International corporation Habanos S.A. marked the 60th anniversary of Cohiba this week, celebrating the brand's enduring status as the most prestigious name in the global premium tobacco world. In a statement released Wednesday, the company described Cohiba as a lasting cultural icon and the ultimate expression of Cuba's tobacco heritage for connoisseurs and enthusiasts across the globe — a brand whose story began even before it had a name.

In the early 1960s, Bienvenido Pérez, head of Fidel Castro's personal security detail, presented the Cuban leader with a handcrafted cigar made by his friend and master roller Eduardo Rivera. Castro was immediately captivated. The cigar soon became an exclusive diplomatic gift reserved for high-ranking foreign dignitaries, eventually evolving into the most emblematic premium tobacco brand on the international stage.

During that same decade, the Escuela de Torcedoras — a select school of highly trained women dedicated exclusively to rolling these cigars — was established. Initially operating out of several residences in the upscale Havana neighborhood known as El Laguito, the school later relocated to a grand eclectic-style mansion in the same area. It was there that the mastery and consistency that have come to define Cohiba were developed and refined.

Given the diplomatic role these cigars played from their very inception, Celia Sánchez, a key figure of the Cuban Revolution, recognized the need to give them a formal name. Drawing inspiration from the Taíno word used to describe the tobacco leaves observed by Christopher Columbus in 1492, she named them Cohiba — firmly anchoring the brand to the deepest roots of Cuban tobacco culture.

Sixty years on, the Cohiba legacy endures, underpinned by the use of what is widely regarded as the finest tobacco leaf from the Vuelta Abajo region. Each cigar is crafted entirely by hand using long filler leaf and subjected to an additional fermentation process unique within the Habanos universe — a method that defines the brand's distinctive aromatic richness, balance, and complexity, and establishes Cohiba as the apex of the cigar maker's craft.

The brand encompasses several product lines, yet the name alone is sufficient to captivate buyers and tobacco experts around the world.