led to condemnation and regulation in Europe. In 1606, Philip III of Spain banned the cultivation of tobacco, though this ban was lifted in 1614. Nevertheless, a special tax was thereafter placed on tobacco imports, with Cuban imports subject to the highest rates. In the early 18th century, increased regulation from Spain sparked armed protests from vegueros (settler growers). Additionally, Spanish settlers were becoming acculturated in Spain (and to the practice of smoking cigars), and many became involved in smuggling operations between trading nations. Cigars rolled in Cuba were not popular in Spain at that time. The majority of tobacco arriving in Spain was processed in Cádiz to be made into cigars, or made into snuff. Spanish settlers in Cuba returning to Spain, however, retained the "expensive and aristocratic vice of smoking Havana cigars, which they had sent to them from Cuba." Brands Cuban cigar brands and brand names are among the most recognized and prestigious in the world. Among them are Cohiba, Montecristo, Partagás, H. Upmann, La Gloria Cubana, Hoyo de Monterrey, Punch, and Romeo y Julieta. Due to an embargo on the import of Cuban cigars by the United States in 1960, difficulties with maintaining the integrity of these brand names arose. The U.S. refused to recognize Cuban ownership of applicable trademarks, resulting in manufacture and sale by companies in other nations (such as the Dominican Republic, Jamaica, and elsewhere) completely unrelated to the Cuban industry, as well as large scale counterfeiting impersonating the more valuable authentic Cuban products. Other prestigious cigar brands formerly made in Cuba include Davidoff and Dunhill, both discontinued there in 1991, but have since moved to other non-Cuban countries. Exports Cigars remain one of Cuba's leading exports. A total of 77 million cigars were exported in 1991, 67 million in 1992, and 57 million in 1993, the decline attributed to a loss of much of the wrapper crop in an extreme weather event, which was followed by significant agricultural policy reform and international trade deals that reinvigorated cigar exports in the following years. In 2016 Cuba exported $445 million worth of cigars worldwide, and in 2017, Cuba exported approximately a half billion dollars in cigars. This accounted for 27 percent of goods exports that year. Because of the perceived status and higher price of Cuban cigars, and the difficulty of identifying the provenance of an unlabeled cigar, counterfeits are not unusual. Cuba counters