Recent changes in trade regulations between the United States and Cuba have cigar aficionados dreaming about getting their hands on the legendary Cuban cigar.
While the changes don’t allow for retail shops like MA’s Smokehouse to sell Cubans, it does lift the limits on how many of the cigars Americans are allowed to bring back into the USA from Cuba and other countries.
What does Buddy Williams, manager of MA’s Smokehouse, think about this?
“The mystique behind Cuban cigars is that they are the forbidden fruit,” says Buddy. “There are some really good ones, but because they were forbidden by law, they were more desirable.”
Buddy says that the Cuban Cigar ‘Monte Cristo #2’ is the “best cigar in the world,” but adds that just because a cigar is from Cuba doesn’t make it great.
“The Cuban economy has affected the quality of the soil so the tobacco isn’t the same as it once was,” he says. “This has diminished the quality of cigars coming from Cuba, so not all of them are of the same high quality that they were in the past.”
Cuban cigars are known for being pricey, ranging from $10 to $33 a stick. But Buddy says he has cigars even more expensive – way more expensive.
“We attended a trade show and bought a box of Nicaraguan cigars that sell for $2000 a stick,” he says. “The Nicaraguan manufacturer made 100 ten-stick boxes of these from a limited supply proprietary tobacco. Only three boxes were sold at the trade show: one to a Sultan of Brunei; one to a German billionaire; and one to two rednecks from Northwest Louisiana! We have them for sale if anyone is interested!”
Although Buddy believes there are great cigars coming from South American countries such as Nicaragua, Guatemala and Honduras, he believes that the lift of the trade embargo will help reinvigorate the Cuban cigar market. But it won’t happen anytime soon.
“They’ll need to revitalize their fallow fields, plant tobacco, and take time to grow it, and age it. Depending on how long they age the tobacco, it won’t be on the market for two to 10 years.”
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