H. Upmann

H. Upmann is a Cuban cigar brand sold around the world by Habanos S.A. Hermann Upmann was a German banker who settled in Havana in 1844 and opened both a bank and a cigar factory there. The bank later closed, but the cigar brand continued. In the 1930s it was bought by Menéndez, García y Cía., the company that created Montecristo, and for decades both brands were made in the same factory.

The gold medals printed on H. Upmann boxes were won at international fairs in the 1800s. Well-known sizes include the Magnum 46 and Magnum 50, the Half Corona (2011), the No. 2, a pyramid, and the Sir Winston, a long Churchill-size cigar. The leaf comes from the Vuelta Abajo region of Pinar del Río. Habanos rates the brand light to medium in strength.

Because of the U.S. embargo, Cuban H. Upmann cigars cannot legally be sold in the United States. In the United States the H. Upmann name belongs to Altadis U.S.A., part of Tabacalera USA. It sells a separate non-Cuban H. Upmann, made in the Dominican Republic and Central America with no Cuban tobacco. The split goes back to the 1959 revolution, when Cuba took over its cigar factories and the U.S. rights to many old Cuban names passed to companies outside Cuba.