Cigar History
The smoking of tobacco, in one form or another, has been a part of daily life for thousands of years in ceremonies and ritualistic affairs. Inca, Mayan and the Aztec Civilizations all were aware of the pleasures associated with smoking tobacco. The Europeans were not to enjoy the "Art of Smoking Tobacco " until Christopher Columbus landed upon what is now know as "Cuba" 500 years ago. While upon the shores of Cuba he and his men observed the natives walking about with "a brand in their hands and certain herbs in order to take their smokes, which are some dry herbs put in a certain leaf... they called tobacco." In 1526 Gonzalo Fernandez de Oviedo y Valdez, historiographer of the Indies, observed the Indians' habit of inhaling through their nostrils from double-channeled pipes until they fell senseless upon the earth unconscious, drunk and wrapped in sleep. Valdez noted the importance the Indians placed on tobacco: "they consider the use of this herb and the smoke thereof to be not only salutary but very sacred." And so it is....
Cigars, as we know them today, were first made in Lisbon and Seville during the 1700's. trade between Holland and Spain brought cigars to Amsterdam soon after. It was not long before Catherine the Great of Russia began enjoying cigars. To keep her fingers from getting stained while she smoked, she had a strip of silk wraped around her cigars, alas the original "cigar band" was born. When Napoleon and his soldiers invaded Spain in 1812, they quickly developed a taste for cigars. Soon after, France began making their own cigars, igniting a trend that rapidly burned across Europe. In the United States the cigar did not become popular until the middle of the Civil War. It was a handy instrument to use when lighting a cannon! © 2009 Sir Vin Cigars Corp. - All Rights Reserved