Hacker - The Ultimate Cigar Book

Other Books by Richard Carleton Hacker:

PipesmokingA 21st Century Guide

Das Handbuch Des Pfeifenrauchers (German Edition)

Rare SmokeThe Ultimate Guide To Pipe Collecting

Die Welt der Zigarre (German Edition)

The Ultimate Cigar Book (US Edition)

The Ultimate Pipe Book (US Edition)

The Ultimate Pipe Book (British Edition)

Die Kunst Pfeife zu rauchen (German Edition)

The Christmas Pipe

The Muzzleloading Hunter

Videos:

The Ultimate Pipe Video (Premiere Edition)

The Ultimate Pipe Video (Collectors Edition)

Audio:

CigarQuest

Copyright 1993, 1996, 2000, 2015 by Richard Carleton Hacker

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

Skyhorse Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Skyhorse Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Skyhorse and Skyhorse Publishing are registered trademarks of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.skyhorsepublishing.com.

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

Jacket design by Rain Saukas

Front cover photo: Thinkstock

Back cover photo courtesy of the author

Print ISBN: 978-1-63220-657-2

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-63220-869-9

Printed in China

To my lovely and long-suffering wife, Joan, who has encouraged and nurtured the passion I have for cigars. Never once has she shown the slightest hint of jealousy.

Gentlemen, you may smoke.

King Edward VII

If I cannot smoke in heaven, then I shall not go.

Mark Twain

I am sure there are many things better than a good cigar, but right now, I cant think of what they might be.

Richard Carleton Hacker

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Unless credited otherwise, all photographs in this book were taken by the author.

INTRODUCTION

I d like to think that, like a good cigar-smoking friend, this book will become one of your most treasured companions. After all, just as it takes time to transform tobacco leaves into a cigar, it took years to bring these pages into reality. Originally the first edition of The Ultimate Cigar Book was to have premiered back in 1989, well before the now-legendary cigar boom of 19931997 burst upon the scene. But the stogie-chomping Old Guy was becoming pass, and in his place I saw newer, younger cigar smokersboth men and women, many of whom had never smoked cigarettesfiring up cigars in cocktail settings, using them not only as symbols of independence and success, but as a means of social interaction well before the advent of Facebook and Twitter.

Clearly, the world of the cigar smoker was changing, and as a writer and cigar devotee, I felt compelled to chronicle it. I had already begun my research, traveling to countries like the Dominican Republic, Honduras, and Cuba (with US Treasury Department approval, of course), and interviewing cigar makers, visiting factories, and venturing into the tobacco fields.

But world events, sociological changes, and the number of new breed cigar brands that were starting to emerge at that time inspired me to delay publication of the first edition of this book until 1993. During that interlude, I revisited many of the cigar-making factories, re-interviewed many of the people I had already spoken with, and in essence, re-did all my research to try to make this the most complete book of its type. Five subsequent printings, a foreign language edition, greatly expanded second and third editions, and now this new, completely updated fourth edition have continued to carry the information contained within these pages to fellow cigar smokers the world over.

Counterfeit Cuban cigars, the dreaded Lacioderma beetle (and how to eradicate this tobacco-eating pest from your humidor), the hobby of collectable cigars, the emergence of women cigar smokers, the proliferation of smokeasies, plus cigar and spirits pairings are just a few of the many discoveries that await you within this new edition.

In Londons Mayfair district, the author discusses the merits of a good cigar with Sir Winston Churchill, while Franklin D. Roosevelt, a cigarette smoker, looks on with interest. The life-sized bronze, entitled Allies, was created by sculptor Lawrence Holofcener (www.holofcener.com) and is located where Old Bond Street and New Bond Street meet. It was commissioned by the merchants of Bond Street as a gift to the City of Westminster to commemorate a half-century of peace after World War II and was unveiled by Princess Margaret on May 2, 1995.

Of course, no book such as this can ever be completely up-to-date. New brands are emerging almost daily while others are fading away. Blends change, trends change, world situations change, and as a result, the cigar industry continuously evolves. So one can never presume to capture or know it all. Part of this challenge is that many of the original cigar-making families fled Cuba after Castro came into power, taking their precious records and memories with them. Consequently, today the history of the Cuban cigar is spread throughout the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Jamaica, Honduras, Spain and other parts of the world. Fortunately, I was able to recapture much of this material, thanks to many of the original Cuban cigar makers and their families.

Indeed, both cigar smoking and cigar making are people-oriented endeavors. Throughout the research and writing of this book, I have encountered individuals who, like the cigars they make, are of the finest quality, with a consistency that is always reliable. Most of them you will meet via their products, which are depicted throughout this book. (For even more information, please go to my website, richardcarletonhacker.com.) After all, just as it takes more than one leaf to make a cigar, so has it taken a number of people to help me make this book a reality. But if I tried to list them all, it would seem like an Academy Awards producers worst nightmare. Suffice to say, it is because of people that we have some of the finest cigars the world has ever known.

However, I must give special mention to a very special woman, for I am forever grateful for the editorial support and unwavering faith and devotion of my wife Joan, who, upon smelling the aroma of my hastily extinguished cigar on our first date (in what seems like not-so-many years ago but which has now spanned more than a few decades), nonchalantly said, Your car smells just like our living room at home. Thats when I made the pleasant discovery that her dad was a cigar smoker too.

Although today traveling to cigar-making countries is as easy as hopping a plane, it is my hope that, through this book, you are able to share some of my adventures and discoveries with me. So pull up an ashtray, fire up a favorite cigar, and join me as we travel the smoke-filled pages ahead.