Maledetto Toscano

Cigar Club

Around the end of the 80’s a group of friends started to appreciate cigars. United by many other interests they decided to properly develop their passion. Their dream was to use the cigar in a cultural and territorial contest anchored to its root so that smoking a good product would not be a useless way to spend some time but a productive way to enjoy the company of friends with good food as the cigar’s tradition wants accompanied with the right wines and alcohol. Not less important was the need to make this group of people official and able to interact with others all around the world.

Having been exclusive smokers and appraiser of cigars, opponents of the frantic users of cigarettes, from the beginning we wanted to place in the right spot our passion, conscious of the good sides effect that cigars could lead to as relaxing, having good time with others so make our lives a bit better, we wanted to use the club as a way to get to more ambitious and cultural projects.

By meetings, dinners and wonderful nights we got to the idea of creating a club. Finally on September 1999 creating our motto “Slow Smoke” to stress the meditative power of our way of smoking, we officially inaugurated with a wonderful ceremony at Pienza our club “Damned Tuscan” with extraordianaire success of audience and critics. We received great support from media but our biggest joy came from the enthusiastic response we got from friends and cigar’s lovers.

Our peculiarity as a club is the continuous research of the quality of new products wherever they are from. We respect everyone’s taste, everyone is free to smoke any kind of cigar but we truly try to suggest the world best products.

We often organized galas with the legendary cigars from Havana and the superb Caribbean but we consider ourselves as connoisseurs of the old Toscano and the true pioneers of his rediscovery.

We sincerely believe in the potentiality of this product. It’s obviously made for “strong” smokers but it’s at the same time generous and always different in shapes and as a famous writer describes: “the toscano never cheats”.

Our country can definitely be proud of this product that we strongly want to support as well as all our other typical oenogastronomy products.

Our enthusiasm after the meeting of the Kentucky tobacco made our old projects happening. One of these projects was a publication entirely devoted to all the methods of growing of this tobacco and the making of the Toscano cigar. An other project was a story written by Mr. Aroldo Marconi and Mr. Francesco Testa, a tribute to such an important character of our land: “The Toscano” guide of the Italian cigar, published by Giunti. It has become in a very short time the symbol of all cigar’s lovers, awarded from the various audiences, gotten to the second edition and translated into English.

We also worked with Mr. Alinari on the writing of the magnificent book “Toscano, Passion in Smoke” with texts of Mr. Roberto Fanticelli and Mr. Aroldo Marconi.

Talking about our origins and our history, we could not forget the association between the Toscano and the “Toscano” per excellence, the divine poet that certainly knew all about damned people. It’s evident the reference to our logo and also evident is a “Lectura Dantis” which we couldn’t miss joined to a good smoke at Montepulciano, with the reading of Canto 23 of Purgatory.

The formula we proposed has gotten a general consent, encouraging us to re-propose events that tend to emphasize the various forms of art, with the tasting of great oenogastronomy products and always smoking good cigars.

After the excellent successes obtained in Turin at the “Salone del Gusto”(The Hall of Taste), collaborating with E.T.I., Slow Food and the Tuscan Region and at the Vinitaly (Wine Italy), we decided to create a series of events to protect the Toscano cigar and to reach the point of creating “The Road of the Tuscan cigar”.

A slow and inebriating way in the scents and charm of our traditions. We would like to have the “Vuelta Abajo” compete with the lands “Tuscan-Umbro”.

Under the request of the Slow Food, we took on the job of holders of the cigar Toscano Extra-Vecchio (Tuscan Extra-Old).

Recently we had the pleasure to assist at the important opening of two of our club delegations in the south of Italy, in the extraordinarily beautiful island of Ischia and at L’Aquila.

Supported by E.T.I. (Italian Tobacco Corporation), we visited the factory of Lucca where the cigars are rolled up. We believe also on the new way of talking of cigars by our website www.maledettotoscano.com

Our last meetings have been: the recreation of a banquet at Montecatini, the presentation of the Moro 2000, hard to be found, at the prestigious Four Season in Milan, accompanied by a striking menu after the savors of the Toscano cigar and the auction of the last Moro in favor of the campaign anti-mine, Tuscany Slow(non-stop tasting event on the land of the “Damned”) and Merano Wine Festival.

We keep presenting our passion for cigars united to cultural events always very different and important. This project made possible our collaboration on starting with the first issue of the splendid magazine “Monsieur” thanks to the inventor Mr. Franz Botrè.

On the attempt of qualifying more and more the making and the knowledge of cigars, we helped the birth of the International Parliament of Smokers “Fumus” with our friends Mr. Andrea Molinari and Mr. Giancarlo Maresca.

In conclusion we do not attempt funambolistic tasting or esoteric alchemy but we simply try to integrate some of the most beautiful things that our lives offer with splendid meditations.

We will never disappoint you

Good Smoke