On 7 February 1962, U.S. President John F. Kennedy signed one of the most consequential executive orders in cigar history — the United States trade embargo on Cuba. The embargo was meant to punish Fidel Castro’s communist government. Instead, it gave birth to a myth, elevating Cuban cigars from prized luxury to forbidden legend. But before he reached for his pen,…
Tag: Montecristo history
The History of Tobacco and Cuban Cigar Leaf
The story of tobacco — and of the legendary Cuban cigar leaf — begins in 1492, when Christopher Columbus and his Spanish expedition landed in the New World and encountered something utterly new: the Taino Indians rolling and burning mysterious leaves in a ritual ceremony. They called it “Cohiba.” That first aromatic curl of smoke marked the beginning…