Guantanamera is an American
cigar
A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...
brand owned by Guantanamera Cigars Company of
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
, and a
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
n cigar brand produced in Cuba 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 equal ...
, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company.
History
Guantanamera is a United States cigar brand started in Miami, Florida, in 1997. Years later, Corporacion Habanos launched its own version of the brand. Since 2001, the Guantanamera Cigar Company ("GCC") the exclusive trademark owner of the brand in the United States has litigated with Corporacion Habanos over the rights to register the trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
In early 2008, the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board ruled in favor of Corporacion Habanos. Immediately thereafter, GCC filed an appeal with the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. GCC was forced to appeal in this forum because Corporacion Habanos is a foreign entity.
In February 2009, Guantanamera Cigar Company filed suit against Corporacion Habanos, S.A. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida because Corporacion Habanos placed an advertisement in a cigar magazine with United States distribution and sales. The case was voluntarily dismissed and the cause of action was brought in the Appeal Court, i.e., the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. That Court dismissed the count for infringement finding that an advertisement in a magazine with United States distribution was not enough "use" under the Lanham Act.
On August 5, 2010, the United States District Court for the District of Columbia granted Miami-based Guantanamera Cigar Company's Motion for Summary Judgment finding that the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board erred when it ruled that Cuba won.
Corporacion Habanos' version of Guantanamera was launched in
Dortmund
Dortmund (; Westphalian nds, Düörpm ; la, Tremonia) is the third-largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne and Düsseldorf, and the eighth-largest city of Germany, with a population of 588,250 inhabitants as of 2021. It is the la ...
, Germany, on September 14, 2002, and was made internationally available in October of the same year. The brand was named after the song "Guajira
Guantanamera
"Guantanamera" (; Spanish: (the woman) from Guantánamo) is perhaps the best-known Cuban song and that country's most-noted patriotic song, especially when using a poem by the Cuban poet José Martí for the lyrics. The official writing credits ...
" (Spanish for 'peasant girl from
Guantánamo
Guantánamo (, , ) is a municipality and city in southeast Cuba and capital of Guantánamo Province.
Guantánamo is served by the Caimanera port near the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, site of a U.S. naval base. The area produces sugarcane and cotton ...
') by José Fernández Díaz. Unlike nearly every other cigar blend produced in Cuba, the tobacco used in the brand comes from the
Vuelta Arriba
Vuelta, Spanish for "lap" or "roundtrip", is used in the name of a number of cycling races in Spanish speaking countries, as well as a few other contexts:
Cycling races
* Vuelta a Andalucía
* Vuelta a Aragón, Spain
* Vuelta a Asturias, Spain
* V ...
region, which is located in the middle of Cuba, rather than the
Vuelta Abajo
Vuelta Abajo (or Vueltabajo, literally: The lower roundtrip) is a geographic region in the Pinar del Río Province of Cuba. It lies in the extreme western part of the island, bordered on the north by the Sierra de los Órganos mountains. in
Pinar del Río
Pinar del Río is the capital city of Pinar del Río Province, Cuba. With a population of 139,336 (2004) in a municipality of 190,332, it is the List of cities in Cuba, 10th-largest city in Cuba. Inhabitants of the area are called ''Pinareños'' ...
.
Featuring only machine-made cigars, Corporacion Habanos' version of Guantanamera is known as an affordable choice for consumers. The blend is mild with a slightly harsh/tannic aspect to it.
On the other hand, the United States brand produced by Guantanamera Cigar Company is a premium long-filler hand-rolled cigar.
See also
*
List of cigar brands
This is an alphabetical list of cigar brands. Included is information about the company owning the brand name as well as a column allowing easy viewing of the source of that information.
If a brand name begins with the English word "The" or its S ...
References
* Nee, Min Ron - ''An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars'' (2003, Reprinted: 2005), {{ISBN, 3-9809308-2-3
External links
Guantanamera Cigars USAOfficial website of Habanos S.A.Cigarette reviews
Habanos S.A. brands