So, if Castro kicks it...

whyfi

Do you think that the US will open up the gates? I hear it's a great vacation spot and well, damn - I could use a good cigar.

idlewild

We should have opened the gates a long time ago. Yes, I think we'll resume full diplomatic relations.

doctorj

Subject: Re: So, if Castro kicks it...

WhyFi wrote: Do you think that the US will open up the gates? I hear it's a great vacation spot and well, damn - I could use a good cigar.

This is a real forbidden fruit thing for Americans... for the rest of us Western Bourgeois Imperialists it's not such a great vacation spot and the cigars are inferior to those from the Dominican Republic.

whyfi

Subject: Re: So, if Castro kicks it...

doctorj wrote: [quote=WhyFi]Do you think that the US will open up the gates? I hear it's a great vacation spot and well, damn - I could use a good cigar.

This is a real forbidden fruit thing for Americans... for the rest of us Western Bourgeois Imperialists it's not such a great vacation spot and the cigars are inferior to those from the Dominican Republic.
Is that right? Well, in that case, please deliver to me several of your finest Dominican and Cuban cigars so that I can do a blind tasting...

livetotravel

I've been, twice, both times through Mexico. Not exactly legally. It's a wonderful country & wonderful people.

anonymous

Subject: Re: So, if Castro kicks it...

WhyFi wrote:
Is that right? Well, in that case, please deliver to me several of your finest Dominican and Cuban cigars so that I can do a blind tasting...

Believe it or not I would... except that I've been there and done that and myself and friends gave up buying the Cubans years ago. Too robust, less rich and smooth. Given that I can make my way through one or two a year, I have a serious surplus of very fine Dominican cigars, of which you'd be welcome to partake some time.

Utimately it's a matter of taste, like choclate or single malt or whatever, and a quality European purveyor will supply cigars sourced from both, but I think you'll find only a minority of the conny sirs prefer the Cubans.

doctorj

Subject: Re: So, if Castro kicks it...

Anonymous wrote:
Believe it or not I would...

Hate it when I forget to log in. Anyhow, here's a recent piece on the Cuban vs. Dominican cigar situation:

Questioning the Quality of Cuban Cigars
Aug. 3
WEST SPRINGFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS (WWLP) - The health of Cuban leader Fidel Castro is reportedly failing. Now many are looking at the possibility that the U.S. trading embargo with Cuba might come to an end. An end to that embargo could mean the return of premium Cuban cigars here in the United States. But there are many other Latin American countries that now produce top notch cigars like the Dominican Republic. The owner of the Cigar Room, Karin Tranghese, said that if Cuban cigars were to return, it may not be what they once were. "What I have heard over the years is that they've over cultivated the land, haven't rotated crops, and a lot of the soil has lost a lot of nutrients that it once had. You're not getting the quality today that you were thirty, forty years ago. You're not getting that quaility anymore. So, I think that Dominican cigars are just as good." Tranghese also says that Nicaragua is now producing quality cigars that have become very popular.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14174628/