-FUPPETS- Loves Cigars

In the ancient times before the filthy Spaniards showed their hairy faces in the New World, the natives of what came to be called the Caribbean would pluck leaves from a hardy plant, roll them up, and light the ends on fire, puffing at the smoke like a chimney. From the Inca empire in South America all the way to the Inuit people of the Arctic, tobacco has been used in one way or another since pre-history. When Columbus and his three ships made landfall in the Caribbean, they noticed the natives smoking the leaves rolled up in a tube they called a Tobago. One of Columbus' Lieutenants, Rodrigo de Xeres, was the first European to actually try to smoke these "tobagos." History records that from that first day until the end of the expedition, Rodrigo de Xeres smoked every day.
It was the Spanish that actually perfected pipe tobacco and cigars. To them -FUPPETS- owes a debt of gratitude, for a premium cigar is one of the finest things in life. They were the first to experiment with aging the tobacco leaves instead of smoking them "green" as the natives did. This actually decreased the harshness, and increased the subtle flavors and natural oils.
The Spanish took to cigars, while the British preferred pipes. Americans, however, developed a taste for cigarettes mainly, with cigars and pipes a secondary preference.
-FUPPETS- wholeheartedly endorses the entire line of Rocky Patel Cigars, and if you feel like splurging around $140 for a suitable -FUPPETS- gift, a box of Rocky Patel 1990 Vintage Churchills will be greatly appreciated!

Ha! For more information on cigars you can hit up Cigar Afficionado's website, or a new -FUPPETS- favorite, The Smoking Hot Cigar Chick, who updates her site regularly as she samples a wide variety of premium cigars. With the increasing resistance to public smoking, and to cigarettes with their hundreds of additives and chemicals and "burn accelerators" it is nice to know that cigar culture is still alive and well and by all accounts prospering.