Hamlet are a well known brand of cigar produced by Japan Tobacco. They are available in several varieties, miniatures and also a regular length. They are regularly referred to as the 'mild cigar' in their advertising. Hamlet cigars were first launched in the UK in 1964. More recently, Hamlet cigars have been launched in a number of western European markets. They are most famous in the UK for their comical advertisements, cast by Paul de Freitas, which feature someone in an unfavourable position who finds that lighting a Hamlet cigar and smoking it relives them of their problems temporarily - to the tune of Bach's Air on a G String, played by French musician Jacques Loussier. Since the ban on tobacco advertising in the UK and much of Europe was implemented, the adverts are no longer aired. The closure in September 2009 of the Cardiff-based factory producing Hamlet was announced on 16 October 2007.
