Blog Home

Jean Nicot & Tobacco

How did snuff and tobacco become so popular you ask?

Jean Nicot experimented with crushed tobacco leaves used as a snuff for curing migraine headaches. In 1560, Nicot gave a sample of this home remedy to Catherine de Medici who also suffered from chronic migraines. It was effective in relieving her headaches and the popularity of tobacco snuff grew among the aristocracy. In fact, people became so enthusiastic about its powers that tobacco became known as "Herba Medicea" or "Herba Catherinea".

Cigar History – Part 1

Tobacco was first used by the peoples of the pre-Columbian Americas. Native Americans apparently cultivated the plant and smoked it in pipes for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. On October 12, 1492, in the gulf of San Salvador in the Bahamas, Christopher Columbus discovered tobacco. He and his crew saw the natives there growing the tobacco and soon realized that it would become a valuable commodity. The name tobacco and its origin are still being debated. The word tobacco was used among pre-Columbian natives of the West Indies. Those who took it back with them called it tobacco; the Mayan verb "sikar" meaning "to smoke" later became the Spanish noun cigarro.

The Legacy of White Owl Cigars

Smoking tobacco has been something that people have been doing for almost as long as civilization has been around. Over the years, there have been ways to enjoy the rich flavors and calming nature that many smokers find from their favorite brands, there is also another part to all of this, however. Many of the popular companies that we see today started off as just a simple dream. Before these brands grew into the well-recognized labels, they had to first start off with something much smaller. White Owl Cigars is one of the companies that not only was able to grow in popularity but can also be viewed as a story of the American dream.