When most of us hear someone mention “Cuban”, the first thing we’re likely to think of is cigars. It’s a response that’s almost bred into us before birth and even people who don’t smoke cigars tend to make that link between the country and the cigars that were once so popular here in the United States.

Of course Cuban cigars have been forbidden fruit for us for many years now and if we really want to enjoy true Cuban cigars then we have to head for Cuba to buy our own. Thanks to the embargo it’s illegal to sell Cuban cigars here in the United States and reputable cigar sellers won’t try to break that embargo despite the demand for what many consider to be the world’s finest cigars.

I guess when you consider the embargo and the demand for Cuban cigars it wasn’t going to be long before someone with a little marketing knowledge decided that if we couldn’t have Cuban cigars produced in Cuba then perhaps we could have Cuban cigars produced somewhere else … after all, what’s in a name?

Well of course there’s plenty in a name when that name happens to involve the word “Cuban” and it’s coupled with cigars. There’s almost a subliminal message in any name that contains that magical “C” word that assures us that we’re going to get the finest quality cigars … those cigars that we’ve always had a hankering to smoke … those cigars that are head and shoulders above all their competition and cigars aren’t the only Cuban product that has that effect on connoisseurs .

There’s a Cuban factor in another other quality product that many cigar smokers would like to be able to purchase in the United States too and it goes perfectly with a good cigar. Havana Club is a rum made in San Jose De Las Lajas Cuba and it has a name around the world for being the finest rum you can buy.

 
Havana Club like Cuban cigars is a name that has been taken - or hijacked from a Cuban point of view - by a company who wants to cash in on that Cuban connection. Havana Club - the other Havana Club - is a rum made by Bacardi in places other than Cuba. Cuban cigars, in particular Cohiba cigars - those hand-rolled cigars that were once made for Fidel Castro - have been hijacked by Swedish Match North America who operate out of Virginia.