Answer: Germany

When you think of cigars, you probably think of tropical locales where tobacco is grown, places like Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. While many cigars are in fact produced from start to finish in such locations (including the Cuban cigars so coveted by many U.S. cigar smokers), huge volumes of tobacco leaves are also exported from other countries and the cigars are produced elsewhere.

In fact, the largest cigar exporter in the world is a country most people certainly don’t think of when they think of cigars: Germany. In the 19th century, Germany had a thriving cigar industry, but by the late 20th century the industry had dwindled to less than a tenth of the world’s cigar exports. Since then, however, the industry has enjoyed a resurgence and German cigar exports now account for nearly a quarter of all exported cigars.