THE 2017 CIGAR LIMITED EDITION HD

Precisely 20 years after having issued the first Cigar edition, Montegrappa has again honoured this most elevated form of smoking with a new limited edition. Although tobacco usage has fallen out of favour, cigars remain a guilty pleasure for connoisseurs who appreciate the rich tastes and aromas. During Christopher Columbus’ voyage of 1492, three crewmen – Rodrigo de Jerez, Hector Fuentes and Luis de Torres – are believed to have experienced tobacco for the first time on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Natives had presented them with dried leaves in possession of an unusual fragrance. Like the chewing of betel nuts or coca leaves in different cultures, tobacco was widespread use among the islands of the Caribbean. Columbus and his crew again encountered the leaf in Cuba, his sailors reporting that one of the tribes they met smoked a primitive form of cigar, with twisted, dried tobacco leaves rolled in other leaves, including palm or plantain. Inevitably, Spanish and other European visitors adopted the practice of smoking rolled leaves, taking the custom back to Spain and Portugal. It found its way through France, Italy and – thanks to Sir Walter Raleigh, upon his return from the Americas – to Great Britain. All would develop unique smoking cultures, eventually embracing pipes, cigarillos and cigarettes. As early as the mid-to-late 16th century, tobacco started to be grown commercially in America, while connoisseurs would consider Caribbean and Turkish varieties to be among the best. Cigars evolved into the gentleman’s smoke of choice, while cigar culture also produced the image of the cigar-chomping, hard-nosed boss as well as the Cuban revolutionary. Cigar culture is reminiscent of wine appreciation, and the same values of terroir, production techniques and other considerations. In the modern era, with smoking no longer accepted in public, cigar lovers have formed clubs in major cities. Here, smokers can enjoy cigars in a manner reminiscent of the era of the original oil barons, railway magnates and other captains of industry, for whom cigars were mandatory accessories. Often, the smoking experience is accompanied by a brandy or other tipple. Whether one smokes or not, this cylindrical device for transferring smoke has provided us with words of wisdom. In the post-feminist era, it would be unwise to quote Kipling, who said, “A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke.” More sage-like is another observation. When contemplating man’s search for significant meanings where none are to be found, the Father of Psychoanalysis - Sigmund Freud - told overzealous disciples, desperate to attribute a significant meaning to his cigar smoking, that “Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar.” The CIGAR pen collection Made in the special “Tobacco” celluloid, one of the 24 hues Montegrappa boasts in its archives, the Cigar pen resembles the subject with uncanny realism. The colour was chosen for its particular combination of