200 Years of History of Toscano Cigars
Toscano cigars are much more than just excellent cigars; they are a way of life, a symbol of Italian lifestyle and culture - recognizable anywhere and by anybody. With nearly 200 years of history and tradition, Toscano has become an iconic brand among Made In Italy products, and is indissolubly linked to the development of Italy and its people.
The myth surrounding Toscano cigars came from a pure accident in the beginning of the 1800s. At a tobacco factory belonging to Ferdinand III (then the Grand Duke of Tuscany), a sudden summer storm wet several bales of Kentucky tobacco which were left uncovered.
To the tobacco workers’ dismay, the drenched tobacco started to ferment under the humidity. In order to limit the loss, the factory manager decided to dry and use the tobacco to make cigars without the binder leaves. A simple band was put around each cigar and offered to the people of Florence.
In the 18th century Italy, smoking tobacco was a luxury that only the rich could afford. At that time, Kentucky tobacco was primarily used as pipe tobacco, snuff, and chewing tobacco which was favored by the American miners.
Toscano cigars, with their unique flavor and rich aroma, became an instant success with the Italian people. Its popularity prompted all the other Florentine tobacco makers to start producing cigars with fermented tobacco without using a binder.
In the tobacco world, similar disasters-turned-successes were not uncommon. Lucky Strike owes its origin to a devastating fire in a tobacco warehouse, which initiated a new manufacturing process on cigarette tobacco known as roasting.
With the growth of tobacco production flourishing in Europe, Italy became one of its epicenters. It was in Florence where American tobacco became one of the many representatives of great Italian-American collaboration which can be witnessed in all areas of life.
