"Cigars are no longer just for the seasoned smoker.      They have become a staple in society for rookies and veterans alike,        representing an air of character, class and pleasure. Whether it's a          satisfying smoke after dinner, during a round of golf, or out at the          bar for drinks, cigars are the perfect complement to your lifestyle        because that is exactly what defines cigar smoking:      -- your lifestyle. Welcome to the good life!"
COHIBA CIGARS
COHIBA CIGARS

Year of Foundation: 1966

Tobacco Country: Cuba

Tobacco Procedence: Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Rio)

Cigar Factory: El Laguito / Fernando Perez German


Cuban Cohíba cigars are known to use some of the finest cigar tobacco available in Cuba. The tobacco for Cohíba is selected from the finest Vegas Finas de Primera (first-class tobacco fields) in the San Luis & San Juan y Martinez zones of the Vuelta Abajo region of Pinar del Río Province.

The tobacco used to fill the cigars is unique among Cuban cigar brands because it undergoes a third fermentation process in barrels, to give it a smoother flavor than other Cuban cigars.

Originally all Cohíbas were made at the El Laguito factory, a converted mansion located on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba. Later, production of some Cohiba vitolas was expanded to other factories. The flavour of these Cuban cigars tends towards medium to full-bodied.

Cohíba began with the Cuban 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 cigar brand he smoked, he replied that it was rolled by a friend of his who would give him some of these special Cuban cigars as gifts. The man in question was a cigar roller working at the 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 Cuban 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.

These Cuban cigars were reserved for Castro and other high-ranking Cuban officials, and were often presented to foreign dignitaries as gifts. Additionally, with rumors and fears of a CIA assassination attempt running rampant, it made sense for Castro to smoke only cigars that were manufactured under extremely secure and secretive conditions. (The CIA had allegedly contemplated using exploding cigars as a means of assassinating Castro). Castro himself is said to be particularly fond of the long, thin cigars rolled for him, especially the sizes that would become the Lancero and Corona Especial.

Castro decided to release his personal Cuban cigars as a premium cigar brand for public consumption when the 1982 World Cup was held in Spain.

When first launched in 1982 the Cohiba brand consisted of three vitolas or sizes: the Panetela, the Corona Especial, and the Lancero. In 1989 three more vitolas, the Robusto, the Exquisito, and the Espléndido, were added; the six are referred to as the Línea Clásica (classic line).
In 1992 Habanos SA launched the first sizes in what it calls the Línea 1492, commemorating Christopher Columbus and his voyage to the Americas, with each size named for a century since Columbus' discovery. The initial launch included the Siglo I, Siglo II, Siglo III, Siglo IV, and Siglo V, with a Siglo VI added in 2002. A long-standing rumor is that the original Línea 1492 was a replacement for the Davidoff brand that recently ceased production in Cuba (each of the first five "Siglos" corresponded to a size in the Davidoff line-up).

Besides regular production, Habanos SA regularly releases limited release Cohíba cigars for such events as the annual Habanos Festival, brand anniversaries, and their annual Edición Limitada (limited edition) release of special sizes of their various cigar brands wrapped in a darker vintage leaf. In 2007, Habanos released a new line of maduro-wrapped Cohibas, called "Maduro 5," in three sizes.

Cohíba also produces two machine-made cigarillos: the Mini and the Club.

Habanos SA have used their Cohiba brand name for non-cigar products, manufacturing Cohiba cigarettes since 1987 and Extra Cohiba Cognac since 1999.

As of late 2006 Cohíba had released three different Edición Limitada Cohíbas: the Pirámide released in 2001 and re-released in 2006, the Double Corona in 2003, and the Sublime in 2004.