Fuente Releasing Special Don Carlos Selection To Commemorate 50 Years Of the Brand
Fifty years ago, Arturo Fuente cigars sold its first Don Carlos, a cigar brand that has become a mainstay for serious cigar smokers around the world. Now, Fuente is shipping a special commemorative collection of cigars for Father’s Day called Father And Son, 2026 Historic Collection, and the star smokes in the box are a pair of unique Don Carlos cigars created to celebrate that 50-year milestone.
“It has two special, never-seen Don Carlos The Man, honoring 50 years of the first Don Carlos cigar,” Carlos Fuente Jr. told Cigar Aficionado. Don Carlos cigars were named after his father, Carlos Fuente Sr., who ran Fuente for decades and took over its ownership from the founder, Arturo Fuente. Fuente Sr. died in 2016 at the age of 81, and today his son runs the business.
While cigar lovers know the Don Carlos brand as a Dominican cigar, the original ones were made before Fuente even opened its hallmark cigar factory in Santiago, Dominican Republic. “The first [Don Carlos] sold in 1976 was made in Estelí, Nicaragua,” says Fuente Jr.
The special Don Carlos The Man cigars in this sampler have white foot bands and distinctive “Cuban Tickler” heads, first seen on Fuente’s OpusX BBMF size. The Man is wrapped in Cameroon leaf and measures 5 7/8 inches long by 52 ring.
In addition to the special Don Carlos cigars, there is also a new size in the company’s 25th anniversary OpusX line, adorned with a green band, called the Double Robusto, as well as other standout smokes from the Fuente line, such as a pair of Arturo Fuente Don Arturo Gran AniverXario cigars. “To honor my father’s father, my beloved grandfather,” says Fuente Jr.
In addition, there is an Arturo Fuente Don Carlos The Man (92 points, Cigar Aficionado), a new Fuente Sangre de Toro Puro Cojones, a 20th Anniversary OpusX (blue label) and the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos 90 Años Robusto Extra, which has both a Cameroon and a Dominican Corojo wrapper. It scored 91 points in a recent Cigar Insider taste test.
There are 10 cigars in all in the box, which has reproduction signatures of both Fuente Sr. and Fuente Jr., and their nicknames: The Man (for Fuente Sr.) and The Toymaker for Fuente Jr. The inside lid has images of both Fuentes, father and son.
“I want people to enjoy, celebrate and be able to sit back and remember their father if he’s no longer with us, your son if he is serving or not near, but most important, capture the bond between a father and son or vice versa,” says Fuente Jr. “The relationship of a father and son is so important to me.”
The sampler retails for $275, before taxes.
