Manila Cigars History

Towards the end of the 16th Century, 1592, the Spanish galleon "San Clemente" brought to the Philippines over the Acapulco - Manila Trade Route some 50 kgs of Cuban tobacco seed. This was then distributed among the Roman Catholic missions. The good churchmen found excellent climates and soils for growing with top class seed high quality tobacco on Philippine soil.

In 1641 already, the Governor General, Sebastian Hurtado de Corcuera sent, on the Galleon "Purisima Concepcion" and as an exclusive present, two Narra Chests (Philippine hardwood cases), containing high-class hand rolled Manila Cigars, to the Viceroy of New Spain (Mexico).

Today, handmade Manila Premium Cigars are manufactured by skilled craftsmen and craftswomen. They do provide a pleasant mild taste and satisfying smoke. Exclusive gifts for dear friends. Manila Premium Cigars' tobaccoes are grown by contract farmers in the beautiful provinces of La Union and in the sunny valley of Gagayan de Oro in Isabela Province, on Northern Luzon Island. Picture taken 1920 in the ALHAMBRA factory in Manila.

We supply handcrafted Narra Cigar boxes made of precious woods and personalized Humidors filled with fresh Manila Premium Cigars. Priority parcel post shipment directly to your home address is included in our prices! At no additional costs, these boxes and cigars can be personalized with your name or logo. Make always-great gifts!

captain
Captain Richard F. Läubli

Manila Cigars Int., Zurich, was founded in January 1999 on the basis of a distributorship agreement between the Tabaqueria de Filipinas, Inc. in Manila and Richard F. Läubli of Zurich, Switzerland.

Richard was born in Zurich, Switzerland, on 08.08.1931. As a mechanical engineer he served many years in foreign countries, first in Africa and then for over 3 decades in the Far East.

Having retired as a salesman for capital goods in 1993, a new challenge was required. Realizing that Philippine Cigars were little known in his area at the time, Richard decided to change this and started to import, promote and distribute the fine Manila Premium Cigars, handcrafted in the Philippines. The philosophy behind this is to help the Philippine economy, as many farmers and factory workers depend on this fine product.

With the help of his wife Verena, business today is handled with loving care and expertise. Orders keep coming in from all over the globe. Depending on the situation, deliveries are made directly from stocks in Zurich or from the factory in Manila. Because of unrivalled good taste and high quality of the cigars, an impeccable customer service and very reasonable prices, these top class cigars satisfy smokers that keep on returning to Manila Premium Cigars.

Caption: This photo of "Captain Dick" on one of the Excursion Fleet ploughing the waters of picturesque lake Lucern in Central Swtizerland.