Tobacco, discover at the same time that New World, represent a fashion for some and an authentic philosophy of life for others

The answer I have always given to myself is that, generally, we like things of best finishing, we try, by all means, to get the best known and tasted items; even the most forbidden, we look for pleasures with our best efforts. I would like to go deeper into habano’s subject using history and conditions. To begin with, habanos appears on the dictionary in a very unique way: From Havana and, by extension from Cuba: habano tobacco. Having the color of light tobacco. Pure cigar original from Havana. And even its history is a peculiar one because Rodrigo de Xerez and Luis de Toledo were the best men of admiral Christopher Columbus who chose them to carry the letters of presentation from the Catholic King and Queen to the Chinese emperor on November the 2nd, 1492. The only problem was that they were not in China or the longed Cipango (Japan), to where they had departed but, in Cuba, a paradise-like and unknown place. That same year, on October the 27th, the fleet of this intrepid sailor (La Pinta, la Niña and La Santa María) had arrived to the largest of the Antilles. Columbus and his partners were amazed by the beauty of this place. However, the first curious note was stated by Xerez and Toledo on November the 4th when they reported on what would later be called as Tobacco: “...women and men, with a firebrand in their hands, and grass to take their smoke as they used to”, said they with obvious signs of old Spanish. They had discovered one of the most cherished products in the world which is now spread and known especially in the fanciest saloons. Fray Bartolomé de las Casas wrote on his diary about this issue and departing from it, a series of events developed to such an extent that the incipient smoking habit of De Xerez made him go to jail in Spain. It was baptized by scientists as Nicotiana Tabacum. The word with which indigenous people called it was cojiba, cohoba or cohiba. For other people, the name came from the island Trinidad and Tobago (maybe that’s the origin of Tobaco... Tabaco). Tobacco is a key item for African gods, brought into Cuba on the 16th century by ships loaded with Negro slaves. Under the shelter of barrack yards, it was a symbol to Osaín, (orisha) god of herbarium; Elegguá, who clears the way; Oggún, king of soldiers and blacksmiths; and Ochosi, the hunter. All orisha males smoke and chew the plant, they love snuffing, the juice of its roots, the leaves and flowers and, as a consequence, they heal many diseases with it. This plant seems to be original from South America, belonging to the Solanaceous family. When the Spanish explorers arrived, the aborigines were already cultivating it so, everything leads to confirm the Cuban paternity. This tobacco, discovered in the northeastern region of Gibara during the first Columbian trip, was allowed to be harvested on October the 20th, 1914 by a Royal Cedule. This document also prohibited its commercialization. In 1959, there were some ups and downs in this product that never lacked its importance and taste among smokers even in its critical stages (60 million cigars in 1994, 65 million in 1995 and closed 1996 with 70 million). At present, Cuba produces 39 brands and more than 700 standard shapes and sizes for cigars. There are 26 factories in the island producing for export purposes. These are located in 13 out of the 14 provinces of the country. The most outstanding factories are Cohiba, Partagás, La Corona, H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta, all are located in the capital. And as a colophon, periodical festivities of the Cuban cigar have been celebrated for three years now. This is a good opportunity to gather the most important habano distributors from the whole world. So far, there have been celebrations of the 150th anniversary of H.Upmann (1994), same anniversary of Partagás (September, 1995) and in February 1997, the 30th birthday of Cohiba and 15th of its commercialization. Cohiba is the leader brand and its name is very significant because it is the same De Xerez and Toledo found in the beginnings of what is now a tantalizing product for the most distinguished people in the planet.