The Must Read Books for Cigar Aficionados !

[El Presidente]

On 5/29/2024 at 9:59 PM, Habanoschris said:

 

[Habanoschris]

👌 Nice sections 

[El Presidente]

[El Presidente]

 

[Tinny]

On 12/2/2024 at 1:59 AM, Blazer said:

This is the only cigar book I own. 

Dang, they are 106 bucks on Amazon. Even habanos books are getting price increases, haha!

[hangten]

I've had these since the 90's

[El Presidente]

 

 

• Title: Epicur's Guide to the Habano
• Publisher: Epicur Publications
• Pages: 275
• Binding: Hardcover with dust jacket. Illustrated

 

 

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[El Presidente]

[El Presidente]

This collection looks epic 

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/tobacco-advertising-and-historical-volumes-lot-of-2557-c-51046688c0?objectID=199113120&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=b8b56036605bb0f58fee2153ffa0987f

 

[El Presidente]

[El Presidente]

Came across this one for the Spanish readers among us. 

 

[Christophe]

Tobacco : A cultural history of how an exotic plant seduced civilization by Iain Gately.

I first learned of this book when one of the speakers, don't remember who, mentioned it at the first World Cigar Show in Dubai (which I was lucky enough to attend and witness because one of my business partners, non-cigar related, was exhibiting in the same hall). A must read, probably the most easy-reading and fairly complete cultural-historical work on the origins and spread of tobacco. Written as a very easy, ~350 page read, truly recommended. 

If I have to fault it for one thing, it's that the second half heavily starts shifting focus towards the rise of cigarettes in the 20th century, marketing there-of, health, etc. Which is still an interesting story, but the book basically loses all interest in cigars in the last 100 pages or so, unfortunately. The Cuban revolution isn't even mentioned I believe.

Regardless of that it's still worth a read for every cigar afficionado, especially the first half.

[El Presidente]

 

• Original publication: 1998
• Later Havana edition: 2004/2005
• Publisher: Editorial Letras Cubanas / Ikusager Ediciones
• Language: Spanish
• Length: roughly 260–288 pages depending on edition
• ISBNs include 8485631714 and 9591010400

 González explores:

• Indigenous tobacco use before Columbus
• The rise of Cuban vegas and vegueros
• Slavery and tobacco labour
• Havana factory culture
• Cigarmakers and lector traditions
• Lithography and cigar-label art
• Tobacco in religion, ritual, and literature
• The emergence of the Habano as a global luxury product
• The social mythology surrounding Cuban cigars

[Fireball]

Nice thread. I had forgotten about it, but this time I bought a few from eBay to add to El Habano Moderno. 

[Christophe]

Currently reading this. A bit more academic, but interesting nonetheless. 

[El Presidente]

Biografía del tabaco habano by Gaspar Jorge García Galló is one of the foundational Cuban tobacco-history texts of the revolutionary era and predates many of the better-known modern cigar histories. First published in 1959 by the Universidad Central de Las Villas in Cuba, it occupies an important place in the historiography of the Habano.

The full title is:

Biografía del tabaco habano
Authors:

• Gaspar J. García Galló
• Wilfredo Correa García (later editions)

Key bibliographic details:

• First edition: 1959
• Third revised and illustrated edition: 2000
• Publisher: Editorial José Martí (later editions)
• ISBN: 9590902030 / 9789590902031
• Approx. 203 pages
• Language: Spanish

One fascinating historical detail is that later editions reportedly carried a foreword by Ernesto Che Guevara.

That makes sense given the author’s own background. García Galló was not primarily a cigar writer — he was a Cuban educator, Marxist intellectual, former cigar worker, and political activist associated with the Cuban labour movement. He reportedly worked in the H. Upmann factory as a young man before becoming a teacher and academic.

The book explores:

• Indigenous tobacco use in Cuba,
• the development of the Cuban vega,
• tobacco monopolies under Spain,
• slavery and tobacco production,
• cigar factories,
• export growth,
• and the rise of the Habano as a symbol of Cuban identity.

[CanuckSARTech]

I'm waiting for Jose Antonio to get a publishing deal, and then I'm buying everything that he puts pen to paper for, and every picture he adds in.

I miss that man, and his wealth of knowledge and general willingness to share and just be a stellar person all around.