H.Upmann

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History
 
This marque traces its history back to 1844 and several rival versions of the story of its origin exist. It is known for sure that two brothers, August and Hermann Upmann founded the brand in that year. An alternate claim is that their surname was, in fact, Hupmann, but the "H" was dropped from the name of the brand because "H. Upmann" was more aesthetically appealing than "H. Hupmann". Both claims are likely because both Hupmann and Upmann are German surnames. Alternately, there is a claim that the "H" in H. Upmann stands for either "Hermann" or the Spanish word Hermanos, meaning "brothers," since it was Hermann and August who founded the brand.
In one version of the story they were German bankers who moved their family-owned operation to Havana, Cuba. Supposedly, they were avid cigar smokers and used cigars as a promotion tool for their bank. They are sometimes even credited with the invention of packaging cigars in cedar boxes to give to their customers. These original box were labelled with the H. Upmann name and contained other manufacturers' cigars, most likely as an advertisement for their bank, until the Upmanns bought their own cigar factory in 1844: the famous H. Upmann Factory, now known as the Jose Marti Factory, in Havana. In another version of the story, it was the Upmann brothers' nephews, German and Alberto, who founded the bank and the cigars simply became associated with it.
Through the late 1800's, the H. Upmann brand gained international recognition at various exhibitions and won seven gold medals which still adorn the lithographed art on today's H. Upmann boxes, along with Hermann Upmann's original signature.
In 1922 (some claim 1932), both the bank and the cigar business went bankrupt. A British firm, J. Frankau & Co. bought the brand and continued production until 1935, when the brand was sold to Menandez, Garcia, y Cia, who continued production until the nationalization of the tobacco industry after the revolution. During this time period, Menandez and Garcia created their own special cigars within the marque, known as the H. Upmann Montecristo Selection, which would become the famous Montecristo brand.
A popular legend holds that the favorite cigar of US President John F. Kennedy was the H. Upmann Petit Upmann, and that the night before the embargo was signed, he had aide Pierre Salinger procure hundreds of boxes from Washington, DC tobacconists. Others have claimed this folk tale is untrue and that Kennedy's favorite cigars were actually those made in the Philippines.
After the revolution, Menandez and Garcia moved the brand first to the Canary Islands, then the Dominican Republic, where production of this brand still continues for the American market under the ownership of Altadis SA.
The Cuban-made brand still remains a popular cigar in the world market, where it is made in a variety of fully handmade, hand-finished, and machine-made vitolas. In 2002, when Altadis SA bought a controlling share in Habanos SA, numerous changes were made to brand lineups. The overall scope of the reforms was stated as to eventually make all the lines either totally handmade or totally machine-made, cut out redundancies (many Cuban brands have multiple cigars of the exact same size packaged with different tobacco blends and names), and eliminate low-selling cigar sizes. As of 2006, according to Habanos SA's website, H. Upmann has been whittled down to only seven handmade sizes and five machine-made sizes. Misinformation abounds when it comes to cigar production, and Habanos has been known to regularly make exceptions for various importers and tobacconists, so this might not be completely true.
Popular among cigar aficionados are the No. 2, the Magnum 46, and the churchill-sized Sir Winston (named in honor of Winston Churchill).
In 2005, Habanos SA made an uncharacteristic move by releasing a new H. Upmann size as part of their annual Edicion Limitada release. This is odd because the rule of the past has been that only the five globally-distributed marques (Cohiba, Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, Partagas, and Hoyo de Monterrey) have been used for Edicion Limitada releases, whereas H. Upmann is a multi-locally distributed brand. This limited edtion size was the large Magnum 50, thought to be an inticement to smokers with whom the Magnum 46 is very popular.
H. Upmann also produces two machine-made cigarillos (the Mini and the Purito) and a brand of cigarettes.
Vitolas in the Cuban H. Upmann Line
The following list of vitolas (sizes) within the H. Upmann line lists their measurements in English and metric, their vitolas de galera (factory name), and their conventional name in American cigar slang.
Hand-Made Vitolas
Sir Winston - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
Monarca - 7" x 47 (178 x 18.65 mm) Julieta, a churchill
No. 2 - 6 1/8" x 52 (156 x 20.64 mm) Piramide, a pyramid or torpedo
Magnum 46 - 5 5/8" x 46 (143 x 18.26 mm) Corona Gorda, a toro
Connossieur No. 1 - 5" x 48 (127 x 19.05 mm) Hermoso No. 4, a robusto or rothschild
Petit Corona - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Mareva, a petit corona
Corona Junior - 4 1/2" x 36 (115 x 14.29 mm) Cadete, a tres petit corona
Machine-Made and Hand-Finished Vitolas
Majestic - 5 1/2" x 40 (140 x 15.87 mm) Crema, a corona
Regalia - 5 1/8" x 42 (129 x 16.67 mm) Petit Corona, a petit corona
Corona Major - 5 1/4" x 44 (132 x 17.46 mm) Eminente, a petit corona
Corona Minor - 4 5/8" x 40 (117 x 15.87 mm) Coronita, a tres petit corona
Epicure - 4 3/8" x 35 (110 x 13.89 mm) Epicure, a tres petit corona
Edicion Limitada Release
Magnum 50 (2005) - 6 3/8" x 50 (160 x 20 mm) Double Robusto, a large toro
 

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