I had a good conversation with the rep for Arganese the other day. He asked me to take my pick of four blends that he had on hand. We talked a bit about each of them. I then asked if any of them were puros. I was really surprised by his answer, because I was under the impression that a puro was a cigar made of tobacco that was entirely grown in a single country. This gentleman told me that puros were cigars made completely of tobacco NATIVE to a country.

Is that your understanding? If true, then you would have to agree that very few cigars are puros, wouldn't you?
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I'm not so sure about the reps definition. A Puros is a cigar whose wrapper, filler and binder is all grown in one country.
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http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/puro
I would add that I've always heard it had to be rolled or manufactured in that country as well.
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Nozero, the wiki definition you cite would lend credence to the rep's definition. If the tobacco has to "originate" in the country of manufacture, then the seed could not have come from elsewhere.

to originate (third-person singular simple present originates, present participle originating, simple past and past participle originated)

1. To give an origin or beginning to; to cause to be; to bring into existence; to produce as new.
2. To take first existence; to have origin or beginning; to begin to exist or act.
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Will there be a quiz?:-)
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Damn, I hope not! I'm just looking for the truth. Maybe I can't handle the truth!

Semper Fi
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Don't know if Rob was right or not I always thought it meant grown in the same not where the seed came from. Have no reference just what I thought I always knew.
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From Cigar Dictionary...

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That's my understanding too.
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me too...
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Same
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I agree with Footbag's definition.
Tobacco is only native to one country, and iirc, it's Peru. It's been carried to all other parts of the world, including Cuba.
To say that a puro had to be made from native tobacco doesn't seem to make sense in that light, or the only puros would hail from Peru, and I don't even know that they produce cigars.
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Scott, tobacco was being used in America when European settlers arrived as early as 1607. It may be native to Peru, but it is also native to America.
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I can tell you this for sure, however, I cannot find any supportive documentation at this time!!!

Puro is a Spanish word, and with respect to cigars, the original meaning of a puro cigar, was any cigar that was hand made, from pure long tobacco leaf, from any country.

In the 1950's or 60's, the meaning/definition began to change, and after a decade or two, the new definition became the rule of thumb, so to speak. That new definition was that a puro cigar, is a cigar that was hand made, in a specific country, with pure long tobacco leaf, that was grown within that specific country.
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At recent event here in the Metro Detroit area, I was able to speak with Dr. Alejandro Martinez Cuenca, Owner and Master Cigar Maker of Joya de Nicaragua. He talked about the fact his cigars were "puros", using all locally grown tobacco and made in his factory in Esteli.

BTW, all three of the Joya de Nicaragua blends are excellent!

:-):-):-)
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Sure sounds like a "manufacturers" marketing perspective... ie... Cuban seed kind of logic. I think "our definition" is what counts and that is all grown in the same country. Gets blurred so much in todays NC market with all the "blending" going on.
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:-) That is what I thought was the definition of a Puro.
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That sums it up for me. Puro means "pure", and I take that to mean all from one place. marketers can do their thing but it still comes down to what our definition is in the end.

~Vitis
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