Cuba

Cuba set the standard every other cigar country gets measured against, and its brands are the most famous names in the business. Every Cuban cigar sold for export goes through Habanos S.A., the company that holds the brands.

Where it grows

Pinar del Río, at the western end of the island, grows the most prized tobacco, and its Vuelta Abajo district is the name to know. San Juan y Martínez and San Luis are the towns inside it with the most famous farms. Partido, closer to Havana, grows shade wrapper, and Remedios, in the middle of the island, grows lighter filler.

The style

Cuban cigars are made entirely from Cuban tobacco, and the good ones have an earthy, leathery character that's hard to describe and easy to recognize.

Buying them

The US embargo means American retailers can't sell Cuban cigars, so my Cuban reviews have no buy table. I smoke them when I travel.

Names you'll see

Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, Romeo y Julieta, H. Upmann, Bolívar and Hoyo de Monterrey. Several of those names also appear on cigars made in the Dominican Republic or Honduras. In most cases the original owners took the brand names with them after the revolution, so a Montecristo in a US shop was rolled somewhere else.