It is said to come from the original carnival games, which were mostly partaken in by men, and as they did not give out plush toys, winners received cigar gifts instead.  Along the same lines, men playing slot machines were not paid out with coins or cash but were paid with cigar favors.  

It is no wonder that many of our current celebratory uses for cigars, such as cigars for weddings and cigars for birth announcements came out of everyday boredom as people were always smoking cigars, because cigar gifts were the only thing they could win so everybody had them!

Unlike other some other famous cigar brands, authentic Cuban cigars are fashioned by expert cigar rollers and are subject to the rigorous inspection that only a trained human eye can deliver. Cubans have long treasured their reputation for only the highest quality cigars, and show no signs of dropping that mantle anytime soon. One way to tell an authentic Cuban cigar from fake is that Cuban caps will have a three to four-layer, circular appearance. Not many others will attempt to go to this kind of care in manufacturing their cigars.

The most well-known of all Cuban cigars would be the “Cohibas”, a delicate and most savory cigar. Cuban cigars have long been prized in particular by Americans, who can’t legally come up with them.

Many cigar smokers evaluate a cigar by its appearance, feel and aroma, and this is where a good product will support the high cost of the cigar. With many people today giving cigars as favors at corporate and social events, quality workmanship is vital to the reception they receive. If these are given to impress, you’d better make sure they do. That’s why people are happy to spend the extra dollars to come up with quality cigar favors.

A master blender is in charge of the process, and gives the cigar rollers several boxes of tobacco leaves, from four to six; and a formula for how the cigar is to be constructed.

The cigar rollers then presses the leaves into a bunch, and then cuts them to the correct size, after which they are put into a press, where they stay for about an hour.

After this time, the molded leaves come back to his table where he carefully wraps each one with a wrapper leaf that is chosen for both visual and aromatic qualities. The roller dabs a spot of vegetable glue onto the head of the cigar so that it won’t unravel.

Then they are inspected carefully by their supervisors, where after passing inspection they go the aging room, where they may sit for some months to age before they are sent out to the world for consumption.

There is first a six week seed germination phase, followed by another six weeks to grow the tobacco leaves to maturity. That is followed by yet another six week period in which it is harvested, and then more periods of time for the leaves to ferment. During this time, the leaves are piled high in bales and the tobacco “sweats” out the ammonia. This can happen several times until fermentation is complete.

Then, before it is turned over to the cigar rollers, the bales of fermented tobacco are wrapped in burlap and set to aging. The average time is 18 months to 2 years, though there are others who keep it aging much longer.

So that cigar in your hand is a bit older than you might’ve imagined!

Cuban cigars are tightly controlled by a government corporation, and legend has it that back in the bad ol’days when mistakes were made and quality was compromised, lives were lost. It’s not so anymore, but it’s also not hard to see how Cuban cigars got their trademark reputation as the finest cigars in the world. An acute attention to detail from the growers on up to the cigar rollers and packagers leave little room for error. Habanos cigars require careful handling and demand a high level of monitoring for quality.

If you ever have the chance to visit Habanos do so, for it is a trip through history as well as a place to come across perhaps the finest cigars in the world.

Nowadays there are six color variants in use. There used to be as many as ten, but now we’re dealing with just six. Wrapper leaves are grown in the countries of Cuba, Sumatra, The United States, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Honduras and Cameroon.

The six shades are:
Claro claro – A sweet, lightly green wrapper leaf.
Claro – This is a light tan wrapper leaf, usually grown in the shade. It possesses a neutral flavoring.
Natural – Light to medium brown, it too is grown in the shade.
Colorado – This wrapper leaf is brown to reddish brown, with a rich taste and pleasing aroma.
Maduro – Spanish for “ripe”, the Maduro wrapper leaf is cured longer to produce a rich, dark brown appearance.
Oscuro – Also known as “negro” to denote its dark coloring, it takes the most time to be ready for the rollers.

More great facts to fascinate your friends as you enjoy your cigars!

Cuba – Simply the finest in the world. Strong, full-bodied and aromatic.

The Dominican Republic – An up and comer, Dominican cigar tobacco comes from Cuban seeds.

Equator – Produces high quality tobacco, from seeds of Connecticut and Sumatra plants.

Honduras and Nicaragua – Strong, full-bodied leaves that are subject to the political problems of the region.

Mexico – Known for a Sumatran sun-grown variant.

United States – near Hartford, Connecticut is grown of some the finest wrapper tobacco in the world, known as Connecticut Shade.

Cameroon – This Western Africa area produces fine wrapper leaves.

Indonesia – This is where the Sumatra or Java tobacco originates.

Philippines – A mild, aromatic leaf used for cigars.