An Interview with Manuel Quesada

Owner, MATASA, makers of Fonseca, Licenciados, Romeo y Julieta, Jose Benito, Cubita, Royal Dominicana, Credo and Casa Blanca cigars.

Marvin R. Shanken
From the Print Edition:
Denzel Washington, Jan/Feb 98

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CA: I remember, though, that you had ideas. You wanted to do this, you wanted to do that, you wanted this, and you were like a coffee that's on boil. You were percolating with different thoughts and ideas, but nowhere to go.

Quesada: You always have to be doing that if you're going to be in the tobacco business, because tobacco is not the same thing day in and day out. You have different crops, you have different countries of origins, you have different vintages with different conditions. Tobaccos are always challenging you to play with them and make new blends.

CA: How much of your life did you spend in Cuba?

Quesada: I left when I was 13.

CA: What year was that?

Quesada: 1960.

CA: Is it fair to say that the final chapter in your dream is returning home?

Quesada: I would say so.

CA: By making cigars?

Quesada: Yes, sir. Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

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