YBOR CITY, Fla. — Handrolled in 1857 and discovered in a sunken ship off the coast of South Carolina, the world's oldest cigars are now on display for guests at Tampa's oldest and last active cigar factory, Ybor City's J.C. Newman Cigar Co.
"It's a beautiful piece of history — you could still light it up," said Drew Newman of the newly acquired, and apparently still smokeable, artifacts, which can be found in the factory's darkly mysterious and aromatic "Cigar Vault."
Drew is a fourth-generation cigarmaker at J.C. Newman, itself a pivotal piece of Tampa history.
And now that history is accessible to visitors like never before.
"Tampa is Cigar City," added Newman, standing amidst craftspeople still hand rolling cigars and putting decals on decorative cigar boxes. "Cigars are what made Tampa into a city. Before the cigar industry came here in the 1880s, there were just 600 people living in this area we know as Tampa."
Built in 1910, Drew's family factory, which still manufactures 60,000 cigars a day the old-fashioned way, has been recently renovated to include a free museum, gift shop, lounges, meeting space, and an all-access hour-plus tour for $15.
"If we didn't invite the public in and share the story, nobody else could or would," says Drew.
For more on the J.C. Newman Cigar Co., go here.
