Cavendish Tobacco
This tobacco type was named after Sir Thomas Cavendish, an English explorer of the 16th century. I was wondering why? What I found out was very interesting. Thomas was born into wealth and inherited his father's fortune when he was twelve. He became Member of Parliament at twenty-four years old for Shaftesbury, Dorset. He invested and participated in an expedition with Sir Richard Grenville to aid in the colonization of Roanoke, Newfoundland. Next, Thomas returned to represent Wilton in the English Parliament. His following exploit was the circumnavigation of the globe.
Thomas Cavendish left Plymouth port with three ships and 123 men. on July 21st, 1586. Proceeded to traverse the Atlantic Ocean and sail around the southern tip of Chili known as Tierra del Fuego and landed on Magdalena Island near Punta Arenas where the expedition revitalized. Our adventurer then began to loot, pillage the South American coastline and managed to sink of capture nine Spanish galleon ships. This continues up to Isla Puna near Ecuador.
A captured Spanish sailor revealed the expected Spanish Manila galleon was due to anchor nearby at mid-autumn 1587. The expected bounty was great as the ship was laden with an entire year's trade of Mexican silver for Philippine spices, silks and gold. This six-hundred-ton galleon, named Santa Ana, was captured on November 4th, 1587 with an estimated cargo of 2,000,000 Spanish pesos.
His return voyage across the Pacific included stops in Guam, Philippines, Java and a reconnoiter of the Chinese and Japanese coastlines to collect useful information for future voyages. Cavendish attacked the Spanish settlement of Arevalo, Philippines. This marked the first Spanish settlement in the Philippines to be attacked by an English pirate. In 1588, Cavendish returns to England by reaching the African coast via Cape of Good Hope and progressed to Ste-Helena and returned to Plymouth port on September 9th, 1588. His return was triumphant, and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth. The expedition was a financial success as well and was nine months shorter than Sir Francis Drake's previous venture. All this before completing his 28th year. His exploits earned him the moniker, the navigator.
Cavendish tobacco was named after Sir Thomas, that means the quality of the product had to and still does live up to the reputation of its namesake. The Cavendish process involves tobacco being heat treated with either fire or steam and then subjected to heavy pressure which allows the natural sugars to produce a sweet and moist tobacco. The varieties most used for this method are Virginia and Burley tobaccos. You can still partake in this rich dark blend of tobacco in a snuff. S'Nuff said, see you in the funny papers.