And it all depends on whether you think the marque resides with the pre-Castro owner of the brand or the factory. For the most part the non-cuban marques were started by the original holders of the brand when they left Cuba. The Cuban marques are the cigars produced in the original factory even if the 'trademark holder' had left Cuba.
For example Partagas was owned by Cifuentes y Cía and manufactured in the 'Partagas ' factory (since renamed the "Francisco Pérez Germán" factory) until the '50's when Castro took over. He offered Ramon Cifuentes the job of running the new Cubatobacco arm of the government but instead the family fled to (i think) Jamaica and then after 17 years to the DR where they set up the new Partagas factory and began to produce cigars for General Tobacco.
The Partagas factory in Cuba continued to produce the Partagas, Bolivar and other brands the whole time..
For sure the Cuban cigar is the original cigar, but which is the 'genuine' cigar is a bit more dificult to determine.....
Check out my new website (shameless plug) for histories of the other cuban marques
http://www.lacasadelhabanoplayadelcarmen.com
in the 'our cigars' section....
oh, and its the first website I've ever built so go easy on me please if you don't like it....
anyway, back to the topic in hand, we should be getting the '10 limited editions in any day now, will post box pictures and maybe a review or two when they land...
