4 Best Sights in Cuba

On a narrow side street south of the city center, this small distillery occupies a former rum factory. Just about every process is done by hand, from pouring the tiny guayabita berries into huge, wooden fermenting barrels, to bottle washing, to tapping corks into the bottles, to affixing the old-fashioned labels. Visitors can taste the finished product in the shop. The dry version, which ferments for three months, is a fiery blast of brandy; the sweet version is more like a plum eau de vie. A bottle costs around CUC$6. It's noisy, messy and often crowded with tour groups, but it's a glimpse of how a truly authentic Cuban product is still being produced.

It's not easy to find, so hire a pedal cab.

Cuba's oldest rum distillery, the former Bacardí family enterprise, now makes the Caney, Santiago, and Varadero brand rums. The on-site shop—which has a bar, live music, and free samples—is the central attraction. Unfortunately, there are no factory tours.

This traditional cigar factory, in a stately, colonnaded building that was the city jail until 1961, offers a more intimate visit than some of the major Havana cigar factories. You can watch a Montecristo in the making, as a guide explains the process. In a long, high-ceilinged hall, mostly young men—sporting trendy, shaved hair-dos—sit at old-fashioned, wooden tables, carefully destemming aged tobacco leaves, which look like thin strips of leather, then slowly rolling layers of different tobacco. The rolls are placed in plastic molds, pressed, then tested with an air compressor for the right consistency. You might hear the lector (reader) entertain the cigar rollers by reading newspaper articles from Granma or novels, but it's more likely you'll hear popular music from a radio. You purchase your ticket in the air-conditioned Casa del Habano across the street, where you can also buy cigars and souvenir humedors.

No cameras are allowed in the cigar factory.

Tobacco is a fundamental part of Cuban life, and a look inside a cigar factory makes for an interesting trip—despite the high entry fee and the pricey cigars. Now in its new location on Calle San Carlos, instead of the old iconic orange and white building behind the Capitolio, the Fábrica de Tabacos is a good place to learn about the cigar-making process.

Guided tours of the factory are only available on weekday mornings and must be booked in advance, which can be done at any of the major hotels in the city.

Although interesting and informative, the tours are fairly rushed and only last 15 to 20 minutes. Many of the rooms are also closed to visitors. Those who wish to purchase cigars at the end of the tour can do so around the corner at the H. Upmann Empresa de Tabaco Torcido store.