Yvonne and Yvette Rodriguez, twin sisters and co-owners of Tres Lindas Cubanas Cigars have set the traditional cigar industry ablaze as the first female, Afro-Cuban-American sisters to ever launch a brand of cigars in the U.S. Inspired by their Cuban culture and cigar smoking grandmother, the twin sisters have successfully added a new female faces to a male-dominated industry. 

As the daughters of Cuban immigrants, the first-generation siblings launched their brand to tell the world about their fondest family memories which consisted of cigars, dominoes, and Cuban music. The name of the brand, Tres Lindas Cubanas, translates to Three Pretty Cuban Girls and is also the title of an old ‘Danzon’ which was regularly played in their household growing up. “This is how we learned about Cuba. My grandmother smoked cigars in her homeland. When she exiled to Miami with my mother, she continued to smoke cigars. Not being able to travel to their country, my sister and I adopted the Cuban culture by the stories they shared with us as well as the music and the food” says Yvonne.

Launching a female owned cigar brand did not come easy, especially in a male-driven industry, but the Miami-based sisters used what made them stand out as a unique benefit. In addition to highlighting their culture, the sisters wanted to make sure that their cigars celebrated Black women. They named each of their blends as homage to the diversity among Cubans: La Negrita, La Mulata and La Clarita. 

They also created the three blends by listening to the daily habits their target consumer. They gave cigar smokers options to sip their morning espresso while puffing the Connecticut blend-‘La Clarita’, savor the Habano blend-‘La Mulata’ during lunch and pair the Maduro blend-‘La Negrita’ with their after dinner night cap.

In addition to launching their own lifestyle YouTube Channel, the Rodriguez sisters have grown their brand to grow beyond cigars.  They formed Afro Latino Professionals, a networking organization to strengthen the professional community of Afro-Latinos. They also extended their product line to include classic full-body artisanal Cuban coffee to pair with cigars.

Read on to shop the brand’s selection of premium cigars and café, so authentic they’ll transport you to the the colorful streets of Havana. 

Image: courtesy of Tres Lindas Cubanas

Tres Lindas Cubanas La Negrita, La Mulata and La Clarita cigars $60 for assorted blends, treslindascubanascigars.com

Image: courtesy of Tres Lindas Cubanas 

Tres Lindas Cubanas Caribbean Queens Dark-Roast Espresso $15, treslindascubanascigars.com