Hoyo de Monterrey owes its origin to the famous Vuelta Abajo tobacco region and the Hoyo de Monterrey plantation stationed there.
José Gener, who moved from Spain to Cuba when he was 13, opened his own cigar factory in Havana and began producing his own cigar line, La Escepción. In 1865 he used the profits from this factory to purchase one of the best tobacco farms in Vuelta Abajo. He then registered the cigar name Hoyo de Monterrey.
‘Hoyo’, meaning literally a ‘hole’ refers to the low-lying position of the plantation on the fertile banks of San Juan y Martínez river. The brand became extremely popular, especially in the British market, leading José Gener’s factory to become one of the largest factories in Cuba at the time.
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. After the revolutionary government of Cuba unilaterally nationalised all the cigar manufacturers in 1959, Fernando Palicio voluntarily left Cuba for Florida. He subsequently sold his cigar lines to the Villazon family. They are still produced to this day and continue to be very popular among cigar smokers.
