Cigar Origins

Cigar Origins

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A Cigar refers to a compactly rolled bunch of dried up and fermented tobacco with one end that can be lighted and smoked. The word Cigar originates from the Spanish word Cigarro but some sources have proposed that it originates from the Mayan word sikar or tobacco. Tobacco used in the making of Cigars is grown largely in places such as Brazil, Cameroon, Honduras, Indonesia, Nicaragua and even the US. However, Cigars gained fame over time and became most popular from Cuba. Cuban Cigars are considered exemplary, partly from the way they are made manually by skilled professionals and the suitable climate of the regions tobacco is grown in the country.

It's believed that Cigar origins might have been from the indigenous people of the Caribbean Sea who were already smoking Cigars since the 900 Ads. This was revealed by archeological remains in a Mayan site in Guatemala in which a painting depicted a man smoking a Cigar. For the western world, Christopher Columbus is thought to have been the pioneer of Cigar smoking even though he aped the habit from the indigenous tribes that he socialized with in his explorations in the Americas. According to historians, Columbus' two handy men were the first smokers of Cigar when they stopped in Cuba and smoked Cigars they made using maize husks. Ever since, Cigar making and smoking has gone through revolutionary changes to what it is today.

In the 19th century, Cigar smoking was a fad and was very prevalent; Cigarettes were largely unknown at that time. As a status and fad symbol, Cigars were very common then and the Cigar industry was a robust and thriving one with factories employing as many people as possible because production was largely manual. However, advancements in science and technology in the 19th century saw the mechanization of the Cigar manufacturing process yet still, most modern Cigars of excellent quality are rolled by hand and package boxes always testify to that with the statement, "hecho a Mano" meaning "made by hand".

Cigar origins rarely account for the type or quality of cigar but the place of manufacture matters a great deal. In the mid 1990s, there was a roar in the popularity of the Cigar that was driven by consumers in the US with "smokers", lavish dinner events, being held in almost all towns and cities across the United States. The Cigar was being smoked by celebrities, politicians, and wealthy business people creating a huge demand that could not be met with the supply that was available at that time. The American trade embargos against Cuba did not help much and the Cigar craze only heightened the demand. As a result, most retailers began naming their Cigars on virtually any brand even if they weren't thus the quality of the Cigars was greatly tampered.


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