A French artist’s rendering of a Taino Indian tobacco plantation during the late 15th century show early tobacco drying sheds on the perimeters of newly planted tobacco fields. Indians, in the foreground seem to be under the direction of a Spanish master. It is important to note that the Taino Indians had been cultivating tobacco in this manner for hundreds of years before the Spanish or any other Europeans arrived. This process was known throughout the Antilles as " Sik’ar " which was the Taino word for cultivating, breeding, selecting, rolling and curing tobacco. The Spanish as well as most Europeans had snuff, pipe and chewing tobacco, but had never seen tobacco rolled up into tubes until they landed in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico, of course, was the first point of contact with the " new world ". After the discovery of the island by Cristobal Colon ( Columbus ), the tobacco from Puerto Rico became a luxury for Spanish Royalty for over two hundred years. From 1492 to 1780 more than half the shipping tonnage between the new world and Seville Spain was comprised of tobacco from Puerto Rico.

The large house in the background is called a Batey and was the residence of the Cacique or chief of the local indian family. The huts surrounding the plantation are echoed throughout time and appear much unchanged in the photographs of 19th century operations which follow. When the Spanish explorers returned to Seville with the "new" product, the word Sik’ar was brought into the Spanish language as cigarro and later picked up by the English as " cigar ". Don Collins is proud to be part of this age old tradition and even more proud to be producing hand rolled cigars on the island where the tradition began in pre-Columbian times.