Carlos Fuente Jr.

Carlos "Carlito" Fuente Jr. is an American cigar maker widely regarded as one of the most influential blenders of his generation and a leader of Arturo Fuente (Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.), the largest family-owned producer of premium hand-rolled cigars. Grandson of company founder Arturo Fuente and son of the late Carlos Fuente Sr., he is the third generation to lead the Tampa- and Dominican Republic-based firm.

He is best known for creating the Fuente Fuente OpusX, a Dominican puro that pioneered quality wrapper-tobacco growing in the Dominican Republic and helped usher in a move toward fuller-bodied cigars in the United States. He also co-founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which he has described as his greatest personal accomplishment.

Background

Carlito Fuente grew up in Tampa, Florida, in modest circumstances near the historic Ybor City cigar district. The company his grandfather Arturo Fuente founded in 1912 endured fires, political upheaval and relocation across Florida, Nicaragua and finally the Dominican Republic. In 1980, after the family factory in Nicaragua was destroyed during that country's revolution, Carlos Sr. and Carlos Jr. rebuilt in the Dominican Republic, working long days and reinvesting profits into aging tobacco.

OpusX and innovation

Fuente Jr. conceived and directed the multimillion-dollar project to grow premium wrapper tobacco in the Dominican Republic, long thought impossible. The result, the Fuente Fuente OpusX, launched in the mid-1990s as a Dominican puro and became one of the most celebrated and sought-after cigars in the world. His blending is credited with helping shift American tastes toward stronger, fuller cigars, and he later created the Ashton Virgin Sun Grown (VSG). Industry peers credit him with an uncanny ability to blend cigars ranging from the subtle Don Carlos to the powerful OpusX.

Philanthropy

In 2001, Fuente Jr. co-founded the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which has brought education, health and dental care, vocational training and clean water to children of low-income families in the Bonao region of the Dominican Republic surrounding the family's Chateau de la Fuente farm. The organization has been recognized by the United Nations as an example of corporate social responsibility. He also co-founded the Fuente Family Foundation, supporting American charities.

Legacy

Under the family's stewardship the company grew to produce tens of millions of cigars a year and owns acclaimed brands including Arturo Fuente, Hemingway, Don Carlos and OpusX. Carlito Fuente is frequently cited as among the most recognizable and respected figures in the premium cigar industry.