Cuaba was officially launched by Habanos president Francisco Linares on November 19, 1996, at Claridge's Hotel in London, Great Britain, as an all-perfecto line of cigars. The brand was launched in an attempt to revive figurados, which had initially been very popular in the early 20th century but had declined since about the 1950s. For the release party, the creator of the line, Carlos Izquierdo González, and fourteen other highly skilled "torcedores" (cigar rollers) demonstrated making figurado cigars. The original Cuabas were of slightly differing sizes within the same box, due to a cigar mold not being used to press them into shape. When molds were finally made for Cuaba around a year later, these original non-molded cigars became great collectors' items.