CUBA: BRAND OF CIGAR NAMED AFTER LEAF GROWER ALEJANDRO ROBAINA скачать в хорошем качестве

CUBA: BRAND OF CIGAR NAMED AFTER LEAF GROWER ALEJANDRO ROBAINA

(3 Jun 1997) Spanish/Nat A Cuban tobacco grower is to become a household name among cigar aficionados after officials in the country named a brand of cigar after him. The new Robaina cigar is called after 78-year-old Alejandro Robaina, Cuba's best-known quality tobacco leaf grower. Land owner and tobacco farmer Alejandro Robaina has been awarded one of Cuba's most highest honours. A cigar has been named after him. In a land renowned for its high class tobacco, it's an exclusive tribute. He's in good company. Queen Victoria, novelist Ernest Hemingway and the Spanish dictator Francisco Franco were all previous recipients. But Robaina is believed to be the first living person to receive the honour. Cuba's decision to make his family name a top brand of cigar is the culmination of a lifetime dedicated to tobacco. For 78-year-old Robaina, it's a dream come true. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "My dream, as a small farmer for so many years, and growing such good tobacco, was that some day, if here (in Cuba) you have the best (tobacco) in the world, and me being the producer of the material which makes it so, why not make a cigar named after this farm, after my family." SUPER CAPTION: Alejandro Robaina, tobacco grower He's hailed as Cuba's most famous tobacco plant grower. And like many small landowners, he chose not to join forces with other farmers in the early days of the Cuban revolution and create larger collective farms. He has since made a respectable living. The average monthly salary in Cuba is estimated at ten U-S dollars. Robaina earns between 18 and 20 thousand U-S dollars a year, and employs up to 60 people. His skill won admiration, even from the now ex-smoker, President Fidel Castro, who gave him a car. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "Throughout the generations, I have been able to learn everything, if you like, I have the know how, all the experience of farming, from my grandfather who bought this farm in 1845 and worked it, my father who took it over with my mother, and now me." SUPER CAPTION: Alejandro Robaina, tobacco grower His home in the province of Pinar del Rio lies in a region famous the world over for the quality of tobacco leaf. The conditions there are perfectly suited. SOUNDBITE: (Spanish) "The Cuchillas de Barbacoa has, what nowhere else in the world has, its sandy earth, which is not red and is not black, which has, I suppose, the rainfall, the filtered water, there is no tobacco which gets over watered. And therefore you get the best quality of tobacco that there is in the world." SUPER CAPTION: Alejandro Robaina, tobacco grower Robaina cigars are scheduled to be launched in Spain this month. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...