The history of mexican tobacco
Tobacco was first cultivated in what is now Mexico by Aztecs and Mayans who considered the plant sacred and used it in ceremonial rituals. Tobacco was used by shamans as a medicine but also by the people to mark important events: weddings, births and coming of age ceremonies. Over time, the tobacco plant spread across the Americas.
When Europeans arrived in 1492, they quickly fell in love with tobacco and began exporting it around the world. During the Spanish colonial era, tobacco production in New Spain was a state monopoly and the only tobacco plantations were in Veracruz, Mexico and in Cuba.
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Mexican tobacco was always considered the finest and most fragrant. In fact, the Spanish sent Mexican tobacco plants (nicotina tabacum) to Cuban farms to harvest, replacing the harsher Cuban tobacco plants (nicotina rustica). Over time, the Cubans created a new species born of the Mexican tobacco grown in Cuban soil: Tabaco Negro Cubano or Cuban Black Tobacco. It is a little-known fact that this popular Cuban tobacco finds its roots in Mexico.
Cigars continued to be produced in Veracruz under Spanish rule until 1810, when Mexico declared its independence. Suddenly, Mexicans were allowed to produce cigars privately, and tobacco factories and farms sprang up in around the country. None could compete with the superior taste of Veracruz tobacco and, once again, the industry centred around this area. In the 1860s, when the two Cuban brothers established their farm and factory in San Andrés Tuxtla, that region became known as the heart of the finest Mexican cigar production.