The keeping of a humidor of the finest cigars was as much a part of entertaining in the great Rothschild houses as an extensive wine cellar.
Arthur de Rothschild (1851-1903) was a great smoker and travelled to London and Hamburg two or three times a year for supplies of Grunbaum, Morriss and Hesse cigars. He chose his cigars with the utmost care, bringing back Coronas, Hupmanns, Henri Clays, and so on. He kept them in lead-lined, glass-fronted cabinets to protect them against humidity and changes of temperature. He only smoked one from each box, later giving them as gifts to friends and staff of the Bank and railways. He claimed that he would never have dreamt of giving them a present of cigars which had not first been sampled.
During the 1880's, London financier, Leopold de Rothschild (1845-1917) instructed the famous Hoyo de Monterrey factory in Havana to make a short cigar with a large ring size so that he could enjoy the richest flavour possible without have to take the time smoke a full-length cigar. The ‘Rothschild’ cigar is still made today.
The cigar maker Zino Davidoff created a special cigar for Baron Philippe de Rothschild (1902-1988). The Zino Mouton Cadet cigars were made to compliment the Baron's Mouton Cadet wines.
