Pre-Embargo Cuban Cigars on Pawn Stars

[T.G]

Originally Posted by guitar4001

Aren't the original cuban brand names (Montecristo, RyJ, H. Upmann, etc) actually owned by US companies? In other words, when the Cuban gov't took control of the cigar factories, didn't the US based owners of the brand names come to the US and start to make their cigars with Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan tobacco? That would make the current cuban montecristo, partagas, and RyJ illegal in the US right? Copyright infringement and all that jazz.

Yes and no. That's a big mess that's been debated ad nauseum on most forums. Some of the names might be in question at some point in the future due to the original owners fleeing Cuba and restarting operations elsewhere, but others, namely those owned and produced by Altadis USA, will likely be a non-issue as the parent of Altadis USA, Altadis SA (now a part of Imperial Tobacco UK) is majority shareholder in Cubatobacco.