If you work in the cigar business it's sure to come up. Whether at a cigar event, helping someone find a cigar in a humidor, or just during casual conversation. I am referring to the “Cuban question”. Are Cuban cigars the best in the world and is it true that no other cigars in the world can compare to them?

The easiest way to answer that would be: some of them and, no. But I believe that any discussion of Cuban cigars deserves a little more detailed explanation.

To begin to understand Cuban cigars, one must first familiarize themselves with some history. When Christopher Columbus first arrived in Cuba, he didn't find the indigenous peoples sipping mojitos and smoking Montecristos on the beach. Columbus did discover the Taino Indians using tobacco, but it wasn't the cigar we know today. Everyone knows that Columbus sailed into the New World in 1492, but it wasn't until 1676 when the cigar as we know it was created in Sevilla, Spain (wrapper, binder, and filler). Although tobacco had been enjoyed on both sides of the pond since Cortez took back the first seeds to King Charles V of Spain in early 1500's, it was the pipe, not the stogie that most people used to smoke it.  It was about this same time that the Spanish settlers in Cuba began growing their own tobacco, with assistance from the natives, of course. For the next three hundred years, all parts of the tobacco industry were strictly controlled by the crown. If we think taxes are bad today, they were intolerable during these times.

It wasn't until 1817, when King Ferdinand made the sale of tobacco legal in Cuba, that the Cuban cigar industry was born. Dom Jaime Partagas established the Flor de Tobacos Partagas y Compania in 1827 and the rest is history. If one visits Havana today you will still see this factory in operation. The next century marks a great time for cigar innovation and production in Cuba. Despite World Wars, the creation of the cigarette, boom of machine made cigars, and America's decreased cigar consumption, Cuba continued to produce the greatest cigars in the world.

Then Castro happened and many of the top tobacco families fled Cuba. Castro then began to meddle in the cigar industry as dictators often do and with not so good results. But the people still managed to make their cigars, and the soil in Vuelta de Abajo, Cuba's prized tobacco region, didn't suddenly stop producing great plants just because Fidel was in power. The cigar business in Cuba, though hurt by a trade embargo from their closest neighbor who just happened to be the wealthiest nation in the world, managed to survive. Today, many of the great cigar brands that helped launch things are still in production and are still of great quality.

Workers planting Tobacco in the Cibao Valley in the Dominican Republic.

Cuba deserves all of the credit for creating the standard and instituting guidelines for the manufacturing of premium cigars. As I discussed earlier, it wasn't Cuba that invented the cigar, they just went a long way towards perfecting it. Think of what French winemakers did in developing techniques and establishing laws that ensured products of highest quality. Planting methods, curing, fermentation, aging, and finally rolling of the cigar are all things we can thank our friends just south of Key West. We can also thank them for the countless expatriates with names like Patron, Oliva, Torano, and Fuentes, who fled Cuba after the rise of communism. They took their seeds and knowledge to places like Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic and today produce some of the most amazing cigars you will find. They have also inspired a new generation of cigar makers. If Jonathan Drew were to set up a shop in Havana, the locals would go crazy for his Liga Privada line of cigars. There are countless other examples of high quality cigars from the "new guard" of cigar makers.

Large piles of fermenting tobacco leaves. Fermentation is a key process that removes ammonia from the tobacco.

Yes, there are many great Cuban cigars out there, but it doesn't have to be a Habano to be great. I personally like the diversity that the rest of the world uses when blending their cigars. With great tobacco from Brazil, Ecuador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Africa, Indonesia, and even the United States, why limit your selection to just one island?

I will never bash Cuban cigars, for that is the place that cigar greatness was born, but I will also never sell short non-Cuban cigars. If you are willing to pay $30 for a cigar and smoking it is a pleasurable experience then, by all means, continue. I just want you to know that you don't have to buy Cuban cigars to experience great quality. Plus, if you limit yourself to just Habanos, then you are certainly missing out on a whole new world of cigars.

So smoke what you like, don't get infatuated with a name, and give them all a try. I am amazed every day at the new quality products that are produced by the big companies as well as the boutique rollers. Just when you thought they couldn't create another great cigar, another one pops up in the market place. So enjoy today's "Golden Age of Cigars" and explore the entire cigar world.

Long Ashes,

Chris Gwaltney

ABC Fine Wine & Spirits regional manager in Jacksonville. Follow him on Twitter @chrisgnole