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THE GOLD MEDALS THAT DECK OUT THE BOX WERE WON IN NO LESS THAN ELEVEN INTERNATIONAL FAIRS DURING THE 19TH CENTURY. THEY ARE NO DOUBT A FEATURED ELEMENT IN THIS BRAND

The history of Cuban tobacco harkens back to over 500 years, since Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres saw in early November 1492, during an exploration of the territory to which their ships had arrived, the native inhabitants of the island of Cuba burning and inhaling aromatic herbs that used to lift them to seemingly endless heights.
Cigars, tobacco or Habanos were really the talk of the town at the end of the 17th century when those herbs began to be rolled for the first time into cylindrical shapes. This happened in Seville, where all the Cuban tobacco was shipped in loose bulks to be rolled there. Cuba began to be the “Mother of the Habano” and Havana became “the metropolis of the Habano realm”.
This is the precedent of a fascinating story that gives rise to one of the most popular and sought-after Habanos brands. Hermann Dietrich Upmann, who considered himself a watchmaker and merchant by trade, like his father, had arrived from Bremen -known as key to the North Sea, in the northwestern part of Germany. By the end of 1839, he decided to board a ship and cross the Atlantic Ocean on his way to the New World, with the aim of opening up to a promising future.
According to the testimony of Heinrich Dietrich Carl Upmann, during that crossing Hermann Dietrich met an English passenger who told him about the possibility of doing business in Cuba, especially in the then fledgling Cuban tobacco industry.
Once in Cuba, the Englishman taught him how to make cigars and thus the German businessman began to send bales of black Cuban tobacco to his relatives and friends in Bremen. Since every so often the gifts sent over there were not of similar quality, Hermann Dietrich decided to single them out with a yellow band and his signature on it in an effort to clinch the authenticity of his own cigars. This can be considered one of the early actions aimed at getting the kind of personalization known as bands or rings that, a few years later, were wrapped around the tobacco leaves contained in the cigars.
Immersed in the atmosphere that was going on in Havana in the early decades of the 19th century, marked by the increase in the manufacture and export of hand-rolled Cuban cigars, Hermann Dietrich Upmann decided to produce his own Habano brand, thus giving rise to H. Upmann: “H” for his first name and “Upmann” for his second name.
The most reliable date of appearance of the brand and the H. Upmann factory is March 1, 1844, and its foundation license was issued on May 9 of that same year, although other authors believe it was on October 15, because the brand celebrated its 100th anniversary on that same date a century later.
During that timespan, the world’s best Habano brands were founded, such as Ramón Allones, Punch, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta, among others, many of which still stand tall in the international market.
Those were the years of the famous production boom, of the marketing and export of Cuban cured and rolled cigars around the world. Large quantities were shipped to such markets as Great Britain, Germany, France and Denmark, to North America and Spain itself.
Years later, Hermann Dietrich registered its business under the heading of H. Upmann & Company. Then, his brother August Ludwig joined him in the tobacco adventure. They formed the first generation of Upmanns in Cuba, although August did not spend much time in Havana as he headed few years later for Africa to seek fortune there. However, he failed in his endeavor and was forced to return to Bremen quite ill, where he eventually passed away on September 18, 1873.
This was the first investment of German capital in the Cuban tobacco industry that actually endured, ramped up and branched out with the foundation of a bank in 1868 and a cigarette factory in 1905.
H. Upmann, along with other brands simultaneously, started using lithographed images in their brandings, that is, covers, vistas, paperwork and other decorative artifacts in their first cedar boxes.
Undoubtedly, H. Upmann was an innovative brand which revolutionized the transportation and distribution of cigars, being one of the first manufacturers to use cedar boxes to store and transport their precious products. This system facilitated the conservation, quality, freshness and suitable humidity for the Habanos in their long trip to Europe.
Quite quickly, the H. Upmann brand was basking in the world market limelight as it commenced using tobacco leaves from Vuelta Abajo and a well-trained workforce -broken down in divisions- that represented an innovation in the tobacco industry of its time. Its prestige grew for years and it became known for its seriousness and the quality of its cigars, featuring the certification of “Provider of His Majesty Don Alfonso XII, King of Spain”, and also with the “With Privilege of Use for the Royal Armies” seal stamped on it.
In 1891, the factory in Havana moved to a monumental 10,000-plus-square-meter building perched on the broad Tacón Avenue, currently known as Carlos III. For its elegance and size, it was baptized with the nickname of “La Madama”. It was by and large one of the largest factories at the time.
Due to the renowned quality of its cigars, the H. Upmann brand managed to grab a dozen gold medals between 1855 and 1907 in different international exhibitions, and its products were spread all across Europe, the United States, Russia and Australia.
When Herman Dietrich Upmann died in 1894, who as a matter of fact did not have any offspring, he left a detailed will and his different possessions were inherited by different members of his family. He named his nephew Heinrich (aka Henrique) Upmann as head of the cigar factory and the H.Upmann-Habana brand.
Another of the founder’s nephews, Hermann Friedrich Heinrich, married Marie Lucie Braesecke, also from Bremen. The couple had two children who eventually traveled to Havana to take over the factory.
Montecristo, a young brand at that time which eventually became one of the most coveted cigars ever, garnered quality and prestige worldwide when it began to be produced at the H. Upmann factory, which was already boasting both tradition and international recognition. Through luring designs of the brandings, sagacious publicity and the unbeatable quality of the blend, the Montecristo brand started all of a sudden selling like hotcakes in the international market.
In 1960, the H. Upmann factory was seized and renamed “José Martí”, in recognition of the prestige achieved as a result of its struggles to maintain the quality of cigars worldwide and its involvement in emancipatory battles fought by the working class.
Almost six decades have passed by and H. Upmann is one of the jewels of Habanos S.A.›s extensive vitola stock, a brand that after more than 170 years in the international market, still clings hard to its validity and prestige as an undisputed token of pride for the Cuban nation.

The gold medals that deck out the box were won in no less than eleven international fairs during the 19th century, and they are no doubt  featured element of this brand.
H. Upmann boasts an unmistaking style that has made it garner followes all around the world, especially among Brits. Its taste range is “deceivingly” mild and feeble when it's a young cigar because the taste of tobacco accrues as time rolls on, as it happens with other subtle and complex tastes. One of the most noticable features is that they age remarkably well.
Following 10 or 15 years of aging, a strong taste of clean tobacco comes out. Nearly all of them have great potentials to develop a delicious bouquet after 20 years.
Many discontinued vitolas stand out in the historic output of the H. Upmann cigar factory. All of them enjoyed tremendous acclaim and recognition back in the days. That's the case of Amatistas, Aromáticos, Balverdes, Cinco Bocas, Cristales, Culebras, Hussar, Kings, Lonsdales, Noellas, among others.

Connossieur No. 1
Factory Vitola: Hermoso No. 4
Length: 127 mm
Ring Gauge: 48

Coronas Minor
Factory Vitola: Coronitas
Length: 117 mm
Ring Gauge: 40

Coronas Junior
Factory Vitola: KDT Cadetes
Length: 115 mm
Ring Gauge: 36

Coronas Major
Factory Vitola: Eminentes
Length: 132 mm
Ring Gauge: 42

Epicures
Factory Vitola: Epicures
Length: 110 mm
Ring Gauge: 35

Half Corona
Factory Vitola: Half Corona
Length: 90 mm
Ring Gauge: 44

Majestic
Factory Vitola: Cremas
Length: 140 mm
Ring Gauge: 40

Monarcas
Factory Vitola: Julieta No. 2
Length: 178 mm
Ring Gauge: 47

Petit Coronas
Factory Vitola: Marevas
Length: 129 mm
Ring Gauge: 42

Regalias
Factory Vitola: Petit Coronas
Length: 129 mm
Ring Gauge: 42

Sir Winston
Factory Vitola: Julieta No. 2
Length: 178 mm
Ring Gauge: 47

Línea Magnum

Magnum 46
Factory Vitola: Coronas Gordas
Length: 143 mm
Ring Gauge: 46

Magnum 46 Tubo
Factory Vitola: Coronas Gordas
Longitud: 143 mm
Ring Gauge: 46

Magnum 50
Factory Vitola: Magnum 50
Length: 160 mm
Ring Gauge: 50

Magnum 50 Tubo
Factory Vitola: Magnum 50
Length: 160 mm
Ring Gauge: 50

Magnum 54
Factory Vitola: Magnum 54
Length: 120 mm
Ring Gauge: 54