Fire destroys two Fuente Tobacco warehouses

[riazp]

Here is an article about this from CA's website :

An early Tuesday morning fire burned down two large tobacco warehouses of Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia., the manufacturer of Fuente Fuente Opus X and Arturo Fuente cigars. The fire in Villa Gonzalez, near the company's main offices in Santiago, Dominican Republic, completely destroyed large inventories of aged tobacco and possibly caused smoke damage to some other nearby storage facilities.

"We don't really know how much tobacco we have lost," said Carlos Fuente Jr. in a telephone interview from the Dominican Republic today. "But it was a lot—a lot of tobacco."

Fuente Jr. declined to give any specific figures about the quantity or the dollar value of the tobacco lost. But, he said that it included bales of some irreplaceable tobacco that had been purchased in 1990 from a Connecticut grower and may have been harvested as long ago as 1960. Fuente Jr. said the tobacco was still being saved for some special projects. He added, however, that the bulk of the tobacco was regular filler leaves, and that there was very little wrapper tobacco in the burned buildings.

"It's just so sad. You save it. You wait. You save it some more. In my lifetime, we won't be able to recreate some of this tobacco," Fuente Jr. said.

He said that the company had been moving tobacco around to different warehouses in recent months to be sure that the leaves used in their products weren't all in the same place. But he admitted that fire would force them to cut back production for the next year, possibly even for two years. The company also makes cigars for the Ashton and J.C. Newman brands.

"At our current production levels, we just have to cut back so that we can maintain the consistency of our cigars," Fuente Jr. said. He added that they still had plenty of aged tobacco spread around other warehouses throughout the Dominican Republic, but the cutbacks were going to be necessary to ensure the consistency and quality of all the company's cigars.

Fuente Jr. said that Tabacalera A. Fuente production for 2011 was going to be in the range of 22 to 23 million cigars.

The company, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2012, has suffered nine fires during its history.

"Thank God, every one is okay, and no one was hurt," Fuente Jr. said. "So, we're doing pretty well. You just hate to see all that hard work lost."

Its a shame for such a great cigar family in the Dominican. I personally enjoy Fuente cigars quite a bit when it comes to NC's

[sg1234]

I will be smoking an Opus X belicoso tonight in memoriam.

[kiwirwe]

That is a shame for such a great cigar family, i have enjoy there cigar also.

[livedavid]

Just when you thought Opus X's could get any more expensive...

[frenchkiwi]

a great waste... but i suppose it was always going to be destroyed by fire...

[jedipastor]

Wow, this is a real shame.

[Maron76]

I wonder if that is where they kept the tobacco for their "God of Fire" cigars?

I am shocked this doesn't happen more frequently given that people can smoke cigars inside these places. Really is a damn shame though....

[77stoneblues]

One of the few NC brands I really do enjoy, the Anejo especially. That's really too bad.

[cigcars]

Though I don't have the patience to actually finish a Dominican cigar anymore these days, I do have gross respecto for Arturo Fuente and company smokes. Their product has withstood the test of time for decades and decades now. Before the "boom" started tobacconists and shop owners would almost lead you by the hand over to the Arturo Fuente cigar section for an always quality and tasty cigar experience. I truly respect the Fuentes' upbeat and positive attitude about what has happened. I feel for their loss.

[Puros Y Vino]

Quite a shame. All that hard work and prime material gone. That tobacco was meant to burn but not in such an extreme circumstance.

[IcedCanuck]

That is a terrible thing to have happen! At least they didn't keep all their eggs in the same basket and they will only have to decrease production as opposed to halting production. Although I have never tried said NCs before I have heard good things. I wonder if this means an increase in price on the horizon as well.

[Squarehead]

I don't like the way that tobacco was burnt.

[Bunner]

wow that would suck you cant make up for 50 years. I love the anejos so hopefully this doesnt triple the prices.

[thechenman]

I wonder if it was arson...the reason why there are so many armed guards on the fincas I'm told is to keep disgruntled employees or former employees from putting fire to the tobacco barns. Apparently it is a real and significant fear as one barn can contain millions of dollars of tobacco leaves. Truly tragic, but like Fuente jr. said...most importantly no one was physically hurt. Must have been one aromatic fire though.

[SCgarman]

I cannot decide which tragedy was worse, this or the Chicago customs burning up 100 thousand seized Cuban cigars!

[cigcars]

I cannot decide which tragedy was worse, this or the Chicago customs burning up 100 thousand seized Cuban cigars!

*I'm reasonably certain we can take comfort in the great possibility those 100,000 Habanos seized were destroyed in "small fires" one by one.