Vegas Robaina

Habanos launched Vegas Robaina in 1997, an unusual step in an industry where brands are named for founders, cities or fictional characters rather than farmers. The honouree was Alejandro Robaina, whose family had worked the Cuchillas de Barbacoa farm at San Luis in the Vuelta Abajo since the nineteenth century and whose wrapper leaf was regarded as among the best in Cuba. Robaina himself became the public face of the brand until his death in 2010.

The line is small and has stayed small: Don Alejandro, Unicos, Famosos, Familiar and Clasicos, with occasional regional editions. Blends are medium to full and are marketed on their Vuelta Abajo origin, though commentators have long noted that the cigars cannot be assumed to contain leaf from the Robaina farm itself, since Cuban leaf is pooled and graded centrally. Total annual output has never approached that of the major marcas.

The brand functions as a piece of Cuban agricultural publicity as much as a commercial line, and its output is modest by Habanos standards. The Robaina farm remains in the family and is run by Alejandro's grandson Hirochi, and it is one of the few Cuban vegas open to visiting buyers and journalists. For readers the record is most useful as a marker of how the Cuban system treats its growers: recognition is granted by the state rather than earned in the market, and it is granted rarely.