Cohiba USA

Cohiba USA is an intellectual property case in the tobacco industry: two companies claim the same name, the Cuban state company Cubatabaco (Empresa Cubana del Tabaco) and the American General Cigar Company, and their dispute, which began in 1997, has seen conflicting decisions in several federal courts.

General Cigar Company filed the COHIBA trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office on 13 March 1978; the registration dates from 17 February 1981. Cubatabaco had filed its own in Cuba in September 1969 and obtained registration on 31 May 1972, the specialist press recalls in connection with the 2025 decision. General Cigar developed its own Cohiba line for the American market, at first rolled only in the Dominican Republic.

In January 1997 Cubatabaco applied to the Trademark Office to register COHIBA and to cancel General Cigar's marks, then sued General Cigar in the federal court for the Southern District of New York on 12 November 1997. In March 2004, Judge Robert Sweet barred General Cigar from using the mark and cancelled its registrations; in February 2005, the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit reversed that decision, holding that the embargo bars a Cuban company from acquiring property rights in the United States. The case, reopened in 2008, saw Judge Sweet again rule in favour of Cubatabaco in December 2009, then the Court of Appeals rule in favour of General Cigar in July 2010. Before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB), Cubatabaco's cancellation petition was rejected in March 2013; the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit set aside that rejection on 4 June 2014, and the Supreme Court declined to hear General Cigar's appeal on 23 February 2015. In December 2022, the TTAB ordered the cancellation of both of General Cigar's American registrations, on the basis of the 1929 Inter-American Convention. In February 2023 General Cigar brought the matter before the federal court for the Eastern District of Virginia, which upheld that cancellation in May 2025 (Judge Leonie Brinkema); General Cigar has appealed to the Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. STG, its parent company, says that the federal registrations remain valid during the appeal and that the rights arising from the prolonged use of the mark in the United States are not affected.

An American Cohiba is made outside Cuba: in the Dominican Republic for the Red Dot, Blue and Macassar (the Blue at General Cigar Dominicana, in Santiago), in Nicaragua at STG Estelí for the Nicaragua and the Riviera, in Honduras for the Royale and the Rubicon, and in Miami, at El Titan de Bronze, for the Serie M. The website cohiba.com, which in 2026 carries the copyright of Forged Cigar Co., Inc., lists nine permanent lines (Red Dot, Riviera, Blue, Macassar, Black, Nicaragua, Royale, Connecticut, Rubicon), four limited editions (Spectre, Weller, Serie M, C8) and three discontinued lines. Cigar Coop writes in August 2026 that STG transferred the brand from General Cigar Company to Forged Cigar Company, another subsidiary of the group.

In October 2026, the American version of Cohiba is sold in Europe under the name Silencio, which STG, of which General Cigar has been part since 2010, chose for it, says Sean Williams, master blender at STG, in November 2022. Two lines were launched there, Red Dot, which makes up 60% of its sales according to him, and Black; Cigarworld lists under Silencio the series Red Dot, Black, Los Rios, Blue, Riviera and Series M. In the United States, Silencio is the name of Williams's signature blend.

Range Depth

• Cohiba Blue

  Wrapper Honduras (OSA)

  Launched in April 2017: wrapper and binder from Honduras (Olancho San Agustín), filler from Honduras (Jamastrán), Nicaragua (Ometepe) and the Dominican Republic (Piloto Cubano), rolled at General Cigar Dominicana, in Santiago. The house describes it in 2026 with the phrase “Luxury without the pretense”.

• Cohiba Red Dot

  Wrapper Cameroon

  Cameroon wrapper over an Indonesian binder (Jember) and Dominican filler, rolled in the Dominican Republic by General Cigar, according to the retailer Corona Cigar Co. The house describes it in 2026 with the phrase “A modern classic”.

• Cohiba Macassar

  Wrapper Connecticut (Havana seed)

  Presented at IPCPR 2016: Connecticut Havana-seed wrapper, Connecticut Broadleaf binder aged six years, filler from the Dominican Republic (Mao) and Nicaragua (Jalapa); the tobaccos age for at least four years, the last year in a rum barrel, writes Cigar Coop. Its blend derives from that of the Comador, which the Macassar replaces.

• Cohiba Nicaragua

  Wrapper Honduras (Colorado oscuro)

  Presented at IPCPR 2014 as the first Cohiba made in Nicaragua, at STG Estelí: wrapper from Honduras (sun-grown Colorado oscuro leaf), binder from Jalapa, filler from Estelí (and from Jalapa according to Cigar Coop).

• Cohiba Riviera

  Wrapper Mexico (San Andrés)

  Launched in 2023, the first box-pressed Cohiba and the first with a San Andrés (Mexico) wrapper: Connecticut binder grown in Honduras, filler from Honduras (Jamastrán, La Entrada) and Nicaragua (Condega, Estelí), rolled at STG Estelí. A Lancero (7 x 38) was added at PCA 2024.

🥃 Pairings

• Maker's Mark Bourbon

  Spirits

  The American pairing par excellence for the Red Dot. The vanilla and caramel of Kentucky bourbon amplify the sweetness of the Cameroon wrapper without overwhelming a medium-strength profile.

• Pacific Northwest IPA

  Beer

  For the Cohiba Blue, the floral bitterness of a late-hopped IPA offers an interesting contrast with the creamy side of the Honduran blend.

👤 Associated figures

• The Cohiba legal battle

  The dispute between Cubatabaco and General Cigar has been running since 1997: Trademark Office and TTAB, New York court (2004, 2009), Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (2005, 2010), Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (2014), Supreme Court (refusal in 2015), Eastern District of Virginia court (2025), then Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

• Jay-Z

  The rapper Shawn Carter, known as Jay-Z, worked for about two years with Cohiba's blending team on the Comador, a 6 x 52 toro with a Connecticut Havana-seed wrapper, rolled in the Dominican Republic and launched in December 2013; Cohiba withdrew it in 2016, when the Macassar was released.

✨ Notable limited editions

• Cohiba Comador (2013, retirée en 2016)
• Cohiba Serie M (annuelle depuis 2021)
• Cohiba Spectre
• Cohiba Weller
• Cohiba C8