In Cuba, Cigar Lovers Are a Lifeline

(NYTimes) Simon Chase, a British sage of the cigar world, stood in an elegant hotel salon here on Wednesday before a select group of aficionados, scrutinizing a box of 1970s cigars for evidence of their proclaimed vintage. One clue, he said, was the style and quality of the seal on the box. Another was the cigar’s old-fashioned, slightly domed end, or “cabeza tumbada.”
The group muttered with interest and lit up, using cedar strips, or spills, to avoid contaminating their cigars with lighter fumes. Gray wisps curled into the air, and a brief hush fell as they solemnly considered the $90 smokes. Continued