Cuba has long been known for its high-quality tobacco, and Cuban cigars are coveted worldwide. Tobacco is Cuba’s second-largest domestic product, second only to sugar cane.Christopher Columbus is credited with introducing Europe to tobacco in the late 1400s, and the art of smoking caught on instantly. The Europeans smoked the tobacco in pipes until the 1700s when cigars were introduced onto the market. Since cigars weathered the long sea voyage to Europe better than loose tobacco, cigars soon became mainstream.
As cigar smoking became increasingly popular and more widespread, consumers demanded a higher-quality product. The first tobacco plantation in Cuba was established during this time, although Cubans used it only for medicinal purposes. King Phillip III made Cuba the center of tobacco distribution for the Spanish empire, giving it a stamp of quality that remains today.
Fidel Castro nationalized the tobacco industry in 1959, so that the government became responsible for all growth, production and exports. In 1962, the United States government instituting a trade embargo against Cuba which stopped the import of Cuban cigars into the country.
The embargo only added to the mystique of Cuban cigars, and black market operations sprung up overnight. Although the import of Cuban cigars continue to be illegal in the United States, they remain some of the most coveted cigars in the world.
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