What Cigars Did Fidel Castro Smoke
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On August 13th, 1926, Fidel Castro was born near Birán, Cuba, and he died on November 25th, 2016. He was a political leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008. Fidel Castro made Cuba the first communist state in the Western Hemisphere. Fidel was recognized as a significant character of the Communist Revolution in Latin America.
Before he became president of the Council of State and the Council of Ministers, he held a premier position until 1976. He finally retired from the presidency in February 2008 because of specific health issues.
Also, Fidel Castro was well known as a Cuban cigar smoker, and he smoked it every day. At age 15, Castro was introduced to smoking by his father. He smoked for almost 44 years before he quit smoking. Fidel Castro quit smoking twice in his lifetime.
One was in 1985 during the Anti-Smoking campaign launched by the Communist Party, while the other occasion was due to a health challenge (cancerous ulcer was found in his intestine)
Fidel Castro smoked a variety of cigars for a long time before his death.
What Cigars Did Fidel Castro Smoke
Before Fidel Castro stopped smoking, he smoked the Cohiba cigar a lot. He preferred the Cohiba cigar to other cigars. Fidel Castro made the Cohiba a brand in Cuba after he discovered it from his bodyguard. Fidel liked the cigar his bodyguard smoked because of the aroma.
His bodyguard introduced him to his friend that was in charge of making the cigars he smoked. Castro’s bodyguard’s friend, Eduardo Ribera, showed Fidel the process of making the cigars, which led to establishing the El Laguito Factory. This is where Cohiba cigars are produced.
Cohiba cigars are top-rated around the world, and they have existed for over 30 years. Cohiba is India’s native name for cigars. Cohiba cigars were initially meant to be consumed by Fidel Castro and the Politburo members ONLY until Castro started giving them out as diplomatic gifts for allied countries and Castro’s friends.
Fidel Castro smoked Partagas, Bauza, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta Churchill before finding Cohiba. He loved the Cohiba because he enjoyed watching the smoke; it was easy to smoke, aromatic, and tasty.
Fidel Castro believed that cigarettes were more dangerous than cigars, and he never inhaled the smoke of a cigarette. He usually enjoyed smoking a cigar after lunch to aid his digestion. And he claimed he had a robust lung capacity.
How long did Fidel Castro smoke cigars?
Fidel Castro smoked cigars for 44 years. He started smoking at the age of 15 and stopped when he turned 59.
Fidel Castro didn’t smoke on two occasions of his life. The first one was during the Revolution, where there was a massive movement against cigars because of peasants’ revolt on the plantations. This led to a reduction in tobacco production.
During the Revolution, Fidel Castro quit smoking so that he could show his support for them. He resumed smoking again after a while. The other occasion that made Fidel Castro quit smoking was because of health reasons.
On August 26th, 1985, there was a common health challenge in Cuba against smoking. Fidel Castro quit smoking at that time to support the campaign against tobacco. He made a solid commitment to quit smoking so he could set an excellent example as a leader.
He was never caught smoking both indoors and outdoors after then.
Bottom Line
Fidel Castro was a renowned leader in Cuba and was introduced to smoking by the age of 15 by his biological father. He was popularly known for smoking the Cohiba cigar; most of his pictures were taken with a cigar in his hand. He smoked cigars for almost 44 years before he finally quit as a result of health issues.
Fidel Castro also smoked other cigars like Partagas, Bauza, H. Upmann, and Romeo y Julieta Churchill before he started smoking Cohiba, a brand established with the help of Eduardo Ribera.
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Dan Stevenson
I have been smoking cigars for 30 years and counting, I started at 18 years old with mild Cubans and worked my way up to medium and now bold. I own 4 humidors, that I try to keep stocked at all times.
