The Cuban brand is filled with tobacco that comes from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba which has undergone an extra fermentation process.

Cuban Cohiba's origins trace back to the middle 1960s, when a bodyguard of Fidel Castro shared some of his private supply of cigars made by a local artisan named Eduardo Rivera.

"[4]The production of special cigars for top officials under conditions of tight security was given extra impetus by fears of ongoing CIA assassination efforts against Fidel and Raúl Castro and Che Guevara.

The technical services department of the agency is now in fact known to have worked on the development of exploding cigars as a means of assassination from the early 1960s.

[7] During the first few years of production only a few thousand boxes were produced annually, reserved for the use of high government officials and frequently given away as diplomatic gifts.

[3] At the time of its first public launch, the Cohiba marque consisted of just three vitolas (sizes): the Panetela, the Corona Especial, and the Lancero.

[7] Originally all Cohibas were made at the El Laguito factory, a mansion located on the outskirts of Havana converted into a cigar-rolling school for women in 1961.

As a result, the February 2005 decision of the U. S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals (Docket #04-2527), which confirmed General Cigar Company's exclusive ownership of the Cohiba trademark in the United States, is final.

In a November 1992 interview, director of Cubatabaco Francisco Padrón indicated that in the event the American embargo of Cuban products were ended, return of the Cohiba brand name to Cubatabaco would be a prerequisite for any future distribution agreement with General Cigar Co. "The first condition is that they must pass the brand name to us.

The US Supreme Court declined to intervene in a long-running battle between a US and Cuban company over the Cohiba cigar trademark.

By refusing to hear an appeal, the country's highest court leaves intact a ruling in favor of the Cuban firm.

The legal dispute is over whether the Cuban company has the right to challenge General Cigar's trademark in the US, despite the embargo, as reported by Agence France Presse.

In the late 70s, it began registering the logo outside Cuba – in 115 countries – but was prohibited from selling merchandise in the US by the Cuban Assets Control Regulation (CACR).

In June 2014, the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit ruled in favor of the Cuban company by giving it standing to seek a cancellation of the registrations that block its own ability to register trademarks.

The challenge comes two months after President Obama announced in December that he planned to loosen some of the US-Cuba restrictions, including the easing of the decades-long trade embargo.