Victor de la Cruz

Victor de la Cruz (born December 23, 1956) is a master blender of premium cigars. Victor worked for Davidoff for over 20 years mastering his skills and rising to the top of the company. While working for Davidoff, Victor de la Cruz oversaw all National and International Quality Control for the entire brand.

Childhood

Victor de la Cruz began working with tobacco at a young age.

Victor's birthplace of Tamboril, Dominican Republic is one of the epicenters for cigar making.

Born to tobacco farmers, Victor started helping his father and mother grow, roll and blend cigars at the age of 9 years old.

Victor is the 4th generation in his family to work with tobacco. Victor's great-grandfather moved to the town of Tamboril and began work as a tobacco farmer.

Victor's son, Hardy, represents the 5th generation of de la Cruz family members to embark on the career of tobacco blending.

Experience

Master blender

During his 20 plus years at Davidoff, Victor studied under the tutelage of the legendary, world-renowned Master Blender Hendrik Kelner.

At Davidoff, Victor rose in status and oversaw all quality control, both nationally and internationally, for all Davidoff tobacco products.

As a master blender and top cigar roller, Victor traveled the entire world entertaining famous clients, blending cigars, and teaching about premium tobaccos on behalf of Davidoff.

High profile clients

Victor de la Cruz represented Davidoff at events in the USA, Europe, China, the Middle East, Argentina and Canada.

In his travels, Victor has rolled and blended cigars for President Bill Clinton, Princess Diana, Nelson Mandela, Sean Connery, Rudy Giuliani and many others.

Tabacalera L&V

In 2004, Victor decided to set off on his fulfill a lifelong dream of creating his own brand of top quality cigars.

With the blessing of his mentor, Davidoff's Hendrik Kelner, Victor teamed up with his childhood friend, Leandro Compres, and began Tabacalera L&V (the "L" stands for Leandro and the "V" satands for Victor).

Cigars

Aside from blending and creating some of Davidoff's world renowned cigars, Victor is now making exclusive cigars of his own.

Victor has decided to only take on a small client base. Tabacalera L&V creates a small batch of cigars for an anonymous ambassador in Australia and a wealthy industrialist in Argentina.

Victor de la Cruz has just released his newest blend Cocinero Liga Especial and currently these cigars are being sold only in Geneva, Switzerland and the United States.

Late 2007 saw the release of Victor's ultra-premium La Princesa de Cuba brand.

La Princesa de Cuba is a limited edition blend of cigars and is currently only available in London, Rome, Paris and a few select retailers within the United States.