It was, by most accounts, one of the original Cuban tobaccos that emerged around the time of Columbus.
It was then discovered that when Criollo is grown under cover, as opposed to growing it in the sun as was traditionally done, it can make a very suitable wrapper leaf, given the proper care and conditions.
Some of the first Criollo seed grown for wrapper was grown in the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua, and was introduced to the non-Cuban market in 2001 as the wrapper for the Cupido Criollo brand.
The hybrid variety, Criollo 98, is Blue Mold resistant, and was developed in Cuba to replace the earlier Corojo hybrid, Habana 2000, which was losing favor due to its increasingly apparent short-comings.
A Tale of Two Seeds, Smoke Magazine, part 2, Spring, 2004 issue (vol.