The native people from the carribean, in the big Antillas were named Tainos which means friendly in the arawak language. They called the territory Quisqueya (nice land) or Hayti. The ceremony held for the meeting of all the island chiefs was called "Sik'ar". The actual Indian word for "cigar" was "Tobak”! When Columbus came he didn't understand he was witnessing a 2,000 year old culture of Indians cultivating tobacco rolling & smoking cigars. The Spanish picked up on "Sik'ar" and called the rolled tobacco tubes "Cigarro". The French picked it up during the crusades as "Cigarette". Came back into modern Spanish as "Puros or cigarillos" the latter commonly referring to any smoked tobacco product. During the first 400 years after Columbus more than one half the shipping tonnage between the whole new world and Seville Spain was tobacco from the carribean...
Once in Europe, in the 1560's the french Doctor, Jean Nicot, discovered the medicinal virtues of the yet know Nicotine and cured people with this part of the tobacco plant.
The Dominican Republic's prime tobacco growing area begins on the outskirts of the city of Santiago, in the northcentral part of the country, and continues northwest about 25 miles to the town of Esperance. The region, often called the Yaque Valley (for a river that flows through its center), averages about six miles wide and is bordered by two mountain ranges, the Cordillera Septentrional and Cordillera Central. The best tobacco is grown closer to the foot of the northern mountain range, Cordillera Septentrional (Zones B and C), since the soil is richer and deeper with better drainage. In addition, the climate is fresher, with afternoon breezes cooling the normally scorching daytime temperatures.
Some quality tobacco is grown farther west, but most tobacco experts agree that the best is located here. In addition, some cigar tobacco is cultivated south of the Yaque Valley (Zone A). The largest plantings there are Connecticut leaf for candela, or green-colored, wrappers for General Cigar, the makers of Partagas and Macanudo as well as machine-made cigars.
Generally, however, the overall quality and quantity of fine tobacco from the lush Yaque Valley exceeds that of most other areas.
Learn more about fine dominican smoking in Samana visiting Las Ballenas Cigar House.
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