La Aroma de Cuba
that the goal of the brand was to provide an affordable option to Ashton’s production. Robert was inspired by a Cigar Aficionado article which claimed, during his stint in Cuba, Sir Winston Churchill favored La Aroma de Cuba brand cigars.
During the Cuban Revolution industries became nationalized, including the tobacco industry. In February 1962, thousands of brands were discontinued and only 25 were kept by Cubatabaco, the state run tobacco company. La Aroma de Cuba was one of the discontinued brands.
When Robert found out the brand had died off he decided to buy the rights. Robert owned the rights to La Aroma de Cuba for five years before anything was launched with the name.
During his research, Robert came across the original band art and had his designer update the band for the new life of the brand. In 2002, La Aroma de Cuba debuted its first non-Cuban cigar.
The original blend was mainly Honduran filler tobacco and featured a Cuban-seed wrapper grown in Honduras. The production was contracted by Altadis USA and was done in Northern Honduras. The brand line grew due to collaboration with, Jose “Pepin” Garcia to create new blends.
The brand had another rebirth in 2009. The Executive Vice President and the third generation of Ashton, Sathya Levin, granted all the production to the Garcia family. Production moved from Honduras to the My Father Cigar Factory in Nicaragua because of this decision.
Not only did location change but the blend for the main cigar was also modified. Master Blender Garcia decided to use a Connecticut broadleaf wrapper instead and implemented a more complex blend by adding Nicaraguan tobacco to the filler bunch. The change was well received throughout the industry and the new La Aroma de Cuba blend got a Cigar Aficionado score of 93.
The new direction made a lot of sense. Both Ashton and My Fathers Cigars are private family-owned cigar brands. They hold similar values and this strengthens the ease of business between the two companies.
La Aroma de Cuba is distributed and owned by Ashton, a brand synonymous with quality, consistency, and excellence. La Aroma de Cuba meets those standards and is one of the most successful cigar ventures on the market.
There is no question; La Aroma de Cuba delivers extremely enjoyable handmade cigars. Follow Robert Levin’s lead, let yourself get inspired by La Aroma de Cuba, what success will you create?
