Ruled by the forms of consumption, the advance of the tobacco industry pampered Habano’s distinction.

Standing on the wrong lane to the incoming voyages of European conquistadors to the Indies (from east and west), tobacco burst apart at the seams and sallied forth eastbound to conquer the world. Yet in the same breath, the aromatic leaf was overcome by the socioeconomic conditions of a fledgling capitalism that was sweeping Europe at the time. Tobacco sloughed off of its condition as a religious-medicinal herb, that had harked back from the pre-Hispanic era, to become a valuable piece of goods.

Regardless of the quick acceptance it had in the hands of sailors, smugglers and merchants, the new commodity was demonized by rulers from several countries. In 1606, Spanish King Felipe II banned tobacco growing in the American colonies for ten years. Shortly after that, the monarch noticed the merchandise had the potential to make his kingdom richer and eventually struck down the prohibition act, paving the way for the monopolization of the tobacco industry, with the city of Seville emerging as the new trade hub.

A major occurrence in the development of both tobacco production and industrialization in Cuba was the Spanish Crown’s decision to set up the Fleet System, officially enacted by royal decree on June 16, 1561. Given its strategic geographical location, Havana soon became the key to the New World. Its nonresident population, that had indulged itself into the habit of cigar smoking, stressed the custom of puffing at hand-rolled cigars manufactured by harvesters in the nation’s capital.

Havana’s tobacco began to be rolled and bought like in any other place and the contraband of the precious asset kicked off in no time. That’s how the Habano, with an ever-growing demand in Europe and other parts of the planet, helped put Cuba definitely on the map.

Europe’s aristocrats, especially during the 17th century, grew fond of consuming tobacco powder. The French began the practice of scraping the leaves to turn it into quid, a trendy habit that fascinated the nobility. In Cuba, in addition to the hand-rolled stogies, the production of ground tobacco, aimed at meeting Europe’s increasing demand, also hit a high note.

But the advance of this group of producers was short-lived. Sooner rather than later, a new ban was enforced and only a handful of the 32 tobacco mills that existed on the island nation in 1740 remained operational. The making of tobacco powder in Cuba only lasted for a fleeting moment.

Tobacco production was strongly limited by the enforcement of the 1717 ban. But as soon as the prohibition was abolished in 1817, huge cigar factories, like Hijas de Cabañas and Carvajal (1819), H.Upmann (1844), and Partagas (1845), turned up like tadpoles in a pond after a summer downpour. From that moment on, the factories never lost their craftsmanship condition again.

A new form of consumption appeared in the early 19th century: cigarettes, that were nothing but ground tobacco (also called pipe tobacco) rolled up in strips of paper. Lots and lots of smokers got hooked on this new trend, even though cigarettes were clumsily rolled by hand and couldn’t muscle their way through high-class people. Most cigarette makers, albeit working in their own homes or in military barracks, started carrying their planks, stools and jackknives with them, plus a piece of dog-eared can they used to bend the cigs down.

In the bat of an eye, the new variant won the hearts of many other people. Samuel Hazard, an American traveler that visited Cuba at the time, wrote in his diary: “wherever you go around in Cuba, you see cigarettes outnumbering cigars.” The coming of cigarette-making machines to churn out better-shaped reefers was probably the biggest drive. The product was little by little meeting the demands of industrialized nations and winning more popularity among low-income classes, especially women.

The first machine ever to enter Cuba was displayed at the 1867 Trade Exposition in Paris by Jose Luis Susini and Rioseco, owners of the La Honradez Royal & Imperial Cigar Factory. Despite its many inconveniences, a steam machine allowed La Honradez to produce 40 million cigarette packs until 1890, most of them dispatched to South America, Europe and the U.S.

While all this was going on in the cigarette-making industry, no mechanical breakthroughs had been introduced to roll cigars. There was an attempt to incorporate cigar rolling machines made in the U.S. and that had been handed in to the Por Larrañaga cigar factory through the defrayment of a royalty. The staunch opposition of workers and small producers made the invention lay an egg altogether.

At the end of World War II, companies took another shot at mechanization, and even though most people agreed to the need of cutting costs through mechanized production to step from behind a competitive eight-ball in the world market, factory owners reached a compromise with the administration of President Carlos Prio Socarras and made short shrift of an agreement to produce hand-rolled cigars only for the international market. The secret move stirred up social conflicts that could only be worked out with the nationalization of all cigar and cigarette factories after the 1959 Revolution.

The concentration of Cuba’s tobacco industry came to pass on that same year. Huge production centers were built, both for domestic consumption and export, and factories were set up nearer the raw material producers. Two mechanization stages were phased in: the use of boncheadoras (a high-output, semi-mechanized system that saves a good deal of raw materials and raises quality), and shift labor. With the triumph of the Revolution, the industry got buttressed and new factories emerged. The stock of existing brands at the time was scrutinized and new ones were created, with Cohiba taking the cake. Thus, Cuban tobacco and cigars have delighted lovers of the ultimate smoke, good connoisseurs who praise its craftsmanship value and unrepeatable conditions.