A Shadow of His Former Self: In the early 1890s, Eugene Oakshott of Spencer & Co. decided to expand its cigar manufacturing operation to Dindigul. About 60 acres of land was purchased a short distance from the town. After the business closed, Spencer’s compound was broken up into pieces, sold and resold. | Photo credit: G. KARTHIKEYAN
At the height of the Second World War, Winston Churchill, sunk in his chair and locked in his bunker in Whitehall, London, would be nursing his Johnnie Walker Red with a scowl while reaching for his Romeo y Julieta, a Cuban cigar that would give him a balanced aromatic experience. But that day, because of the war, the shipment from Cuba might have been delayed, and his hand would have reached out to Flor de Dindigul from India. He would casually slice the crap and sear the edges, his trademark scowl slowly fading. As he drew the smoke in and swirled through it, he could feel the heat and buzzing life of granny summer in the top notes. Strong and Courageous would lead his thoughts to wander back to his time in India between 1896 and 1899. And in those few moments of silence, Churchill would sink deeper into his chair, forget the strategies of war, and relax for a few blissful moments as the heady robust note was replaced by the soft sweet tinge of Dindulgar.
“Churchill Cigar Assistant”
Perhaps it was then that he decided to have a regular supply of Dindigul cigars. A standing order was issued to the Government of Madras to ensure regular supplies of robust Dindigul cigars even during and after the war. It was said that a post of “Churchill Cigar Assistant” was created to keep track of the order and the PWD division in Tiruchi was responsible for purchasing and sending these cigars to London. A quarterly report of the amount sent by the Governor of Madras on behalf of Winston Churchill to settle accounts was also to be sent to the Government. This quarterly report was called the “Churchill Cigar Report”. If no cigars were shipped during the quarter, a message that nothing was being shipped had to be sent as well.
Tobacco was introduced in India by the Portuguese during the reign of Akbar. Cultivation spread and before long reached South India. Areas in and around Dindigul, especially Vedasandur rich in red loam soil, were considered ideal for tobacco cultivation. Until the early 1980s, acres and acres of farmland in this strip were under the dark green, egg-shaped leaves of tobacco. The leaves grew up to 51 inches long and about 27 inches wide. These leaves captured the dark, mysterious scent of earth that had baked and cracked in the intense summer heat.
When the leaves turn yellowish green, they are ready to harvest. The leaves were torn and strung on a string and left to dry. A zephyr that floated in the twilight would carry a whiff of tobacco. For a long time, local people chewed dried tobacco fermented with jaggery and honey. This often gave off an earthy and sweet aroma and was seen by many as a viable marketing business. Eugene Oakshott of Spencer & Co. (based in Madras) sensed an opportunity and decided to expand its cigar manufacturing operations to Dindigul in the early 1890s to meet the growing demand. About 60 acres of land was purchased just outside the bustling city, which was then restricted to Old Palani Road.
Soon bundles of dried tobacco leaves were being brought by oxcart to the factory in the Spencer Compound, and the air was filled with the aroma of medicinal tobacco being pounded and packed into cigars. From the rustic and raw moist snuff chewed by the locals, Dindigul tobacco found refinement and finesse at Spencer Compound. Spencer & Co. churned out cigar brands such as Salisburys, Gold Mohurs, Siestas, Little Randolphs and Torpedos.
Each puff of these cigars would bring a full earthy, dry earth aroma to a cigar lover’s palette. It was the smell of well-ploughed tobacco farms in Vedasandur. Once the smoke cleared, in its place was a seductive perfume that suggested the first rain falling on the burning earth.
Trichinopoly mourned the Forsaken
Historian S. Muthiah once wrote in his “From Madras Miscellany” column for The Hindu: “It was Spencer cigars that Sir Winston Churchill, after leaving Trichinopoly surutta, once permanently ordered the Madras government to ensure a regular supply – even during the Second World War. In the 1950s, Spencer & Co. went out of business in Dindigul. What remains of the Spencer Compound today is a tiny patch of land that has become an unmaintained garden.This 60-acre area is no longer the heart of Dindigul and has been broken into pieces, sold and resold, living on the names of shops and hotels that were built right across the bus stand. But with the ban on tobacco products, Tamil Nadu govt. which began in 2013, agricultural land under tobacco was sold to cotton mills.
“Status Quo” thinking.
Coming back to the “Churchill Cigar Assistant” anecdote, in February 2021, while advocating the Farm Reform Bills in the Lok Sabha, Prime Minister Narendra Modi used it to criticize the “status quo” thinking of the Indian bureaucracy. It was whispered in bureaucratic circles that even after India became independent in 1947, the post of “Churchill Cigar Assistant” continued for decades until the state government set up a commission to raise the salaries of government employees. At the time, the ‘Churchill Cigar Assistant’ wrote to the commission asking for a raise, and no one in the highest echelons of power even knew such a position existed. The rich, complex bouquet of a well-aged Dindigul cigar has long since disappeared into the city’s stench of pollution. What remains are elusive notes in historical chronicles and anecdotes that subtly bring to the fore the memory of a long-forgotten addictive luxury.
Published – 20 March 2026 05:30 IST
