Three exclusive vitolas with a very limited production will be unveiled. For the first time ever the medio tiempo, a rare leaf that adds strength and peerless aroma, will be included in its blend. The vitolas will feature special holographic-paper bands with embossed letters, a couple of security holograms and elegant lacquered cases.

Arnaldo Oballe Briñones, , the young director of the El Laguito cigar factory where the larger-than-life and exclusive Cohiba habanos are produced, is not ashamed to show his pride after he learned this brand has been chosen to introduce for the first time the medio tiempo in the Behike line, a newcomer that from now on will join Cohiba’s other lines. This is a very rare leaf that develops at the top of the sun-grown tobacco plant, not produced by all the plants and whose availability depends heavily on the dedication and care-giving attitude of plantation workers, as well as ever-changing weather conditions. Therefore, this leaf is a highly demanded and scarce raw material that prevents large-scale outputs. The emergence of the Behike line, has generated great expectations and for some good reasons. During the 40th anniversary of the Cohiba brand in 2006, a commemorative production under the Behike name was launched, featuring a unique vitola in terms of format, very limited and exclusive for such a superb celebration –just 4,000 units for 100 numbered humidors– that experts have penciled in as the most special cigars ever produced. No wonder the price tags were so high. The new Behikes (BHK 52, BHK 54 and BHK 56), Oballe says, have endured a delicate and rigorous process in terms of quality, handling and selection of the raw materials, even the hand-rolling procedures at the factory, that were followed by the demanding tests conducted by the so-called Sensorial Evaluation Panels, high-ranking institutions in Cuba that watch for the productions’ quality control and are responsible for the validation of the blends and the coming of new products. “Based on all this and such an exclusive composition that makes this habano a cigar with more character, special taste and exquisite aroma, we’re confident it’s going to be a very successful product with tremendous acclaim,” he adds. Cubatabaco’s Wrapper Chief Raul Valla­d­ar­es Diaz, a man of longstanding history in the realm of Cuba’s tobacco industry who started rolling cigars at the age of 11 and who’s one of the creators of this line, guided Excelencias in this inquiry around the factory as he proudly showed us the select raw material, the leaves of ligero, volado, seco and finally that special oddity called medio tiempo, as well as the beautiful leaves used for the habano’s final wrapper. “The new thing here, to put it the clearest way possible, is that by adding the medio tiempo to the blend we have achieved two highly coveted things: smoking strength and exquisite aroma,” Mr. Valladares points out. The BHK 52, BHK 54 and BHK 56 are exclusive formats within the new Behike line and its thick ring –in addition to making the cigars burn excellently– will give smokers a chance to praise and enjoy the intensity and tastes this exclusive and unique blend has to offer. Each of these vitolas will be packed in 10-unit lacquered cases and their bands will feature the head of the Cohiba Indian embossed in holographic paper, plus a security hologram and an authenticity one that will make this genuine gem far more dazzling for its grand world premiere during the 12th Habano Festival.

El Laguito and Cohiba With the good excuse provided by the launch of Cohiba’s Behike line –the most exclusive brand Habanos, S.A. has ever produced– the El Laguito cigar factory is once again basking in the limelight of the 12th Habano Festival. Behike is now joining the great Cohiba family, whose members include the likes of Classic Lines (Lanceros and Robustos, among others), 1492, also known as Siglos; and Maduro 5, with the acclaimed Genios, Mágicos and Secretos vitolas. Created as a habano brand in 1966, at the onset its very limited productions were exclusively reserved as gifts from the Cuban government to heads of State, high-ranking delegations and world statesmen. It finally hit the international market in 1982 and from the very beginning it captured the preference of many and was praised for being the cream of the top of Cuba’s finest cigars. Paying a visit to the El Laguito cigar factory is a grand tour around the lovely halls of a mansion in the tree-lined residential area of Cubanacan, the chance to wallow in a tradition for a few minutes while being in direct contact with the secrets of a genuine legend called Cohiba, the most sought-after product in the world of world-class premium cigars.