This is a legend of long ago that turned into history; in 1815 at the factory ‘Manifattura Tabacchi di Firenze’ a bale of Kentucky tobacco which had been drying in the summer sun was accidentally soaked by a violent rainstorm. The idea that came to light from this disaster was simple and formed the seed to its unexpected success; to produce cheap cigars using the ‘damaged’ tobacco and sell it to the people of Florence. It was at this point that history was formed; the rainwater had caused the tobacco to ferment giving it a completely ‘new’ taste. This was the dawning of the Toscano cigar as we now know it commencing production in 1818 and instantly becoming a synonym of Italian craftsmanship.
The greatest masters have chosen the Toscano cigar as their artistic companion and font of inspiration. Pietro Mascagni, Giacomo Puccini, Mario Soldati, Marcello Mastroianni, Toto’ and Burt Lancaster have all been photographed with a ‘strotignacciolo’ (this is the most popular nick name given to the Toscano) between their fingers. Carlo Levi used to love to say, “in a world full of tears only two pleasures remain; loving a beautiful woman and smoking a Toscano.”
Even today the Toscano cigar is hand rolled by the “sigaraie”, the master rollers of Lucca, who pass this craft on from mother to daughter. The secret of the ‘stortignacciolo’ lies in its original recipe, unchanged in time, simple and efficient; Kentucky tobacco (100% natural, OGM free) water, fermentation and aging. In 2006 the production of this historic brand returned to Italian hands thanks to the Gruppo Industriale Maccaferri who founded Manifatture Sigaro Toscano; since then the Italian cigar has conquered an ever increasing band of conoisseurs, asserting itself as a true flag of Italian style in the world, as unique as Italian fashion and as embracing as a good Chianti accompanied by the aroma of a Toscano cigar.
Increasingly appreciated abroad, the Toscano cigar is distributed in over 40 different countries; throughout Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia, Israel, Lebanon and Turkey. It is available in all Italian duty free shops, on cruise ships, at airports and at border outlets in Canada, Austria, Moldavia, Tunisia, Egypt, Switzerland and Turkey.
Thanks to the scrupulous control along the full production line, from seed to finished article, the product is of utmost quality. The key words at MST are research and innovation. There have been many new products realized in recent years; ‘il Sigaro del Presidente’ (President’s sigar), ‘Il Toscano Antica Tradizione’ (Old Traditional Toscano) and ‘il Toscano Originale 150’ (Original Toscano 150) to celebrate the unification of Italy. In the master’s edition’s collections we have the ‘Soldati’ and the ‘Modigliani’. There is also the ‘Toscanello Scelto’ (small selected Toscano), the aromatic collection and the ‘Pedroni’ cigar, acquired in 2008. Last year 5 regional ‘Toscanello Scelto’ (Valdichiana, Valtiberina, Veneto, Lazio and Campania) were realized using tobacco from each particular area to celebrate local producers of each locality.