The Greatest Cigar Discoveries

Over the time that the cigar has been in existence, it has managed to acquire a vast and entertaining mythology, a variety of pleasant traditions and a whole following of the most diverse objects that must always accompany it today. And behind each of these objects lies a real discovery, the most important of which rightfully belongs to Luiz de Torres and Rodrigo de Jerez, companions of Christopher Columbus. These were the first to bring the cigar to the Old World in the year 1492.
 

Cigar boxes

The men, who thought them up: the brothers Herman and August Upmann

 
The Upmann family business was banking, but it could never have been called a successful business, nor really described as unsuccessful. Everything the Upmanns did was done with an assiduousness and attention to detail that were purely German, and what they achieved was the result of hard work and conscientiousness.

But the success of the cigar business that they decided to run as a sideline caused doubts among many. The brothers themselves looked at cigars as an outlet from the rigours of business, something they could enjoy putting their heart and soul into. But the sceptics were firm in their assertions that the idea was an extravagant whim. Which is very probably the reason that the name of Upmann is to this day connected only with cigars that bear the brand name H. Upmann, while the existence of the family bank is known only to specialists.

But even with a business that was started purely for the love of it, Herman and August Upmann tried to make a certain amount of profit. Well before the first H. Upmann warehouse was opened in 1844, the brothers had been organizing the supply of Cuban cigars to Germany so as to present them to German clients of the bank on the signing of successful contracts and the conclusion of deals. These cigars had traditionally been shipped to Europe in casks or leather sacks and sold singly. But a rich client of the Upmann Bank could hardly be given a single cigar as a gift, nor could he be given a dozen cigars wrapped in a piece of paper - presents of that kind would only raise a forced smile. And that was not the impression of their bank the Upmanns wanted to create, when they gave their clients cigars as gifts. The answer was to present the cigars in a special box, and to ensure the success of this promotional project, the Upmanns soon began investing in the production of boxes that were specifically designed for cigars. 
  
The boxes were made from expensive cedar wood and decorated with the inscription H. Upmann. On being presented with such a gift, the bank's clients would smile good-naturedly and go back home to tell their friends about the good deal they had made and the expensive present they had been given. It was then that the second - and far more significant - aspect of the Upmann brothers' ingeniously simple idea came to light. The rich client would open his cigar box after dinner in the evening to offer a good friend a cigar - and see the name H. Upmann on the box. And so would the good friend. And when the cigars were finished, the rich client would keep the box for cigars of other brands.

Thus the box with the company name not only helped the Upmanns promote their bank by giving suitable presents to their clients, they were also a fine advertisement for a new cigar production business. Soon all the cigars made at the Upmann factory were packed in boxes, and it was not long before Upmann cigars were a product apart in the tobacconists of Europe. They were sold in fine boxes inscribed by the manufacturer and graded by size, while all the other cigars were sold singly out of casks and sacks. It did not take competitors long to discover wherein the Upmanns' success lay... And where today can you find an expensive cigar without a box?