In 1916 Don Santiago Toraño emigrated from Spain to Cuba. Santiago became involved in tobacco as a broker of leaf tobacco. Over the years he was blessed with having three sons, Jaime, Jose and  my father Carlos. All of them became involved in the tobacco business. Over the years, the Toraño family became one of the biggest and most well known growers of Cuban tobacco leaf.  By the time of the revolution in 1959, the Toraño family owned and operated approximately 17 farms throughout Cuba.