Famous Cigars And The People Who Smoked Them

Cigars have always been symbols of power. They're expensive. They can be elitist. They're traditionally associated with success and, to be quite frank, there's that phallic aspect. Symbolically and psychoanalytically, the cigar carries a lot of weight. It's no wonder that some of the world's most famous cigars have been smoked by the world's most powerful men. Let's take a look at a couple of these cigar-smoking heavy hitters.

The number one person most associated with a cigar is Fidel Castro. The Cuban revolutionary was rarely seen without his own personal style of Cohiba. In fact, the Cuban revolutionary was single-handedly responsible for the birth of the Cohiba, one of the most famous cigars in the world. It seems that Castro was taken by the aroma and taste of one his bodyguards cigars. He found out who made these cigars, started getting them made for his personal use and the Cohiba brand was born. It's good to be a revolutionary king. You get to make your cigar immortal.

Another famous cigar aficionado was JFK. Born into wealth and privilege, it was kind of natural that our 35th president appreciated a good cigar. Jack Kennedy's cigar of choice was the Petite Upmann. The Petite Upmann was, and is, an exquisite cigar. The perfect choice for the leader of the free world. The Petite Upmann sends a subtle message that the alpha male doesn't have to smoke the biggest cigar. It's tells your diplomatic opponents that you walk softly and carry a stick so expensive and powerful that getting your ass kicked is a foregone conclusion.

Perhaps the most famous cigar smoker was Winston Churchill. For all of you young dawgs who may have skipped History 101, Churchill is way important. Twice in the last century, Churchill played a pivotal role in stopping Germany's rather impolite attempts at world conquest. At all times during this effort, he was fueled by a superhuman combination of quality cigars and liqueur. His booze of choice was incredibly expensive brandy. His cigar was a Romeo y Julieta. The rest of us might want to sit up and take notice.

These guys smoked a lot of famous cigars. However, a lot of these cigars were already famous before they smoked them. So which comes first, the famous cigars or the people who made them famous? My advice is too enjoy some famous cigars while you figure it out.