Cigar History
Many historians believe that cigars have their origin in the ancient Mayan era. Its history appeared around the late 15th century when Christopher Columbus and his crew members came ashore at San Salvador in the West Indies. They saw indigenous people roll the leaf, light on the tip, and smoke. Furthermore, they saw that native people roll tobacco with dried corn husk leaves. Afterward, Christopher Columbus and his crew members brought tobacco back to Europe and this is the beginning of the Cigars industry. From the discovery, archaeologists found ceramic pots and other evidence, they said Mayans not only used it for medicine or celebration but they also used it in sacred and magical ways. These things show that cigars are in everyday life of Mayans and they also have many ways to use tobacco.
Cigar Discovery
After the coming of Europeans, cigars became one of the main products that stimulate colonization, moreover, it was the main reason for the gathering of African slave labor. Tobacco farming started in Haiti Islands by getting the seed from Mexico. It spread to other islands until in 1531 it reached Cuba and Brazil. In 1548, Brazil was colonized by Portugal so they grew tobacco for trading, as a result, it made tobacco become popular in Portugal and Spain. They first called this thing ‘Cigaro’ which comes from ‘Sikar’ the word that Mayans used, and it changed into ‘Cigar’. By this time Spain started seriously planting tobacco in Santo Domingo Island and manufacturers in Spain started to use paper wrapping to dried tobacco instead of leaves. After that, many companies began to plant tobacco and produced cigars. Smoking became trendy not only in Spain but very quickly around Europe.
Cigars in Cuba
Cuba’s cigar industry was created by the Spanish and all export tobacco needed to be registered in Spain. Because Cuba is abundant and has a warm climate so they’re a very suitable country for growing tobacco plants. Furthermore, Cubans have an impressive method to roll cigars. Due to the banning of cigars exportation law between Cuba and the United States, cigars are getting more expensive but the quality is getting better too.
When did Cigars first appear?
Then in 1560, Jean Nicot, French Ambassador of Portugal, imported cigars into France, and ‘Nicotine’ was named after him. “In 1564 Sir John Hawkins, who was a sailor and naval commander, imported tobacco into England. In 1612 John Rolfe was the first British to succeed in growing tobacco commerce. In 1592 Spain brought 110 pounds of tobacco seed to the Philippines, especially in Manila and they found that the Philippines has a great climate and great soil condition. As a result, the Philippines is the first Asia country to farm tobacco.
In early 1700, an aristocrat in Europe liked to consume tobacco powder. Cigars started to become a popular culture and a lot of noblemen smoked them even the queen of George III of the United Kingdom also used them and her nickname was “Snuff Charlotte”. In the middle of the eighteenth-century cigars were exported to Holland and Russia. They’re the first countries that enforce a tax on tobacco products.
In the middle of the 19th century, cigars became more widely used because of the media of that day, and that made cigars sales increase significantly in early 2000, even if the advertisement was rarely seen at that time. Cigars were produced in many sizes and many shapes. Since the 20th century, almost every cigar has been featured with a wrapper, binder, and filter. Frequently, they will stamp the manufacturer’s name on it. Until now the best tobacco sales were in China, the United States, Germany, Russia, and the United Kingdom respectively.
