What Is The Difference Between Regular And Cuban Cigars?
February 23, 2010 by MBC Staff
Filed under Afficianado
Why do men like Cuban cigars better and why are they illegal here in the United States?
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The US has a trade imbargo with Cuba. Cuban products are illegal in the US. You CANNOT bring even one cigar into the country legally. Please be careful about that. And it’s true that most supposedly cuban cigars in the US are counterfiet and not worth the money (in Mexico too, for that matter).
As for why guys like them, well there are a couple reasons. Perhaps for one, just because they are illegal, so it seems a bit naughty. But for the experienced cigar smoker, the truth is in the pudding. Cuban cigars are the best. Specifically the top brands, they are made by cigar rollers whose fathers and grand fathers were cigar rollers. And the tobacco is the best. I have heard that one of the reasons is the high lithium content of the soil in the great tobacco areas of Cuba. So as you smoke, you get a little lithium stoned. I don’t know if that is true, but I think it might be. In any case, the best thing with Cuban cigars, is that they just taste great. Full bodied, but not harsh. Smooth and yet powerful.
A trade embargo prohibits most Cuban imports to the U.S. You can, however, pick up a couple of boxes for personal use (not re-sale) In Canada or Europe and bring them back.
There are enough top rated Dominican imported cigars with Ct. shade wrappers to satisfy any aficionado. Read the seal on the side of the box to understand the origin. Most Cubans in the U.S. are counterfeits and your money would have been much better spent on well made hand rolled imports from other country’s. A lot of Dominicans are rolled from Cuban seed tobacco. Cuban immigrants to the Dominican Republic brought there seeds with them when they fled Castro’s Cuba.
And beware of Jamaican cigars. Most of the real Jamaican tobacco was wiped out completely years ago by a hurricane. They now work with non- Jamaican seed and imported fillers, rolled in Ct. shade or African maduro leaves.
The true difference is price and bragging rights. Because cuban cigars are illegal in the United States some exclusivity surrounds their consumption-their high cost adds to the mystique and excitement. The United States has a trade embargo against Cuba because the cuban government is communist.
The good news is that when Castro came to power, almost all of the best cigar producers fled Cuba. They took their knowledge and tobacco seed with them. They set up shop in many Central American countries (Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, etc.). If you can find them, (and afford them) pre-embargo cigars are good (although many are getting a little musty). Cigars produced today in Cuba are not great quality. Cuban growers who were displaced to other countries have a superior product.
Of course, this is just my opinion. Depending on your taste and convictions, you may think different.
By the way-I quit smoking!