Vegas Robaina is the name of a premium
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, produced on the island of
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 ...
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
Alejandro Robaina
Alejandro Robaina (March 20, 1919 – April 17, 2010) was a Cuban tobacco grower.
Biography
Robaina was born in Alquízar in La Habana Province of Cuba but he grew up and lived most of his life in the renowned tobacco-growing Vuelta Abajo distric ...
was renowned by cigar aficionados everywhere as one of the best
tobacco
Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...
farmers in the famed
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. of Cuba. Each year, 80% of Don Alejandro's tobacco harvest was deemed fit for use as wrapper leaf for Cuban cigars (compared to only around 35% for other
plantation
A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...
s). In 1997, Habanos SA honored him by launching a new line of cigars bearing the name of his famous farmland. Vegas Robaina cigars, made in
Havana
Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center. at the former
H. Upmann
H. Upmann is a Cuban brand of premium cigars established by banker Hermann Dietrich Upmann (who also founded the H. Upmann & Co. bank on the island). The brand is currently owned by a British corporation, Imperial Brands. The cigars are manuf ...
factory, have quickly become popular among cigar aficionados.
Don Alejandro has, himself, become a
celebrity
Celebrity is a condition of fame and broad public recognition of a person or group as a result of the attention given to them by mass media. An individual may attain a celebrity status from having great wealth, their participation in sports ...
in the world of Cuban cigars, with many aficionados and tourists in Cuba flocking to his farm in the
San Luis region of the Vuelta Abajo to meet the man himself and see his tobacco, ''Vegas''.
Don Alejandro died on April 17, 2010, after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009.
''Vitolas'' in the Vegas Robaina Line
The following list of vitolas de salida (commercial vitolas) within the Vegas Robaina marque lists their size and ring gauge in Imperial (and Metric), their vitolas de galera (factory vitolas), and their common name in American cigar slang.
''Hand-Made Vitolas''
* Clásico - 6½" × 42 (165 × 16.67 mm), Cervantes, a lonsdale
iscontinued* Don Alejandro - 7⅝" × 49 (194 × 19.45 mm), Prominente, a double corona
* Familiar - 5⅝" × 42 (143 × 16.67 mm), Corona, a corona
* Famoso - 5" × 48 (127 × 19.05 mm), Hermoso No. 4, a corona extra
* Único - 6⅛" × 52 (156 × 20.64 mm), Pirámide, a pyramid
See also
*
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),
External links
Official website of Habanos S.A. Xì GàPartagas LusitaniasA photo of Don Alejandro Robaina at his farm by Robert Frigault
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vegas Robaina (Cigar)
Habanos S.A. brands