Interesting story of Cohiba, one of the most expensive cigar brands in Cuba

The Cohiba was built for Fidel Castro in 1966. For a long time, where and how it was produced was kept a big secret. This cigar is currently produced by (1) Habanos S.A., (2) Altadis and (3) Imperial Brands. Cohiba is the native Cuban name for tobacco.

Before Fidel Castro came along, the Cohiba is one of the best cigars produced in Cuba by tobacco experts. But when Castro arrives, these tobacco and cigar experts flee the country. One of the countries they fled to is the Dominican Republic, where cigar production is concentrated today. Here, too, they grow tobacco, roll cigars, and stamp the Cohiba stamp, whose naming rights belong to them. But at the same time, inexperienced cigar manufacturers in Cuba continue to produce cigars under the Cohiba brand. General Cigars acquires the Cohiba producing plant in the Dominican Republic. But meanwhile, another tobacco-producing company called Montecristi has registered the Cohiba brand. However, international naming rights are not accepted in the Dominican Republic. Because of this confusion, three different Cohiba brands emerge.

The band of the original Cuban Cohiba is black, white and yellow. It says La Habana, Cuba. Dominican Cohibas, on the other hand, have the Cohiba script written in black bold font on white and the middle of it is red. This is why Dominican Cohibas are also called "red dots". The third Cohiba, Montecristi cigars, has the same band as the Cuban Cohiba, but has Republica Dominicana underneath. Since it does not have naming rights, its importation into the US - and naturally to other countries that have accepted the red dot's naming rights - is prohibited.