Cohiba

Habanos dates the creation of Cohiba to 1966 and writes that the brand was, for many years, reserved for gifts offered to government figures and to President Fidel Castro. The origin of the cigar is told in two ways. Castro says in 1994 that one of his bodyguards smoked a very aromatic cigar, rolled for him by a friend for his personal use; he had its blend and wrappers studied, and a factory was founded around him. The torcedor Eduardo Rivera says in 1995 that, in the early 1960s, a friend gave one of his cigars to Fidel, who smoked nothing else afterwards; he was then rolling at La Corona, in Havana, before moving to El Laguito. The specialist press cites Tito, Nasser, Luis Echeverría and Omar Torrijos among the recipients of these gifts, and, in 1974, a box handed to American emissaries for Henry Kissinger; Castro says in 1994 that he gives mostly Cohiba.

Habanos writes that, since 1982, the year the brand was presented in several countries, Cohiba has been available to smokers, in limited quantities. The specialist press places this first sale in Spain, at the time of the World Cup, with three formats, Lancero, Corona Especial and Panetela; Robusto, Exquisito and Espléndido joined them in 1989. Some accounts date the name to 1968 rather than 1966. The name comes from a Taíno word for the rolled tobacco leaves that Columbus saw in Cuba in 1492; Habanos sees in it the first name of tobacco.

Habanos writes that Cohiba is the only one of its brands in which two of the three types of leaf used, the seco and the ligero, undergo an additional fermentation, which gives the brand a recognisable aroma and flavour. The leaves are, it says, the selection of the selection of the best vegas of San Juan y Martínez and San Luis, in the Vuelta Abajo. The specialist press, for its part, speaks of a third fermentation in barrels, decided at El Laguito in 1965-1966 to soften the taste.

El Laguito employed only torcedoras for a time, the specialist press writes in 2016. The factory is normally closed to the general public: Habanos organises guided visits there for participants in its events, as in September 2022 for the brand's 55th anniversary.

The black and yellow band is the visual signature of the brand. In 2014 Habanos introduced a new hologram band, first on the Pirámides Extra and then across the whole Línea Clásica and Línea 1492, so as to trace each cigar better; the Behike line had carried, since 2010, its own band with reinforced security measures.

The Behike line, launched in 2010, is described by Habanos as the most exclusive it has launched. It is the first in the brand to bring the medio tiempo into its blend, a leaf taken from the two uppermost leaves of the sun-grown tobacco plant. It was born with three formats, BHK 52, 54 and 56, rolled at El Laguito; a fourth, the BHK 58 (58 x 178 mm), presented at the Festival del Habano in February 2025, was sold for the first time in Switzerland from February 2026, in a boxed set of four formats celebrating fifteen years of the line.

Where is it rolled? In Cuba the question has a two-storey answer. Since 2002 each Habanos brand has had a mother factory, responsible for leaf selection and blend, and its cigars may be rolled in any of the island's few dozen factories under the mother's supervision; Habanos does not publish that map, the trade press reconstructs it. Its factory is El Laguito, in a former mansion in western Havana: the official Habanos page says Cohiba has been made there since 1966, other sources speak of 1967, and the press places the mansion sometimes in Cubanacán, sometimes in Siboney or Miramar. Since 2019 Habanos has placed it among its six global brands, sold in all its markets and in every Casa del Habano. The trade press notes that some sizes have also been rolled at the H. Upmann factory and at Partagás; El Laguito remains the mother.

In a press release dated 8 October 2026, Habanos announces the worldwide launch of the Talismán in London on 7 October, the first milestone of the Cohiba year marking the brand's sixtieth anniversary: this Sublimes No. 1 (54 x 154 mm), released as a limited edition in 2017, becomes the ninth vitola of the Línea Clásica.

Range Depth

• Behike BHK

  Wrapper Cuba (Vuelta Abajo) · Strength Full

  Launched in 2010, the Behike line is described by Habanos as the most exclusive it has launched, and the first to bring the medio tiempo into its blend. BHK 52, 54 and 56 are rolled at El Laguito; the BHK 58 (58 x 178 mm), presented in February 2025, joined the line with a first sale in Switzerland in February 2026.

  BHK 52 · BHK 54 · BHK 56 · BHK 58

• Línea Clásica

  Wrapper Cuba (Vuelta Abajo) · Strength Medium-Full

  The original range, developed from 1966 to 1989 according to Habanos, of medium to full strength. When it went on sale, the brand had only three formats: the Lancero (Laguito No. 1), the Corona Especial and the Panetela; Robusto, Exquisito and Espléndido joined them in 1989. The Lancero takes the shape of the original cigar, long, thin and with a twisted head, Newsweek writes in 2016. The Pirámides Extra (54 x 160 mm), the first figurado of the permanent range, was added in 2012 and the Talismán (54 x 154 mm) in October 2026.

  Lancero · Coronas Especiales · Panetelas · Robustos · Exquisitos · Espléndidos · Pirámides Extra · Talismán

• Línea 1492

  Wrapper Cuba (Vuelta Abajo) · Strength Medium

  Launched in 1992 for the fifth centenary of Columbus's arrival in Cuba, of medium strength according to Habanos. Each Siglo bears the name of a century since 1492: the Siglo I to V appeared originally, and the Siglo VI (52 x 150 mm) was added in 2002.

  Siglo I · Siglo II · Siglo III · Siglo IV · Siglo V · Siglo VI

• Maduro 5

  Wrapper Cuba, maduro aged 5 years · Strength Medium-Full

  Presented by Habanos in February 2007, at the Festival del Habano, the Maduro 5 line has three formats: Genios (140 x 52 mm), Mágicos (115 x 52 mm) and Secretos (100 x 40 mm). Its wrapper comes from the upper leaves of the plant; it owes its dark shade to a long natural fermentation and to five years of ageing, says Habanos. The band carries a black edging marked Maduro 5.

  Genios · Mágicos · Secretos

🥃 Pairings

• Hennessy XO Cognac

  Spirits

  The roundness of cognac accompanies the power of a Behike, which the official Habanos page says is strong. A classic pairing for great occasions.

• Ron Santiago de Cuba 12 years

  Rum

  The natural pairing — two Cuban products. Notes of cane and tobacco in resonance.

• Cuban cortadito

  Coffee

  The soft bitterness of Cuban coffee goes well with a Siglo III after a meal.

👤 Associated figures

• Fidel Castro

  Cohiba was born for Castro, who gave it as a gift: in a 1994 interview, he says he mostly gives Cohiba. He stopped smoking on 26 August 1985, during a national campaign against smoking, to set an example, he explained.

• Che Guevara

  Che Guevara is associated with the Cuban cigar, notably through the portrait that René Burri took of him in 1963 for Look magazine. That cigar was a habano from before the brand: Cohiba dates from 1966, Guevara had left Cuba in 1965 and was executed in Bolivia on 9 October 1967. Press accounts write that Castro gave the first cigars of what became Cohiba to his lieutenants, Che included; the official Habanos page says nothing of it.

✨ Notable limited editions

• Cohiba Sublimes Edición Limitada 2004
• Cohiba 1966 Edición Limitada 2011
• Cohiba 55 Aniversario Edición Limitada 2021
• Cohiba Siglo VI Gran Reserva Cosecha 2003 (2009)