This is not branding. It is historical architecture.

Tony Cortés steps in as a businessman to shape a new chapter: Tabacalera 1636.

A project that does not replicate the past, but honors it with contemporary precision.

Tabacalera 1636

At the top tier of the premium cigar market, quality alone is not enough. Identity is required.

The objective is clear: to create a cigar of the highest caliber — with character, depth, and presence.

But there is more: a team.

Master rollers.
Banders.
Experts who don’t just know Cuban tobacco… they have lived it.

“We do not sell a cigar. We offer an experience that connects with history.”

The New Luxury

The premium cigar consumer has evolved.

No longer seeking volume. Seeking meaning.

Seeking ritual.
Seeking narrative.
Seeking belonging to something rooted.

That is where Tabacalera 1636 finds its place.

Full Circle

At certain moments in life, everything aligns.

For Cortés, this is not merely a business venture. It is personal.

A tribute to his grandmother.
To his mother.
To his grandfather.

A legacy not learned… but lived.

“This is not a beginning. It is the closing of a cycle.”

Epilogue

The smoke fades. But what it represents… remains.

In every well-crafted cigar, there is history.
In every band, identity.
In every pause, a quiet act of power.

And as long as someone understands that, the legacy will endure.