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The Fascinating History Behind Cuba’s Cigar Industry
* What Are Cuban Cigars?
As their name may suggest, Cuban cigars are made using tobacco leaves that are grown and treated in Cuba. The filler, binder and wrapper tobaccos may come from different areas of the island, but all of the tobacco used in a Cuban smoke will be from the country. Cuban cigars are often considered to be of supreme quality. While the excellent growing conditions from Cuba’s climate certainly help, one of the main reasons for this quality is the exceptional skill and standards of the ‘Torcedors’, the highly-regarded, skilled cigar rollers in Cuban factories. Renowned both in Cuba and by cigar lovers around the world, many Cuban cigars are rolled by hand using impressive techniques. This is certainly the case with top brands such as Montecristo, Cohiba and Partagas, to name a few.


* When Did Tobacco Start Growing in Cuba?
While there is no set date that tobacco growing in Cuba can be pinpointed to, it is believed that the tobacco plant arrived in the country from South America between the period of 2,000 and 3,000 B.C. In Cuba, this new plant was named ‘cohiba’; a name that remains significant today with the Cohiba cigars brand. When tobacco first arrived in Cuba, it was primarily used for medicinal purposes, as well as being incorporated into religious ceremonies or social gatherings. It was later planted as an agricultural crop for more widespread use.


* The Spanish Influence on Cuban Cigars
While the introduction of tobacco to Europe is credited to Christopher Columbus’ expedition to the Americas, it was his ventures to Cuba that led to the specific introduction of cigars. Although tobacco was grown in other South American countries, including the Dominican Republic, the 1492 journey discovered early examples of cigars being smoked in Cuba. Dried and twisted montecristo 4 were rolled up inside palm leaves to act as a cigar. From there it didn’t take long for the rest of the world to get a taste for this new pastime; Spain quickly became the leading country of tobacco smokers before it spread across Europe, Persia, Russia, Turkey and Japan!
The Spanish were the most involved with the development of tobacco. Spanish colonies in South America began cultivating tobacco crops in 1531, and by 1542 they had established the first cigar factory in Cuba. As tobacco and smoking grew in popularity across the world, a number of prohibitions and bans fell into place. One of the most renowned moves was the royal monopoly which was put into place by King Phillip V of Spain in 1717. Known as the Tobacco Monopoly, restrictions were put on trading tobacco, with all tobacco products sent through Spanish ports. This was only lifted 100 years later, and free trade between Cuba and the rest of the world was finally allowed.


hoyo de monterey cigar Rise of Cigarettes and Machine-Made Cigars
The popularity of cigars took a dip in the 1920s for a few reasons. Firstly was the growing interest in cigarettes. cohiba siglo had been smoked by the G.I.s during the First World War, as access to tobacco become a little more limited, and there was less room to carry a cigar. Marketing campaigns for cigarettes also made them look like a more desirable and fashionable smoke, so by the mid-1920s, they had become the primary form of tobacco in the United States.
Another reason for the decrease in interest in cigars was the introduction of machine-made cigars. While behike are still rolled by hand today, other cigar producers began to utilise machines to roll cigars quicker. Machines were used for cigar production particularly during the Great Depression. However, many cigar aficionados believe that cigars that have not been rolled by hand are of an inferior quality. These changes in the cigar industry as a whole, as well as financial difficulties, turned more people towards other tobacco products, such as cigarettes.


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