Sir Winston Churchill – Cigar Smoker Extraordinaire

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill was born on November 30, 1874 and lived until January 24, 1965.  Known for leading the United Kingdom during World War II, Churchill was also a historian, an officer in the British Army, an artist and a writer.  One of his passions in life was Cuban cigars.

Throughout his political life he was rarely seen without one of his favorite Cuban cigars in his mouth.  But where did this obsession begin?  Well, it began at the source.

On February 20, 1895 Churchill was commissioned as a second lieutenant (a Coronet) in the 4^th Queen’s On Hussars.  At that time Cuba was under the control of the Spanish Government.  Shortly after being commissioned he travelled to Cuba to observe the fighting that was going on between the Cuban guerillas and the Spaniards.

The Daily Graphic had also commissioned him to write about the fight from the field, and on his 21^st birthday he came under fire.  This was the first of approximately fifty times that he came under fire in his lifetime.  Although the Spanish awarded Churchill his first medal, probably the most important thing he took away from his trip to Cuba was his lifelong love of and passion for Cuban cigars.

Once he had tasted the cigars made in this “large, rich, beautiful island” he became hooked on them.  From that point on he was hardly without a Cuban cigar and thereafter never smoked a cigar from any other country.  Some say that he smoked between six and eight cigars per day.  Other people claim he smoked up to ten Cuban cigars a day.

You may think that these were tiny cigarillos, but that’s not the case.  Churchill smoked the largest cigars available at the time.  His favorite brand was Romeo y Julieta.  In his honor this cigar manufacturer named its topmost cigar a “Churchill.”  Now one of the most popular formats, Churchills are seven inches long and have a forty seven ring gauge.

Sir Winston Churchill always kept hundreds of these cigars in his Chartwell residence.   He had a unique way of preparing them for smoking.  Instead of using a cigar cutter Sir Winston moistened his cigars and pierced them with a match.

He was a rather careless smoker though.  Even though he carried a silver ashtray with him throughout the house, it wasn’t unusual for ash to fall down onto his clothes and the carpets.

So Churchill invented a “bellybando” for his cigars that would prevent the ashes from falling onto his coat.  The bellybandos were especially handy when he fell asleep after dinner, often with a cigar clenched between his fingers.

Nowadays some people might not be aware of who this great individual was or how he led his country to victory in the Second World War.  They may never have heard his fervent speeches.  They might be unaware of all the reforms he implemented when he was the prime minister of Great Britain.  However, if you ask almost any cigar aficionado in the world who the most passionate cigar smoker from England was, the one who was “always carrying Cuba on his lips,” you’ll immediately hear them say, “It’s Churchill – the one they named the cigar after.”

Author Bio – Jason Daniels has been a cigar lover since the turn of the century.  Although he likes Chruchills, he actually favors smaller cigars.  But when circumstances don’t permit his smoking a cigar you’ll often find him with an ecig in his mouth and a glass of cognac by his side.