Boisdale Of Canary Wharf

As far back as 1460 it has been noted that natives of North, Central and South Americas had been using tobacco for hundreds of years. In 1492 Christopher Columbus’ logs stated that natives in San Salvador smoked leaves of certain plants. Christopher Columbus received tobacco as a gift by the natives and consequently is credited with being the person that introduced tobacco to Europeans in 1493 when he delivered the gift to Spanish Royalty.

According to the writings of the Viceroy of San Domingo, Gonzalo Hernandez de Oviedo, by 1526 cigar smoking was described as a regular practice. Within 10 years Cubans would be shipping the highest grades of tobacco to Spain. Of the agriculture in Cuban farms you would find that about half of it was dedicated to growing tobacco.

By the 1550’s it is reported that sailors everywhere are smoking tobacco and it begins its journey around the world. By the 1560’s it had been brought to the French by Jean Nicot, the French Ambassador to Portugal and Sir J. Hawkins returned to England from North America with Indian tobacco. In 1570 tobacco had gotten all the way to Austria where it was first used for medicinal purposes.

Due to the climate of the times between the English and the Spanish in the 1600’s, the Spanish King had restricted the growing of tobacco to colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela and Santo Domingo. By 1606, the Spanish King has decreed that the sale of tobacco to foreigners is a crime that is punishable by death. To feed the addiction of the English, the British established the Jamestown Colony to grow tobacco. Over the next 100 years the battle for control of the tobacco fortune continued between the English and the Spanish. Cigar factories began to pop up all over London and the growing of tobacco prompted an expansion of the colonies to accommodate the demand.

By 1757 there was a cigar factory in New Seville that was toted the largest industrial complex in the world at that time rolling more than 100,000 cigars every day. The complex was so expansive that it was referred to as the “walled city” and had a population of more than 4000 people, its own chapel and even a prison. The Spanish would soon build similar factories in both Mexico and the Philippines.

It was not until 1770 that cigar smoking began to build popularity in New England and spread to other major port cities in North America. Cigars were cheap and made many times by women whose husbands would then sell or trade them with the Yankee wagon peddlers.

1781 was the beginning of the monopoly of cigar manufacturing in the Philippines by the Spanish King. Since the Philippine cigar, called Manillas, were more popular than the cigars made in the United States, they were not much of an export item. By the official end of the Revolutionary War the United States was importing cigars from Cuba and Jamaica. The 1780’s marked the beginning of worldwide marketing and manufacturing of cigars with factories opening up throughout Europe and the first advertisements and consumer packaging of cigars in the United States.

By 1810, 29 million domestic cigars were reported to have been made in the United States by large factories. Many Cuban cigar makers migrated to Florida in the late 1800’s making the region known for cigar manufacturing, Ybor City in particular had almost 70 cigar factories making it the largest manufacturing city until the 1950 when it lost its status as the largest city but remains an area with a large entertainment district revolving around cigars. It’s an area rich in history and a must see for cigar aficionados.

The trade embargo with Cuba in the 1960’s made it illegal for Cuban products to be available in the United States, and that included Cuban cigars, although it is said that President Kennedy had his press secretary get as many Cuban cigars as possible before the embargo was signed. This embargo is still in effect.

1964 brought the Surgeon General warnings of the health risks associated with cigarette smoking and a short lived increase in cigar consumption as cigarette smokers switched to cigars on the heels of the consequences of cigarette smoking. The increase was short lived when additional reports warned of risks with additional tobacco products; it began a downward sales spiral in the cigar industry that would last almost 30 years.

In 1994 cigar sales began to rise as they became status symbols made stylish by wealthy people and celebrities. The current economy is creating the need to raise taxes imposed on luxury items, but this may change as higher taxes for cigars are proposed that would make them significantly more expensive. Today they are still considered an affordable luxury item.