Feb
14
2009
Cuban Cigars: Not made by just the Cubans anymore
By Janelle Schweinfurth Copyright 2009
It seems our earliest encounters of cigar smoking can be traced to the native people of the island we now call Cuba. While on this island, Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, two Spaniards sailing under the directions of Christoper Columbus in 1492, succumbed to peer pressure and took their first puffs. The cigars they smoked were tobacco wrapped in plantain leaves, dried palm leaves or corn husks. It is believed that the tobacco plant originated in South America and made it’s way through the neighboring islands.
The first tobacco plantations in Cuba were planted along the Alemandares River in the early 1600’s. For one year during the British occupation of Cuba in 1763 tobacco took over Coffee as the number one cash crop of the island. This one year was just enough time for the tobacco to open up an absolutely lucrative European market for itself. Cigar making, having been established in Europe, spread to Spain. It is Spain that is attributed with the construction of the cigars we now smoke and are familiar with to this day. It wasn’t until the mid 19th century that cigar making came into it’s own in the United States and then later in that century different brands started to emerge.
Cuba became the most popular producer of cigars although cigars were being produced in many countries through South America as well. It took the Cuban embargo by US President Kennedy in 1961 to allow these other South American countries to tap into the excellence of the Cuban skills of cigar making. This came about because the cigar makers of Cuba, knowing their way of life was threatened by Castro and his regime, left their island and took their craft and seeds with them to continue their fine art elsewhere. Promising countries for growing tobacco and continuing their trade included Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Even Brazil and Mexico would come to play supporting roles in the tobaco industry. Exquisite wrappers also began being produced in countries such as Ecuador, Camaroon, Sumatra and even the state of Connecticut in the United States. Of course Cuba is still known for it’s fine cigars; legends do not die quickly. But there are signs that this may be changing; the future of cigars looks promising!
