Ihave always had a rather natural penchant for little pieces of history that are often obscured by the more obvious facts. Perhaps this is why in all the years I’ve lived in this country, I have never been to the Chateau de Versailles, but can, on the other hand, point to the little known street corner where Louis XIV was baptized in 1668; I just had to take a picture of that plaque!

Back in the days when I was first discovering the world of premium cigars, I had the sudden interest in the history behind the origin of tobacco use. I did my homework as best as I could, only to find differing shallow claims, most of which place the origin of the prized leaf in Cuba—you can imagine my disappointment. I mean, you don’t have to be very imaginative to put that kind of notion to paper. Of course, not being too happy with the results of my search within cigar circles, I then turned to another obvious source: botany.

Ok, now I was getting some interesting stuff. It turns out that this wonder of a plant, which belongs to the genus nicotiana, is in fact believed to have originated in the new world. Interestingly enough, though, recent archeological studies have found important levels of nicotine, often along with smoking artifacts, in ancient Egyptian mommies. Whether the nicotine was a direct result of smoking or of the mummification process is still unclear. What other type of herb they may have smoked in those days is also a mystery.

For some time, botanists have placed the origin of tobacco in the southern section of the Andes in South America. More recently, they have pointed to a specific area between Ecuador and Peru as the birthplace of tobacco cultivation by indigenous tribes around 5000 bc. By the time the Spanish fleet came to the American continent, the leaf had proliferated northward as far as North America.

Naturally, the different tribesmen, who valued the hallucinogenic (and medical) properties of the potent tobacco strain nicotiana rustica (which contained as much as 18% nicotine), had carried it back and forth for thousands of years in their travels. Far from being as potent as its cousin, it was the nicotiana tabacum strain that became the choice plant cultivated for the manufacture of premium cigars to this day.

Regarding the origin of smoking, and how the natives discovered they could grow, ferment and smoke the leaf, one can only speculate; though it stands to reason that a very smart guy using dried up tobacco leaves for kindling a camp fire might have soon realized that the “spirits” alone were not to blame for the goose bumps he was getting. One thing is for sure: soon enough they began to smoke tobacco in a variety of ways, from pipes, to rolls, to primitive cigars; often during spiritual rituals or other official ceremonies.

Now, as much as I’d like to talk about the antiseptic properties of tobacco and its relation to ancient pre-nuptial ceremonies I will refrain from doing so. Let’s just say that medicinal applications of tobacco included using the poisonous extracts of the plant as a personal insecticide.