Medien aus aller Welt würdigen den verstorbenen Alejandro Robaina. Der Südkurier erzählt in «Botschafter des Tabaks» Anekdoten von Robaina und Heinrich Villiger und geht auf Robainas Rolle bei der Nicht-Verstaatlichung der Tabakfarmen ein:

Um den berühmten Tabakpflanzer ranken sich diverse Legenden. «Don Alejandro», wie Robaina in seiner Heimat respektvoll tituliert wurde, soll sogar dem einstigen Máximo Líder Fidel Castro Paroli geboten haben. Er habe den Staatschef nach der Revolution davon überzeugen können, dass es besser sei, die Tabakfelder im Besitz der Bauern zu belassen und nicht zu verstaatlichen.

The Associated Press hat mit Robainas Enkel und Nachfolger Hirochi gesprochen («Hundreds bid Cuban cigar legend Robaina farewell»):

In a 2002 interview, when Robaina was still 83, he told The Associated Press, «I’m going to trust in my grandchildren and my children to continue the cultivation of tobacco, but I’m not retiring.» «I would never retire,» he said then.

On Sunday, Hirochi sat in a leather chair in a special cigar room at the farm, the «Alejandro Robaina Smoker’s Club,» and said his grandfather never did. «You are always learning more about tobacco every day, even he was. Grandfather never stopped learning,» he said.

Auch die New York Times würdigt den legendären Tabakfarmer:

As his reputation grew, he became a roving ambassador for Cuban cigars, traveling around the world to represent Cuba’s most admired export. When old age made travel inconvenient, he stayed put and the world came to him. Cigar lovers by the hundreds beat a path to tour the plantation, hoping to catch a glimpse of the old man or, perhaps, have him autograph a box of Vegas Robaina cigars, a brand created in his honor.

James Suckling von Cigar Aficionado schreibt in seinem Nachruf «Legendary Cuban Farmer Alejandro Robaina Dies» auch über die unzähligen Gäste, die Robaina auf seiner Farm begrüsste:

Robaina’s farm became a sort of tourist destination for the town of Pinar del Río. And although he nearly always welcomed unannounced visitors with a smile and a handshake, he secretly became slightly tired of the whole thing.

(..) Robaina finally built a small and simple visitor’s center where people could relax and smoke a cigar, or even have a meal when they visited his plantation. There were times when dozens of cars and buses would fill his parking area in front of his tiny block-like house. «Sometimes I wish I could just grow my tobacco,» he said.