I want to go to Cuba!

[speeddemon94]

Well, no, I don't. But apparently if you're famous you can, and then just say (or rap, in this case) That the white house authorized the trip...Of course the White House denies all after the fact. Who bets that they don't get in any trouble?

Ah to be in the kings court...Not really, I'm happy here thanks.

White House denies Jay Z's Cuba claims in new track Open Letter | Music | guardian.co.uk

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[One-Eyed Ross]

I dunno. I'd love to have a Cuban cigar, once, just to see what all the hoopla is about..

 

[Ironbar]

Dear One-Eyed Ross,

So order a box of Cuban cigars from a reliable provider and have them shipped to your front door. The hoopla with Cuban cigars was in effect probably up until about 2001-2002. IMO that's roughly the time when Dominican, Honduran, and especially Nicaraguan cigars began to overtake Cuban in terms of quality and flavor profile.

 

[speeddemon94]

They really are nothing special...Had plenty of them overseas.

Most of the really good Cuban cigar makers took their seeds and went to the Dominican Republic, or Nicaragua, and grow there.

I like my cigars, and I keep a box of knock arounds called "Original Cubans", they are inexpensive and tasty...For a treat I like Cain F, and Gurkha Centurions, but those are 35 bucks a stick!!! Don't get those very often.

 

[jluck]

They really are nothing special...Had plenty of them overseas.

Most of the really good Cuban cigar makers took their seeds and went to the Dominican Republic, or Nicaragua, and grow there.

I like my cigars, and I keep a box of knock arounds called "Original Cubans", they are inexpensive and tasty...For a treat I like Cain F, and Gurkha Centurions, but those are 35 bucks a stick!!! Don't get those very often.

FWIW, A huge majority of " Cuban" cigars outside of Cuba are fakes. A good quality real Cuban cigar is still hard to beat. If your preference is geared to cigars like Cain "F", I can see why you may not find the subtle flavors of Cubans to your liking. BTW I love the Cain F when I want a powerhouse cigar. Ghurka is a different story, (yuck).

 

[speeddemon94]

Yeah, I get that, there are most definitely places in Germany and Bulgaria where real Cubans were purchased...I could not do a Cain-F regularly...that is a once in a while treat after a very large dinner accompanied by a nice 18 year old Single Malt.

Cigars are like beer and scotch...everyone likes different stuff. I think the main problem I have found with any actual Cuban I ever smoked was improper handling.

I know there are pre-embargo smokes still in this country, that have been kept and aged correctly, and I would imagine that would be a phenomenal smoke...but at the prices I've seen, I'd rather buy something that I can keep forever.

There are just a ton of amazing cigars out there anymore, and they cater to all tastes...most of mine just sit in the humidor anymore as I quit the cigarettes, and don't have anybody to smoke them with up here.

 

[Mark W.]

I know all kinds of Americans who have gone to Cuba its quite a spot for photographers to visit. For years and years all you had to do was get permission as some sort of aid mission. Or for many just travel to Mexico then get a visa dockside and travel on to Cuba.

 

[DieselScout]

I don't even really understand what the big deal is with Cuba anymore. When import BILLIONS of dollars worth of goods from China, also a communist country, who also have and continues to have major human rights violations. We fought them in the Korean war, yet we are buddy-buddy with them buying their goods and selling them our debt. From what I read Obama reopened a program for "person-to-person" visas in 2011 and the two went on that. The application for the visa doesn't even require you put the names of the person going. According to the news articles I read on it people travel to Cuba using the same program all the time.

 

[JedB]

I don't even really understand what the big deal is with Cuba anymore. When import BILLIONS of dollars worth of goods from China, also a communist country, who also have and continues to have major human rights violations. We fought them in the Korean war, yet we are buddy-buddy with them buying their goods and selling them our debt. From what I read Obama reopened a program for "person-to-person" visas in 2011 and the two went on that. The application for the visa doesn't even require you put the names of the person going. According to the news articles I read on it people travel to Cuba using the same program all the time.

Without getting too political, there is a huge expat Cuban-American population in Florida that is still rabidly anti-Castro. As long as National level politicians need Florida, or until Fidel and Raul die, Cuba will retain its 'verboten' status.

It's a bummer, because it's beautiful there, the rum is fantastic, and walking through the cigar rolling houses is pretty impressive.

Montecristo for me, please

 

[jluck]

Montecristo for me, please

Yep! #5 is my go-to.

 

[fireninja13]

The few *real* Cubans I have have had have been pretty damn amazing. . . But, if I'm to be completely honest the widely available (if overpriced) Davidoff Gran Cru series and the high end Gurkhas are so good that I don't feel like I'm missing out on too much. That said if I could get easy access to Cuban Cohibas and Partagas Series D, well, I'd smoke 'em as much as I could afford to