Alejandro Robaina, 91, who was the only Cuban to have a cigar brand named after him, died Saturday from cancer after doctors discovered inoperable tumors on his lungs and kidney, said his grandson Hirochi Robaina.
Hundreds of friends and relatives said farewell to the godfather of Cuban tobacco at his burial Sunday. His casket was adorned with a half- smoked cigar bearing his name and a yellow tobacco flower.
The 34-year-old Hirochi is one of Robaina’s 10 grandchildren and has been groomed for 14 years to take over the family’s tobacco farm.
Robaina’s family began planting tobacco in San Luis in 1845, after immigrating from Spain, and he took up cigars when he began working the family fields at age 10 — eventually smoking for 81 years. Until his last days, Robaina could often be found sitting on his porch, puffing on a cigar.
Even though Fidel Castro’s 1959 revolution nationalized many large farms, Robaina was allowed to keep his land but began producing tobacco for the state. Today, a box of 25 of the brand’s finest cigars can go for nearly $500. The Associated Press
