Dear Readers.

One of the most exquisit and prestigious cigars brands in the world is Cohiba.
The name Cohiba derives from the Taino word for "tobacco". (The Taínos were pre-Columbian inhabitants of the Bahamas, Greater Antilles, and the northern Lesser Antilles.).
Cohiba was created on 1966 under Ernesto Che Guevara's distinction. He had the position of Minister of Industries, in the newly born revolutionary Cuban government. Che selected the most outstanding specialists in terms of habanos, as Avelino Lara and Eduardo Rivero, from Larrañaga.
The tobacco used to fill the cigars is unique among Cuban marques because it undergoes a third fermentation process in barrels, which is reputed to give it a smoother flavor than other cigars. Originally all Cohíbas were made at the El Laguito factory, a converted mansion located on the outskirts of Havana. Later, production of some Cohiba vitolas was expanded to other factories.
Cohíba was originally a private brand supplied exclusively to Fidel Castro and high level Cuban government and communist party officials. Often given as diplomatic gifts, the Cohíba brand gradually developed a "cult" status. It was released commercially for sale to the public in 1982.

A little History Background.

Cohíba began with the cigars smoked by a bodyguard of Fidel Castro's named Bienvenido "Chicho" Perez. Castro noticed he often smoked a "very aromatic, very nice" cigar. When asked by Castro what brand he smoked, he replied that it was rolled by a friend of his who would give him some of these special cigars as gifts.

The man in question was a cigar roller working at La Corona factory in Havana named Eduardo Rivera. Castro approached Rivera about rolling cigars for him personally and set him up with five other rollers in a former diplomatic mansion in a suburb of Havana known as El Laguito (Spanish for "the little lake"). Later, the factory became the first cigar factory to be staffed entirely by women torcedoras (cigar rollers). Historically, security at the factory was tightly regulated, with only designated officials and workers allowed entry into the most critical work areas of the factory.

If  you guys are interested in purchasing Cuban Cohibas, please visit solocigars.com. It is the only online store that can provide a "Certificate of Origin"

With the nationalization of the Cuban tobacco industry along with all other businesses after the Cuban Revolution, many cigar makers fled the island and began growing tobacco with smuggled Cuban seed in the Dominican Republic and Honduras, taking the brand names of their cigars with them. Other Cuban businesses, big and small, also moved abroad.

In the 1990's, US-based cigar manufacturer General Cigar Company, Inc. began mass-marketing a Dominican-made cigar under the "Cohiba" name for the US market.

Cohiba cigars feature in the film Hotel Rwanda. Paul Rusesabagina has a box specially imported from Cuba to give as gifts to businessmen and diplomats. He says "If I give a businessman 10,000 francs, what is that to him, he is rich. But if I give him a Cohiba cigar, that is style."

Vitolas in the Cohíba Line

The following list of the Cohíba Cuban Cigars brand includes the size in inches and ring gauge with metric in parenthesis. Also, the vitola de galera or factory name of that size is included along with its popular size name in American cigar vocabulary.

La Línea Clásica

Lancero - 7 1/2" x 38 (192 x 15.08 mm) Laguito No. 1, a long panetela

Corona Especial - 6" x 38 (152 x 15.08 mm) Laguito No. 2, a panetela

Panetela - 4 1/2" x 26 (115 x 10.32 mm) Laguito No. 3, a cigarillo

Exquisito - 4 7/8" x 36 (125 x 14.29 mm) Seoane, a cigarillo

Robusto - 4 7/8" x 50 (124 x 19.84 mm) Robusto, a robusto or rothschild

Espléndido - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill

La Línea 1492

 

Siglo I - 4" x 40 (102 x 15.87 mm) Perla, a tres petit corona

Siglo II - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva, a petit corona

Siglo III - 6 1/8" x 42 (155 x 16.67 mm) Corona Grande, a long corona

Siglo IV - 5 5/8" x 46 (143 x 18.26 mm) Corona Gorda, a corona gorda

Siglo V - 6 3/4" x 43 (170 x 17.07 mm) Dalia, a lonsdale

Siglo VI - 5 7/8" x 52 (150 x 20.64 mm) Cañonazo, a toro

Maduro 5

 

Secretos - 4 1/2 x 40 (110 x 15.87 mm) Reyes, a tres petit corona

Magicos - 4 1/2" x 52 (115 x 20.64 mm) Magicos, a robusto or rothschild

Genios - 5 1/2 x 52 (140 X 20.64 mm) Estupendos, a robusto extra

Edición Limitada Releases

Pirámide (2001) - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo

Double Corona (2003) - 7 5/8" x 49 (194 x 19.45 mm) Prominente, a double corona

Sublime (2004) - 6 1/2" x 54 (164 x 21.43 mm) Sublime, a large toro

Pirámide (2006) - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo; a remake of the 2001 EL

Special Releases

Millennium Reserve Pirámide - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Pirámide, a pyramid or torpedo

Behike - 7 1/2" x 52 (192 x 20 mm) Behike, a double robusto.