Cuba on the Labels

“This book documents the extent to which merchants have gone to sell a dream—even if they do not provide the real thing.”—Emilio Cueto

Cuba on the Labels: A Selection of Cuba-Themed Cigar Labels Printed Outside of Cuba explores how the island of Cuba and one of the island’s top exports, the Cuban cigar, have been immortalized in cigar labels created outside the island. Over three hundred labels are reproduced in large, beautifully detailed images. Having meticulously collected and researched these labels over many decades, Emilio Cueto covers the subject comprehensively. The close-to-original size reproductions allow readers to admire the labels that show Cuba through the eyes of the cigar label makers who work outside of Cuba.

Cuba on the Labels is the third book in Cueto’s Inspired by Cuba! series. This volume follows his previous “Havana” cigar book, La Habana también se fuma/Havana is for Smokers (2019). Cuba on the Labels uniquely contributes to the bibliography of Cuban cigar label art, highlighting examples produced outside the island that include the words “Cuban,” “Cuban,” or their derivatives on the label. It is, as Cueto states, “certainly, the most thorough [study] ever attempted. It will be an invaluable reference book.”