Who are the legends of the Cigar World.

[El Presidente]

Recent posts have had me thinking as to who are the Legends of the Cigar world. Those people who are etched in History for their contribution to our passion.

I am not looking fro a list but rather detailed post on one individual (Short Biography or several but on different posts within this thread). If all goes to plan I will put this thread in the Classics section. I will e-mail Jose today to get his opinion as well from a Habanos perspective.

[bolivr]

Don Alejandro Robaina for a start. Unfortunately I do not have a lot of information.

This is a great idea El Prez as it is important IMHO to preserve knowledge like this. Looking for information on Robaina I notice there is no Wikipedia page on him. That seems to be a glaring omission.

With proper referencing to the information that will be posted here can it also be uploaded to Wikipedia for a broader readership? I know Wiki has its faults but when it is good it is really good.

[Torontonian]

Are we looking for pioneers in cigar artistry and manufacturing or aficionados? If the latter, Churchill and Freud, of course, come immediately to mind. A lesser known cigar connoisseur, however, was 19th century 'Prince of Preachers' C.H. Spurgeon [1834-1892]; one of the most influential ecclesiastics ever. At a time when preachers were vociferously condemning tobacco from the pulpit, Spurgeon was smoking cigars for God's glorification : 'I wish to say that I'm not ashamed of anything whatever that I do, and I don't feel that smoking makes me ashamed, and therefore I mean to smoke to the glory of God.'

'When I have found intense pain relieved, a weary brain soothed, and calm, refreshing sleep obtained by a cigar, I have felt grateful to God, and have blessed His name.'

[Fuzz AI]

Recent posts have had me thinking as to who are the Legends of the Cigar world. Those people who are etched in History for their contribution to our passion.

I am not looking fro a list but rather detailed post on one individual (Short Biography or several but on different posts within this thread). If all goes to plan I will put this thread in the Classics section. I will e-mail Jose today to get his opinion as well from a Habanos perspective.

Damn! I was just about to say LISA!!! Would've gotten me back into her good books.

[Jimmy2]

I would have to say Jimmy Cubano..

[El Presidente]

Lets stick to Industry legends for now. We will do connoisseurs next.

[Guest rob]

Hmmm.

I'll be honest - but at just over a decade, I haven't been in this game for nearly long enough to comment.

[Colt45]

I'm not qualified to speak about tobacco people, or to write a bio on anyone in the industry, other than copying what is available on the internet

or from books / magazines.

But two names that I feel belong in the discussion are Zino Davidoff and Alfred Dunhill.

[aavkk]

JOSE O PADRON

Well I am fortunate enough to personally know the Padron family. While for the most part Jose is soft spoken and reserved I have had some great conversations with him at Marlins games. Jorge on the other hand is much more outgoing and is now the "face" of the company. With Jose you immediately get the sense that this man has an unbelievable work ethic and cigars arent his number 1 priority, preserving and taking care of his family is. Cigars are a means to get that done and because it is he takes enormous pride in making sure that he puts out the best product he can. I personally feel that he sets the global standard on construction quality. I've smoked hundreds of Padron's, plenty annivarsary's and plenty of the regular line and have not had ONE SINGLE inconsistency in draw and burn. I think that is remarkable.

I have also had the chance to speak with him and Jorge about the possibility down the road of working with cuban tobacco. He said he would love the challenge of working with different crop, particularly cuban and working with different blends. I asked him if he thought cuban tobacco is superior to others and his response was that it is certainly different but that he isnt really qualified to answer because he hasnt smoked cuban cigars with any regularity in a very long time (this was about a year ago). I was hoping to get something less vague as a response hey that's Jose for you.

He has quite the biography and I am certainly not qualified to write it but I thought I would share my perspective of this definite cigar legend.

[Ken Gargett]

simply for the fact that so much of the world associates him with cigars more than anyone else - and in a positive way - you have to include churchill.

and buggered if i intend writing that biography.

[Ken Gargett]

ps - one of the better ideas for a post that you have come up with.

[Loki]

Samuel Gompers He was one of the founding fathers of the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers and lesser lnown for his contibution to the cigar industry:

Gompers was born on January 27, 1850 in London, England into a Jewish family which had recently arrived from the Netherlands. He attended the Jewish Free School until age 10 when he left to become an apprentice, first as a shoemaker and then as cigar maker. The family immigrated to the United States in 1863, settling on Manhattan's Lower East Side in New York City. He married Sophia Julian in 1866 and became a U.S. citizen in 1872.[2]

He joined Local 15 of the Cigarmakers' International Union in 1864, and was elected president of Local 144 in 1875. He was elected second vice-president of the international union in 1886, and first vice-president in 1896. He served in this capacity until his death. In 1877, the union nearly collapsed. Gompers and his friend Adolph Strasser used Local 144 as a base to rebuild the Cigarmakers' Union, introducing a high dues structure and implementing programs to pay out-of-work benefits, sick benefits, and death benefits for union members in good standing. He told the workers they needed to organize because wage reductions were almost a daily occurrence. The capitalists were only interested in profits, "and the time has come when we must assert our rights as workingmen. Every one present has the sad experience, that we are powerless in an isolated condition, while the capitalists are united; therefore it is the duty of every Cigar Maker to join the organization. ... One of the main objects of the organization," he concluded, "is the elevation of the lowest paid worker to the standard of the highest, and in time we may secure for every person in the trade an existence worthy of human beings."[

I would have to think that many are not aware of this fact.

[Colt45]

simply for the fact that so much of the world associates him with cigars more than anyone else - and in a positive way - you have to include churchill.

Though I consider Churchill more an icon than "contributor" I'd have to agree - he is the FOH symbol after all.

But if we are to include icons, I think we'd also have to consider the likes of Groucho Marx and George Burns.

[Ken Gargett]

Though I consider Churchill more an icon than "contributor" I'd have to agree - he is the FOH symbol after all.

But if we are to include icons, I think we'd also have to consider the likes of Groucho Marx and George Burns.

i'd go contributor for churchill because i have no doubt he encouraged (and still does) many people to try a cigar and would have brought 1,000s to the industry.

and yes, same could be said for groucho et al. to a lesser degree today, may be even arnie is doing the same thing.

[El Presidente]

JOSE O PADRON

He has quite the biography and I am certainly not qualified to write it but I thought I would share my perspective of this definite cigar legend.

I have never met Jose but Padron albeit I have met Jorge several times. True legends of the Cigar game

[El Presidente]

Samuel Gompers He was one of the founding fathers of the International Brotherhood of Electrical workers and lesser lnown for his contibution to the cigar industry:

Thanks for that Loki.

I had never heard of Samuel Gompers before. I love a day where I learn somthing!

[Aficionado]

Zino Davidoff

Sr.Alonso Menedez creator Montecristo.

Benjamin Menendez-son Alonso

Edurdo Riviera creator Cohiba

Ramón Cifuentes

Angel Oliva

Jose Pepin Garcia

Carlos Fuente end son Carlos Jr

[laficion]

Recent posts have had me thinking as to who are the Legends of the Cigar world. Those people who are etched in History for their contribution to our passion.

I will have to , again, talk about, A Frenchman who has contributed a great deal to

our passion and to the world of Habanos. That man is Gilbert Belaubre, the man who

created the Brand, Ouai d' Orsay, see my thread, if you missed the story.

http://www.friendsofhabanos.com/forum/inde...showtopic=97621

Also author of the book " From Initiation to Mastery "

A fantastic voyage into the world of cigars and how our minds apprehend Olfaction and

the Mysterious work of nose and brain when we smoke and taste our cigars.If you can

get your hands on this book, It's maybe printed in English, It will be a whole new world

for those who are interested in learning about our taste bubs.

[Van55]

By far the most influential figure in the cigar industry still alive (barely?) today is Fidel Castro.

From nationalizing the Cuban cigar business after the revolution to the creation of the Cohiba and Trinidad lines, his influence has been singular, and not just within Cuba. Because of Castro the Domincan, Honduran and Nicaraguan cigar makers have a substantial market in the USA that they would not otherwise have had.

[hellring]

Van you make a very good point.