/ Wednesday, March 31, 2021
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Tabacalera Falto de Mayagüez
Receives Global Accolades
One of the best Ultra Boutique Premium cigars in the world
W Rosario Fajardo
rfajardo@wjournalpr.com
@RosarioWJournal
ith cigar smoking enjoying a new boom, the Mayagüez cigar company, Tabacalera Falto Inc., has launched two new blends to celebrate its 26th anniversary as one of the most prestigious brands in the global cigar market, according to the niche publications Cigar Spirits Magazine and The Cigar Vixen. Entrepreneur Luis J. Falto, master blender, CEO and president of La Tabacalera Falto (owner of the brands La Garita Cigar Co. and Falto Cigars), also unveiled his edition of the cigar for the occasion, the Falto La Pureza. During 2021, he will introduce the Falto Special Edition ELH Hato Viejo 2018, as the cigar that commemorates the company’s 26 years in the tobacco and cigar industry. “Last year, we had planned to celebrate our silver anniversary in style, but instead we had to reinvent ourselves like the rest of the world. It turned out that our business model, by appointment and with individual attention, was the perfect formula to continue operating and to our surprise, sales increased. We create remote ties with our clients and followers of the brand, and we even carry out remote tastings in which our clients recorded themselves narrating the new rituals they created to enjoy their cigars during the pandemic,” Falto said. Outside of Puerto Rico, wherever Ultra Boutique Premium cigars are tasted, Luis Falto’s name is known. His passion for the art of manufacturing and tasting a good cigar leads him on a constant quest to create perfect and personalized blends. “That road led me to Santiago de los Caballeros, a region where some of the most prestigious cigar brands in the world are produced. I entered into an agreement with the La Aurora group, the oldest factory in the Dominican Republic, and started with a small, very personal production, maintaining strict quality control. This intimate production was welcomed in the U.S. market, especially by the Davidoff of Geneva stores. From that point on, growth has been dizzying and the name of Puerto Rico is already associated with a world-class tobacco company, “Falto explained. The master blender also had the vision of
>Photos courtesy of Tabacalera Falto
anticipating the trend of specialized salons so that his clients can taste their favorite cigars in his Tobacco Studio, accompanied by a good coffee or their liquor of choice. “We expanded the studio, equipped with the most advanced technology of extractors and equipment so that cigar lovers can have an individualized experience, since we attend to them by appointment and with all the necessary protocols,” he said. “Premium Cigars are a luxury item. My clientele is mostly a person who enjoys relaxing while
enjoying a magnificent cigar. A person who enjoys the elegant and company a cigar leads to. It is very different from cigarettes in many ways,” he added. In his Tobacco Studio, unique in Puerto Rico in size and concept, located in Mayagüez, Falto distributes, stores and exports his product. Tabacalera Falto currently produces 23 types of cigars, each with a very different flavor stamp. Falto, Falto Reserva Especial Tres Luises, Falto Perla Reserva Especial Selected, Falto Invicto, are some of the cigars in the Tabacalera Falto portfolio. Falto told THE WEEKLY JOURNAL that he uses premium tobacco from all over the world, mainly from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Brazil, Nicaragua and Cameroon. Your correspondent asked what distinguishes his products from the rest? “My concept is very different from most of many companies. First, I only make a very small production. Only 100 boxes of each of my 23 blends. That is why most people consider Falto Cigars an Ultra Boutique Premium Cigars. Second, when most companies do one blend and four or five sizes, I make one blend in only one size. This is because I consider that size to be the one that best develop and complement the blend that makes a cigar. I have 23 different blends and I only repeat sizes in three occasions. Still, they are all different blends,” Falto explained.
