H. Upmann (Cuba)

H. Upmann is one of the oldest continuously produced cigar brands in the world, with a history that begins in 1844 when Hermann Dietrich Upmann, a German banker, arrived in Havana to manage a branch of his family's banking firm. Entranced by the quality of Cuban tobacco, he soon invested in a cigar factory of his own, and the cigars he produced — initially sent to European clients as gifts tucked alongside bank transfers — proved so popular that the brand took on a life well beyond the banking business it was born to serve. The H. Upmann bank ultimately collapsed in the early 1920s under the weight of financial scandal and post-World War I pressures, but the cigar brand survived, passing through the hands of British importers before being acquired in 1935 by Alonzo Menendez and Pepe Garcia, who also owned Montecristo. Under their stewardship the brand flourished, and the factory on Amistad Street in Havana became the largest exporting manufacturer in Cuba before the revolution.

The brand is credited with pioneering the use of cedar boxes for cigar storage and transport, a practice that became universal across the industry. Its boxes still display Hermann Upmann's original signature alongside gold medals won at international exhibitions between 1862 and 1893. The name H. Upmann is thought to derive from "H" for hermanos (brothers in Spanish), combining with the family name. After the revolution the factory passed to Cubatabaco and eventually Habanos S.A., which continues to produce H. Upmann today at the Jose Marti factory in Havana, drawing exclusively on Vuelta Abajo tobacco from Pinar del Rio.

The brand's most celebrated moment in American history came the night before President Kennedy signed the trade embargo with Cuba in February 1962. Kennedy reportedly asked his press secretary Pierre Salinger to procure as many Petit Upmanns as possible before the ban took effect. Salinger returned with 1,200 cigars — and only then did Kennedy sign the proclamation. The line in this database covers 18 Cuban-production vitolas, including the landmark No. 2 torpedo, the Sir Winston and Monarchs churchill formats, the Connoisseur No. 1 robusto, and the Magnum 46 and 2005 Edicion Limitada Magnum 50. H. Upmann is classified as a global brand by Habanos S.A. and is distributed in every country that imports Cuban cigars. Its profile across the lineup runs from light to medium in body, making it one of the more nuanced and refined expressions of what Cuban tobacco can produce.