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excuse for restrictions in Cuba, stands
up for democratic values and extends
the hand of friendship to Cuban
people.”
Mini Cigar Boom
Of course, it would also provide the
American people with access to Cuban
cigars. According to Dick DiMeola,
former COO of Consolidated
Cigar Corporation, this will spur a
mini cigar boom—and not just for
Cubans, but industry-wide—which he
wholeheartedly supports.
“It would increase a more widespread
interest in premium cigars again—
everybody will be interested in trying
them,” he tells
TBI
. “Once Cubans
[cigars] become freely available, it will
level the playing field from the last 50
years. People will be able to compare
them for what they are rather than a
sense of forbidden fruit. The Cuban
mystique will come into its rightful
position.”
And its position may not be at the
top anymore—or maybe it will—but
that subjective debate will be behind
the renewed overall interest DiMeola
speaks of.
There is a loud sentiment on cigar
blogs and circulating throughout the
industry that perhaps Cuban cigars
“ain’t what they used to be.” But it’s not
necessarily the Cuban cigar that has
changed; more likely, it is the industry
surrounding it that has. Non-Cuban
premium cigars made in the Dominican
Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and
other locations have enjoyed a huge
boost in popularity and quality over
the last 50-plus years. Cubans have the
history and mystique that sets them
apart, but they will have to work for
their reputation post-embargo.
The way Marshall Gray, retail
manager of Aromas Cigars, Wine &
Martini Bar in Jacksonville, Florida,
sees it, “I’ve had some phenomenal
Cubans and some terrible ones—it’s
the same with every other country that
is now making cigars.The biggest point
is that Cuba, like the rest of the world, is
catching up with cigar technology and
the quality of tobacco. It’s not that the
quality of Cuban cigars has diminished,
it’s just [that] their lead in the race has
diminished. The rest of the world has
caught up.”
Victor Vitale, owner of “super
premium” Victor Vitale Premium
Cigars, is a tad more cynical. “Although
Cuba is the birthplace of premium
cigars, in this day and age they don’t
produce the best,” he says. “Cuban
cigars are great cigars, they are a