Cigar History

From Indigenous tobacco culture to the factories of nineteenth-century Havana, a concise history of how Cuban cigars earned their reputation.

Created in the 1960s and released to the public in the 1980s, Cohiba is a young marque with a well-told — and partly disputed — origin story.

Founded in 1935 and reputedly named after a novel read aloud in Havana factories, Montecristo made numbered sizes famous.

From its 1875 founding to its long association with Winston Churchill, the story of one of Havana’s most recognisable marques.

Founded by Jaime Partagás in 1845, the marque is known for a fuller style and for the Serie D No. 4 Robusto.

Dated to 1844 and named for Hermann Upmann, the marque grew out of a banking family’s Havana interests.

Founded by José Gener in 1865 and named after a Vuelta Abajo plantation, Hoyo de Monterrey is known for a lighter style.