La Cigarrera
Sherry Country | Andalucía
La Cigarrera is a historic, family-owned winery in the heart of Sanlúcar de Barrameda known for being a benchmark producer of Manzanilla. Its name is a tribute to the women who worked in the tobacco factories of Seville and Cádiz during the 17th and 19th centuries, and to the cigarreras who hand-rolled tobacco and sold it in the streets wearing their traditional Andalucían dresses.
Introducing the Estate
Leading A Storied Winery
Ignacio Hidalgo is a ninth-generation cellar master and one of the very first almacenista producers to begin bottling Manzanilla under his own label once it was allowed by law in 1998. Previously, the wines were sold to other famous Manzanilla houses, including the negociant house Lustau, for bottling under their labels.
History & Origins
Nine Generations In The Making
In 1758, Don Josep Colóm Darbó, a native of Barcelona, settled in Sanlúcar de Barrameda and took on a long-term lease of several properties owned by the Dominican Order. He began an almacenista operation, which he and his sons named “Colóm y Compañía.” The current 500-barrel solera was started in 1891 by Manuel Hidalgo Colóm, the great-grandfather of ninth-generation Ignacio Hidalgo, who runs the house today.
Located in the heart of Sanlúcar’s historic center, right on the boundary dividing the Upper Quarter (Barrio Alto) from the Lower Quarter (Barrio Bajo), the La Cigarrera winery consists of three aging cellars arranged around the original 18th-century Andalucian courtyard. Throughout its history, La Cigarrera has never moved from its original location in the heart of Sanlúcar, making it among the oldest wineries in the town still operating out of its original home.
From its beginnings in the 18th century, the winery was an almacenista, dedicated to the business of aging wine that it later sold to other houses to bottle under their own brands. In 1998, following a change in D.O. bylaws, Ignacio Hidalgo spearheaded a shift to bottling their own wines so that he could sell a higher quality wine directly to the market, and La Cigarrera has been doing so ever since.
The Vision Behind La Cigarrera
Rooted In Tradition And Terroir
The two keys to La Cigarrera’s quality are the exceptional raw materials they use and their location.
Manzanilla can only be produced in the town of Sanlúcar de Barrameda, and within its borders, La Cigarrera’s Manzanilla is produced exclusively from the highest-quality vineyards in the Jerez Superior Denomination of Origin.
Along with the origin of the grapes, to be labeled as D.O. Manzanilla wines must also be aged in Sanlúcar due to its particular climate and the influence of other important factors such as the mouth of the Guadalquivir River, westerly winds laden with Atlantic humidity, and marshy wetlands. The town has its own very special flor that grows year-round on the wines, but its growth is affected by subtle differences in location and microclimate within the town itself.
According to experts, wineries located in the Barrio Bajo such as La Cigarrera develop a thicker flor, likely because of stronger humid winds and the higher water table. It refines and slowly transforms their Manzanilla, giving it its unmistakable dry, sharp, and salty character.
Process & Philosophy
Standards And Treasures
La Cigarrera makes a robust, fine, and complex five-year-old Manzanilla, which has become one of the top references in the region. Other bottlings included a saline and bright Amontillado, a rich Oloroso, and a decadent Pedro Ximénez.
Special bottlings include a very rare Manzanilla Pasada and Amontillado Viejo VOS, which comes from the sacristía: this is the Hidalgo family’s treasured store of the family’s oldest wines, passed down through the generations. The Amontillado Viejo began its life as a special barrel for Ignacio’s grandmother, and has never been sold until its recent release.
Mixology
Sherry Built for the Modern Bar
Amid the renaissance of quality, ingredients-focused beverage programs, sherry is too often an afterthought. It’s our belief that if provenance and quality matter for the rest of a cocktail’s ingredients, then the sherry used in bar programs should meet the same standards of quality and authenticity.
To support bartenders with the best possible raw materials, we offer the core La Cigarrera range of Manzanilla, Amontillado, Oloroso, and Pedro Ximénez in a unique one-liter bottle format. This initiative fills a major gap in the mixology landscape by providing quality, small-batch sherry at an approachable cost per ounce. The liter format is ideal for innovative and quality-minded mixologists and bar programs, as well as high-volume restaurants with a focus on sherry by the glass. Combined with easier service and reduced waste, the larger format delivers value across every category.
Products
Sherry
La Cigarrera Manzanilla
La Cigarrera Manzanilla 1L
La Cigarrera Amontillado 1L
La Cigarrera Oloroso 1L
La Cigarrera Pedro Ximénez 1L
La Cigarrera Manzanilla Pasada
