April 20th, 2010

A brief history of Alejandro Robaina

The Man: Born in 1919, the son of a tobacco producer, Alejandro Robaina passed away on the 17th April 2010 after being diagnosed with cancer in 2009. Don Alejandro Robaina was renowned by cigar aficionados everywhere as one of the best tobacco farmers from the famed Vuelta Abajo region 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 plantations), giving the man special status amongst producers. In 1997 aged 78, Habanos S.A. honoured Don Alejandro Robaina by launching a new line of cigars bearing the name of his famous farmland. Don Alejandro Robaina became a universal celebrity in the world of Cuban cigars, with many aficionados and tourists in Cuba making pilgrimages to his farm in the San Luis region of the Vuelta Abajo to meet the man himself and see his tobacco Vegas.

The Brand: VEGAS ROBAINA was officially released in the Ritz hotel in Madrid in 1997. The Don Alejandro (Double Corona) is the biggest cigar of this brand, with the Famosos (Hermosos No.4) being the shortest. Unfortunately, the cigars from this new brand did not initially receive positive ratings from connoisseur's. My first reaction back then was ‘don't give a hasty judgment’. Let us give Vegas Robaina one or two years to develop and reveal what they are really made of. At the time, I believed this brand needed more maturity before being able to give an objective judgement. We must consider the general character of Vegas Robaina blend before factoring in time. The brand offers a return to an ‘old Havana’ style. Strong tobacco flavours, intense progression of power and rich dried fruit/nutty/dark woody aromas. We all noticed that the shapes launched were the top five shapes in demand at the end of the 20th century, especially in the North American market, resulting in suggestions that this brand had been developed for marketing reasons only. But for me, this was short sightedness and showed a lack in understanding of how cigars work. These blends were developed to grow and expand with age in the true tradition of a Cuban cigar. It was this lack of understanding that perhaps contributed to the initial reaction of the market. Time has allowed us to learn and for the cigars to come alive. The Vegas Robaina cigars are today considered complex and sophisticated, offering the highest level of construction and raw materials.