Cuban Cigars Legal in 2010 – Close but No Cigar!

Among cigar smokers Cuban cigars are alwaysimport of competing brand-name cigars from
abuzz.  However, legalized Cuban cigars aren’t asCuba.”
close as you might think.  Though there are many outThough it’s likely that we’re going to have to
there that suspect the embargo could be lifted in 2010,wait a while for Cuba cigars to be legal in the US I
you can bet that there are other things that will havethink that once Cubans are legal there will be a huge
to happen before coveted Cubans are going to besurge of cigar smokers and cigar smoking.  Much like
legal in the USA.the storm of online poker websites and poker players
Since the new administration has taken over, Barackhit once Texas Hold’em became popular the cigar
Obama has discussed lifting the Cuban embargo andworld will see the biggest cigar boom it has ever seen
Cuban cigar lovers have salivated at the chance toif Cuban cigars are legalized in the US.
get all the Cubans they can at reasonable prices. There are also other economic factors that come into
It’s not likely, unfortunately, that this can happenplay when you’re talking about legalizing the most
overnight.  It is going to have to happen in stages andcoveted cigars on the planet.  The economies of
to quote Rush Limbaugh –“…you have no clueHonduras, The Dominican Republic, and Nicaragua will
what is ahead of us as cigar smokers. What willbe severely affected once legal Cuban cigars are
happen is that the domestic manufacturers, defined byavailable to the masses. But, as I stated before, these
those who are in the Dominican and in Honduras,economies will eventually come back to life stronger
Nicaragua, Cameroon, all of the places wherethan ever once everyone realizes that Cuban cigars
elements of cigars are grown, and all the placesaren’t really that much different than the cigars
where they’re assembled, these people have inproduced in the above mentioned countries.  Not to
many cases marketed the brands of the Cuban cigarsmention that once Cuba has to produce cigars for
you’re talking about Hoyo De Monterrey, Punch,Americans its production will be so overdone that the
Simon Bolivar, all of these great Cuban brands havelikelihood of the quality control diminishing is quite strong.
been marketed by other owners in the United States,So, if you’re crossing your fingers for 2010 to be
and they are going to go to the Commercethe year that you’re able to get all the Cuban
Department, and they’re going to say we havecigars you want without having to sneak them in –
made these brands popular, we have invested in thekeep dreaming!  We’ve got a long way before
product and in the brand in this country, and they’restocking up on Cubans will be legal in the US!
gonna ask the Commerce Department to ban the