A young Clint Eastwood clutched one between the index finger and thumb of his right hand in Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." And in "Anatomy of a Murder", by Otto Preminger, filmed in '59, the brilliant lawyer played by James Stewart, offered them to friends. The Tuscan cigar has a long tradition in the United States: it is not only the icon of Italianness, but a thriving market. Italy is the largest producer of tobacco in the European Union, with a production of about 50 thousand tons per year. And the United States is confirmed as the most important market, with a value of 6.1 million dollars of Italian tobacco exported, and 7.9 million dollars of imported tobacco.

Numbers emerged yesterday in Washington, where the tradition of tobacco culture was celebrated with an event hosted at the Italian embassy. "Italian Cigar", in collaboration with the Premium Cigar Association and Manifatture Sigaro Toscano, has seen many personalities from the economy and the sector. There were, among others, Lamberto Moruzzi, head of the Office for Economic, Commercial and Scientific Affairs of the embassy; Stefano Mariotti, CEO of Manifatture Sigaro Toscano; Greg Seamster, vice president of the Universal Leaf Tobacco Company, and Scott Pearce, executive director of the Premium Cigar Association. A bipartisan delegation from the U.S. Congress was also present. Moderated by the "ambassador" in the USA for the Tuscan cigar, Michael Cappellini, the bicentennial legacy of the Tuscan cigar tradition was discussed and the economic framework of the American market was analyzed.