J.C. Newman Hoping To Import Cuban Tobacco

(Cigar Aficionado) When Drew Newman of J.C. Newman Cigar Co. read an article about the legal importation of Cuban coffee into the United States, he had an idea: why not tobacco? Of course, the obvious answer is the 60-year-old U.S. embargo on Cuban cigars and tobacco, but he figured if the U.S. government allowed Cuban coffee to come into the United States, then his family’s Tampa, Florida cigar company should be able to do the same with tobacco. Newman was so inspired by this idea that he decided to petition the government. Yesterday, he sent a letter to the Office of Economic Sanctions Policy & Implementation asking that the U.S. Department of State rethink its position on importing raw, unfermented Cuban tobacco leaf. Continued

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Trump Administration Imposes New Sanctions on Cuba

(Tobacco Business) The Trump Administration is imposing new restrictions on Cuba, prohibiting Americans from staying at government-owned hotels in the country as well as making it illegal for them to buy rum or tobacco products. Continued

Bolívar Silver Jubilee (ER Hong Kong 2017) Cuban Cigar Review

(Halfwheel) ... The Bolívar is a rather peculiar vitola because it has a 109-style cap, which is a hybrid between a normal round parejo and a tapered belicoso. Rather than coming to a point, the 109-style caps create a softer taper. It’s a cap that Habanos S.A. has typically used on much larger cigars—measuring 7 1/4 x 50—and thanks to increasing popularity, many non-Cuban manufacturers have used it on other sizes. Continued

Tropical Storm Laura Causes Some Damage in Cuba’s Vuelta Abajo Region

(Cigar Aficionado) While the storm wasn’t as bad as it could have been, tropical storm Laura caused some damage in Vuelta Abajo, a significant growing zone in western Cuba’s Pinar del Río province known for producing some of the island’s best premium tobacco.
There was no tobacco in the fields, so next year’s crop was not harmed, but the storm has added to the economic misery and uncertainty in Cuba caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. Continued

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Cuba's Best of the Best

(Cigar Aficionado) You are standing in front of shelves full of Cuban cigars in a Casa del Habano. The yellow and black cases or varnished, mahogany wood cabinets or lithographed boxes of well-known brands are stacked there: Cohiba, Montecristo, H. Upmann, Partagás, Hoyo de Monterrey. You grab a wooden cabinet of Cohibas, because they are Cohibas, Cuba’s most famous brand. You crack open the seal, slide back the lid, stick your nose down into the box and take a deep breath; you smell the mix of aged tobacco with the aromas of cedar, earth and spices. You inhale deeply and imagine those cigars in your humidor. But what next? Continued

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Trinidad Media Luna Cigar Review

(Halfwheel) In 2019, the Cuban-made Trinidad brand celebrated its 50th anniversary. As is commonplace in the cigar industry, Habanos S.A. released a special cigar to mark the occasion.
What is a bit less commonplace is that there were a total of five new additions—three regular productions and two limited editions. For some brands that would be nothing to write about, but prior to 2019, Trinidad had just five regular production cigars as part of its offerings. Continued

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Montecristo Robusto Edición Limitada 2006 Review

Photo by Carol Highsmith (Library of Congress)

(Halfwheel) ... The first puffs of the Montecristo Robusto Edición Limitada 2006 don’t immediately lead me to think that this cigar is almost old enough to drive as there is plenty of pepper for both the palate and nostrils. The cigar has a bit of familiar Cuban twang to it, with an interesting mix of notes contributing to that, making me think of steak sauces as well as a bit of soy sauce. Continued

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Punch La Isla (ER Cuba 2018) Review

(Halfwheel) ... the Edición Regional program was born in 2005, with a quartet of cigars released, the Punch Superfinos and Ramón Allones Selección Suprema for Italy and the Punch Robusto and Ramón Allones Eminencia for Switzerland. It is a series that would quickly grow and see non-regular production vitolas added to marcas with distribution limited to a certain country or region.
Yet for those first years, one place didn’t have its own cigar: Cuba. Continued

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