Description
IN 1831, DON JOSÉ GENER Y BATET EMIGRATED TO CUBA FROM SPAIN AT THE AGE OF THIRTEEN, WHERE HE WORKED ON HIS UNCLE’S PLANTATION IN VUELTA ABAJO. TWENTY YEARS LATER, HE WOULD OPEN HIS OWN CIGAR FACTORY IN HAVANA AND BEGIN PRODUCING HIS OWN CIGAR LINE, LA ESCEPCIÓN. IN 1865, AFTER USING HIS FACTORY’S PROFITS TO ACQUIRE A TOBACCO FARM IN VUELTA ABAJO, HE REGISTERED A CIGAR LINE NAMED FOR IT: HOYO DE MONTERREY.LITERALLY TRANSLATED FROM SPANISH TO ENGLISH AS “THE HOLE OF MONTERREY” IN REFERENCE TO THE CONCAVE TERRAIN FAVOURED BY GROWERS OF PREMIUM TOBACCO, THE BRAND BECAME POPULAR, ESPECIALLY IN THE american MARKET AND JOSÉ GENER’S FACTORY SUBSEQUENTLY BECAME ONE OF THE LARGEST FACTORIES IN CUBA. IN 1900, GENER DIED IN SPAIN AND HIS DAUGHTER LUTGARDA GENER TOOK OVER THE BUSINESS AND IT WOULD STAY IN THE FAMILY FOR ANOTHER THIRTY YEARS.IN 1931, THE GENER FAMILY SOLD THEIR CIGAR BRANDS IN ORDER TO FOCUS MORE ON THEIR SUGARCANE PROPERTIES. THE FIRM OF FERNÁNDEZ, PALICIO Y CÍA BOUGHT THE HOYO DE MONTERREY AND LA ESCEPCIÓN BRANDS AND ADDED THEM TO THEIR IMPRESSIVE LINE-UP, WHICH ALREADY INCLUDED PUNCH AND BELINDA. AROUND THIS TIME, IN THE 1940S, THE LE HOYO SERIES (ALONG WITH THE CHATEAUX SERIES WHICH WOULD LATER BE USED TO CREATE THE DAVIDOFF CIGAR LINE) WAS CREATED FOR SWISS DISTRIBUTOR A. DÜRR CO. AFTER THE DEATH OF PARTNER RAMÓN FERNÁNDEZ, FERNANDO PALICIO BECAME SOLE PROPRIETOR OF THE BUSINESS AND BY 1958 HIS CIGAR LINES ACCOUNTED FOR 13% OF ALL HAVANA CIGAR EXPORTS.
