Spirits Among Us

Handmade Catholic

Cigars in History

The indigenous inhabitants of the islands of Mexico and the Americas smoked cigars as early as 1100 A.D. This is evidenced by the discovery of a ceramic vessel at a Mayan archaeological site located at Uaxactun, Guatemala. A painted figure of a man smoking a rudimentary form of cigar adorns the vessel.
 
It was the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus who officially inaugurated Europe to the pleasure of smoking tobacco. Because of this, he is credited with being the catalyst for the advent of the modern handmade cigar. He visited the indigenous population and noticed that they used tobacco for medicine, tribal rituals and for spiritual practices.
 
Rodrigo de Jerez and Luis de Torres, two crewmen who sailed with Columbus, are said to have been introduced to tobacco for the first time on the island San Salvador in the Bahamas. There, during the famous voyage of 1492, natives offered them fragrant dry leaves with an aroma that lingered after it was lit. Further exploration revealed that tobacco was widespread among the other island tribes, such as Cuba, which is the location where Columbus and his men established their first official settlement.
 
Columbus exported tobacco back to Europe and it was immediately all the rage. In fact, tobacco was such hit that, to much of the European population, the idea of farming tobacco served as a rationale for the colonization of North America, South America and the Caribbean.
 
Ship manifest records of 1592 recorded that the Spanish galleon, San Clemente, brought 50 kilograms, or 110 pounds, of tobacco seed over the Acapulco-Manila trade route to the Philippines. There the seed was allocated to Roman Catholic missions, where the clerics discovered that the climate and soil were ideal for growing high-quality tobacco.
 
In the centuries that followed, the use of tobacco became widespread. Its use for recreational purposes and as a stimulant became popular among people who worked long hours. By the 1700’s, Cuba became the premiere location for the best tobacco and for the development of what we know today as the modern cigar. The origins of the English word “cigar” come from the Spanish word cigarro, which in turn was a derivative from the Mayan word for tobacco, siyar.
 
From the 1700’s to today, Cuban cigars and Cuban tobacco became recognized as the world’s finest. However, the Communist take-over of Cuba by Fidel Castro in the early 1960’s, and the subsequent U.S. embargo, challenged that country’s title. Former Cuban cigar-makers took their skills and seeds to the Caribbean, Dominican Republic, Honduras and Mexico, producing high-end cigars categorized as premium and super-premium.
 
Today, the exquisite pleasure of the premium cigar remains one luxury that connoisseurs enjoy worldwide. Handmade cigars that are part of this remarkable heritage may be obtained online through premium companies.
 
Enjoy laughter. Enjoy life. Enjoy a fine cigar.

About the Author

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