A look at the luxury cigar brand Cohiba

The house of Cohiba has been producing cigars since 1966. From 1982 it sold them worldwide and became the best known cigar brand in the world, a standing the brand puts down to its flavours and aromas.

The early days of the house of Cohiba

In 1966 the state-owned company Cohiba was producing cigars on Cuban soil. One of Fidel Castro's bodyguards was smoking one of them when the leader walked past and, noticing the smell, asked to take a draw. He then asked the man what he was smoking, and was told it was a cigar given to him by a friend. Castro set out to find that friend in order to identify the maker. That was how they met Eduardo Rivera, who explained to them how these cigars were produced.

The first task Castro entrusted to Che Guevara was therefore to recruit the best agronomists, master cigar makers and factories, with the aim of producing cigars for senior officials. The first Cohiba cigars were thus made exclusively for the private consumption of Fidel Castro. The only way to obtain one was as a gift from the head of state, as a diplomatic present. Che Guevara never got to try one: he was executed before the first Cohiba cigar appeared. The name Cohiba, incidentally, comes from the word the indigenous people of Cuba used for tobacco leaves.

The first three cigars to be created were the Lanceros, the Coronas Especiales and the Panetelas. The commercial breakthrough came in 1982, when the brand was marketed worldwide as a premium name during the football World Cup in Spain. Since then, even though the manufacturing rules have become less strict, the values Cohiba stands for have remained the same and its requirements are as demanding as ever.

How Cohiba tobacco built the reputation of its cigars

Exacting about the tobacco it uses, the house long kept the location of its growing land secret. It is now known to be Vegas Finas de Primera, a field of more than 283 hectares. According to some accounts, Che Guevara's insistence on keeping the location secret came from plans to assassinate senior figures with exploding cigars.

It is now known that the tobacco used, in particular for the filler, undergoes a triple fermentation in wooden barrels, which the house says gives it its distinctive aromas.

Success and a few new cigars later

Cohiba quickly met with worldwide success, to the point that the range needed renewing. Three new cigars were produced: the Robusto, the Exquisito and the Esplendido. In all, 6 models are now sold as part of the Linea Clasica.

In 1992 a new range, the Linea 1492, was launched to mark the 500th anniversary of the discovery of Cuba by Christopher Columbus. Five new cigars, the Siglo I to V, belong to that Linea 1492, and in 2002 the Siglo VI was added to it. Today the brand runs 4 series: Linea Clasica, Linea 1492, Maduro 5 and the Cohiba Behike BHK Series. The last of these gathers the most expensive cigars Cohiba produces.

To meet growing demand and reach a wider audience, Cohiba has diversified into machine-made cigars, small cigarillos, cigarettes and cognac. Cohiba is now one of the luxury brands known worldwide and is firmly established in the history of Cuban cigars.