Manuel Quesada at his office in Santiago de los Caballeros, Dominican Republic.
Photographer: Dennis M. Rivera Pichardo/BloombergGet Ready for the Cuban Cigar Wars
As Trump mulls changes to Obama’s opening, a legendary exile prepares to confront his communist rivals in the American market.
Manuel Quesada puffs on one of his creations—a funky-looking thing called a Q D’etat—as he tells a story about the Cubans getting under his skin. It was at a dinner last year in Germany, when Cigar Journal honored him with a lifetime achievement award. Everyone rose for a standing ovation, except the people at the Cubatabaco table, the representatives of the state-run monopoly.
To be fair, the presenter had just recounted how the Quesada family had to flee the island in 1960, their business having been seized by gun-toting forces loyal to Fidel Castro. It was a decidedly uncomfortable several few seconds, ending only when an executive from another table scurried over and persuaded the Cubans to get to their feet.