Calle Ocho: The Most Important Cigar Street in America

Every trade has a main street. For American cigars, it is Southwest 8th Street in Miami: Calle Ocho, the spine of Little Havana, where Cuban exiles rebuilt their world one storefront at a time after the revolution.

Tobacco came with them. Rollers who had learned their craft in Havana set up at small tables behind shop windows, and the neighborhood became one of the rare places in America where you could watch a cigar being born on your lunch break. Walk the street today and the smell of cedar and leaf still drifts out of working galleries.

The street's résumé is remarkable for its size. El Credito's little factory gave the world the non-Cuban La Gloria Cubana. And in 2002, a newly arrived Cuban master named José "Pepín" García opened El Rey de los Habanos in a small room between 11th and 12th avenues, right next door, launching the family dynasty that became My Father Cigars.

Countries have spent fortunes trying to build a cigar reputation. Calle Ocho built one out of exile, folding tables, and proximity, proof that in this business, the essential infrastructure is people who know the leaf. If you make one American cigar pilgrimage, make it here, and order a media noche while you wait.