Cuaba is the name of a

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and Fermentation, fermented tobacco leaves made to be Tobacco smoking, smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct comp ...

brand produced in

for

Habanos SA Habanos S.A. is a Cuban manufacturing company of tobacco that controls the promotion, distribution, and export of premium cigars and other tobacco products for Cuba worldwide. It was established in 1994. Ownership of Habanos S.A. is split equall ...

, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.

History

Cuaba was officially launched by Habanos president Francisco Linares on November 19, 1996, at

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, as an all-perfecto line of cigars. Perfectos are cigars that are closed at both ends, with a rounded head. The brand was launched in an attempt to revive figurados, which had initially been very popular in the early 20th century but had declined since about the 1950s. For the release party, the creator of the line, Carlos Izquierdo González, and fourteen other highly skilled ''torcedores'' (cigar rollers) demonstrated making figurado cigars. The original Cuabas were of slightly differing sizes within the same box, due to a cigar mold not being used to press them into shape. When molds were finally made for Cuaba around a year later, these original non-molded cigars became great collectors' items. González claims he styled the Cuaba blend after

Montecristo Montecristo, also Monte Cristo (, ) and formerly Oglasa (), is an island in the Tyrrhenian Sea and part of the Tuscan Archipelago. Administratively it belongs to the comune, municipality of Portoferraio in the province of Livorno, Italy. The isl ...

, but most cigar connoisseurs believe the blend used is more similar in taste to Romeo y Julieta. Unsurprisingly, most Cuaba cigars are manufactured in the Briones Montoto (Romeo y Julieta) factory. In 1998, Cuaba had the distinction of being one of the cigar brands chosen to be released with a special vitola (the Distinguidos) in a Millennium Reserve ceramic jar humidor and is often a brand chosen for special releases and humidors.

Construction

All Cuaba cigars are made at the Briones Montoto (Romeo y Julieta) factory in Havana Cuba using tobacco sourced from the Vuelta Abajo (Pinar del Rio). Each Cuaba cigar is hand-made, using only Grade 7 rollers (the highest certification).Mara, Will, ''Cubans: The Ultimate Cigars'', New York: Lyons Press, (1998), p. 88

''Vitolas'' in the Cuaba Line

The following list of vitolas de salida (commercial vitolas) within the Cuaba marque lists their size and ring gauge in Imperial (and Metric), their vitolas de galera (factory vitolas), and their common name in American cigar slang. ''Hand-Made Vitolas'' *Diademas - 9" × 55 (232 × 21.83 mm), Diademas, a giant perfecto *Distinguidos - 6" × 52 (162 × 20.64 mm), Romeos, a perfecto *Divinos - 4" × 43 (102 × 17.07 mm), Petit Bouquet, a petit perfecto *Exclusivos - 5" × 46 (146 × 18.26 mm), Exquisitos, a perfecto *Generosos - 5" × 42 (133 × 16.67 mm), Generosos, a perfecto *Salomónes I - 7" × 57 (184 × 22.62 mm), Salomónes, a double perfecto *Tradicionales - 4" × 42 (121 × 16.67 mm), Favoritos, a petit perfecto

References

* Nee, Min Ron - ''An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars'' (2003, Reprinted: 2005), {{ISBN, 3-9809308-2-3

External links

Official website of Habanos S.A.

Cuban Cigar Website
Habanos S.A. brands 1996 establishments in Cuba Products introduced in 1996

History

Construction

''Vitolas'' in the Cuaba Line

See also

References

External links