Discount Cigar Cuban Aficionado .com

Article by Ann Knapp

Cuban cigars: for a cigar aficionado, the ultimate forbidden fruit is to buy Cuban cigars. At least, that’s true if you live in the United States, which has long embargoed most trade and travel with the Communist island republic, which prevents the ability to buy Cuban cigars.

Even as much of Cuba’s storied cigar-making know-how has been exported to nearby countries such as the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Honduras, both in the form of direct aid from the Cuban government to other countries’ cigar industries at various times and in the form of top cigar-making families that have gone to live in more business-friendly climes, Cuba continues to enjoy a reputation as the source of some of the world’s greatest cigars: a reputation that, by now, perhaps owes more to the inability of one of the world’s largest cigar-consuming economies to verify their tastiness than to any actual superiority. (There are those who would give the nod to the cigars of, for example, the Dominican Republic, which is permitted to trade with the United States and whose wares can be bought from any halfway-decent cigar emporium.)

In any case, this forbidenness creates a high demand for Cuban cigars, one that unscrupulous (or, more sympathetically, highly enterprising) Cubans have been taking advantage of for a long time. We in the United States may sometimes worry that our government is too close to business, but we have little experience with systems where the government is business–as is the case with socialist Cuba. (Some conservatives have complained in recent months that this or that government program–a return to the top marginal tax rate of 2001, for example–represents the return of “socialism”; one wonders how these folks would fare if confronted with actual socialism.)

Such a government will only respond negatively to any form of competition, as any monopoly would do. And Cuban cigar counterfeiting represents just such competition.

Counterfeit Cuban cigars have long provided those who can’t, for whatever reason, find work at the government-run cigar producers alternative (if illegal) employment at chinchals (small factories), with earnings and profits going untaxed. But in the current worldwide economic crunch the incidence of Cuban cigar counterfeiting has increased almost unbelievably. So has the seriousness with which the Cuban government takes the problem.

Reports have the Castro regime seizing a thousand boxes a month. The knockoffs, with their “Made in Cuba” stickers, sometimes go for as low as a fifth the price of a box of state-produced Cuban cigars; and they may well taste like it too.

Earlier this year (2009), in response to the booming trade in counterfeit Cuban cigars, the Cuban government introduced a special code, which would be applied to all state-made cigars (much like a Universal Product Code) and would allow buyers, especially corporate or other large buyers, to verify that they were indeed purchasing a box of genuine Cuban cigars. Cuba has long used a code system, but the codes used in previous years have repeatedly been cracked: Habanos changed the codes in 1999, for example, in response to widespread counterfeiting, though this decision met with controversy among those Cuban cigar aficionados who relied on the codes to help them figure out how long a particular box had been stored in the humidor.

The “uncrackable” new codes were hacked within a few months and distributed online, as well as reprinted after the fact in Smoke Magazine and Cigar Aficionado. This cycle repeated itself again several times, with the Cubans threatening ever more-complex and less-crackable codes in turn.

And when the Cubans made good on that threat in 2009, what was the result? The much-vaunted new box codes of spring 2009 were, predictably enough in this age of the Internet, cracked after less than two months in operation, leaving Habanos at square one.Apparently these knockoffs are a special problem in Mexico, where tourists from the United States often find themselves attempting to chase down and buy Cuban cigars. This regional tension has led to the largest Mexican distributor of Cuban cigars to impose its own validation system on the country’s shops and retailers.

“Unbreakable” codes, online chicanery, illegal cigars it’s all enough to make you want to order your own discount premium cigar sampler from a reputable, United States-based company, using only those delicious cigars legally available in the United States, and leave the craziness to people who have time for it.

Until the days when you can build a discount premium cigar sampler that includes Habanos S.A. legally (and that day may well come before the end of President Obama’s much-predicted second term), it’s probably a good idea to stick to Nicaraguan, Dominican or Honduran cigar companies, which frequently use Cuban seeds and, for that matter, Cuban expertise to create their own enticing tastes.

video of a cuban rolling some nice ass cigars, i smoked one that he rolled in front of me and it was actually beautiful

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Pedro Bello, Jr. carries on the family tradition of fine cigars.

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Rum, cigars, hotels and a golf course or two. Now that’s the life! You get to control all that and other facets of business and government in pre-revolution Cuba. Use your workers, architects, tradeswomen and mayors to develop and operate various businesses in this tropical paradise. Harvest products, ship off goods, cater to tourists and control government statutes to defeat the competition and become the most powerful person in Cuba!

Cuba is a strategy board game similar in both mechanics and theme to Puerto Rico and Endeavor. The game takes place in pre-revolution Cuba, and your goal is to become the most influential person on the island. Starting with your original plot of land full of resources and crops, you will need to decide how you want to grow your business to maximize profits and gain the most influence in government.

You could focus on producing sugar and converting it to rum and then shipping it off. You could similarly produce tobacco and process it into cigars. You could even focus on raw produce and ship them off instead. Not interested in physical supply chain? You could focus on building inns, hotels and golf courses. Or you can take control of the banks and the market and bribe your way to victory! There are many paths to victory in this game.

The gameplay in Cuba mainly revolves around 5 action types or roles that you can play. You start the game with a 4 x 3 plot of land. Each square on the land can produce a product or resource, which include sugar, tobacco, citrus, water, brick and wood. You produce these items by using the Worker role or action. You place the Worker on any square of your land, and you activate all buildings and produce resources and crops on the squares that share a row or column with the square the Worker is on. So if you want to produce more tobacco this turn, you would place the Worker on a square that shares a row or column with 2 tobacco plots.

The next role you can use is the Architect, who allows you to erect buildings by paying their resource cost. There are 25 buildings in the game, most of which are unique and limited. These buildings produce a variety of effects, such as converting sugar to rum, converting tobacco to cigars, converting finished goods to victory points or cash, or passively producing victory points or cash. There are also special buildings that control ship movements, veto edicts and increase your influence in government. Erecting the buildings require you to put the building tile on a plot square on your land, effectively reducing the amount of crops and resources your land can produce. Since there are a limited number of these buildings, your strategy will have to be fluid enough to change depending on what buildings your opponents erect. The Architect also allows you to directly gain victory points instead of erecting a building.

The Foreman role allows you to use the abilities of all buildings that are located on the row and column activated by your Worker. The Tradeswoman role allows you to buy and sell crops and goods in the market. This is where you can sell stuff for cash, or buy more goods to be shipped or converted into other goods. The market in this game is organic and depends on player actions. If a large amount of one good is being sold to the market, its buy and sell price becomes cheaper. The Tradeswoman also has an alternate ability of getting a free resource or crop.

The fifth and last role is the Mayor, which allows you to ship your products. There are 3 ships sitting at the docks, with one more on its way to Cuba. Each of these ships accepts 5 specific products. Shipping these products will give you victory points. Supplying products to the ship that has been sitting at port the longest will get you more victory points. The Mayor also has an alternate ability which allows you to gain cash.

The catch is that there are 5 roles, but you can only perform 4 of them each round. The order you play them is also important, as players play 1 role each in turn until everyone has played all 4. The 5 roles also have an influence value, with the Mayor possessing the most influence, and the Worker possessing the least. Players compare the 4th and final role they played that round, and the player who played the highest influence role becomes the new starting player.

The role card that wasn’t played that round is also important, as it influences how many votes you get in parliament. Players combine the influence value of their unplayed card with any cash “incentives” they wish to add, and this total value becomes their final vote. The player with the highest vote gets to pass into effect 2 out of 4 statutes or edicts that are available every round. These includes edicts that allow you to spend cash or goods to gain victory points, as well as ones that reward you for being good at one facet of business. There are also statutes that slightly change some of the game rules. Controlling which statutes are passed is important, as they will reward one style of play much more than others, and you always want the right statutes active in order to boost your chances at victory. The game lasts for 6 rounds, after which the player with the most victory points wins the game.

Cuba takes some of the most interesting mechanics and rules from the best games out there, and combines them into a package that somehow works beautifully. The premise is very engaging as well. Who doesn’t want to be in control of the cigar factories, hotels, banks and the corrupt government of a tropical island paradise? It is like the hit Tropico computer game, but in board game form. It is also supported by a number of expansion sets that add new mechanics and keep the game fresh.

Complexity:  3.5/5.0  
Playing Time:  1.5 to 2 hours
Number of Players:  2 to 5 players

You can read more about Cuba at http://www.ageofboards.com/cuba.html

Whether you want to enjoy the highlights of Havana, relax in five star accommodation on the coast, or escape to a secluded part of the island, there’s bound to be a Cuba hotel that’s perfect for you. Here are four of the country’s very best.

The Best Cuba Hotels for 4 Different Cuban Holidays

There are few places that can offer such a diverse range of holiday experiences as Cuba. You can relax in some of the finest all inclusive beach resorts in the world, live it up in cosmopolitan and historical Havana, escape to one of the lesser known historical cities, or find your own deserted getaway in the mountains or on the coast. Whatever kind of holiday you want to have, choosing which one of the many Cuba hotels to stay in is always going to be a hard choice.

Here are some of the best Cuba hotels for four different kinds of holiday…

For five star luxury…

The very finest Cuba hotels are naturally located in Havana, the Cuban capital, and in this city you really are spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting your accommodation! For sheer grandeur and luxury, however, there is one hotel that stands out from the crowd – The Saratoga. This five star hotel was built in the 1930′s and is a classic example of neo-colonial architecture at its most stunning. With elegantly decorated rooms and spectacular panoramic views of the port and Havana’s Old Town, it’s hard to beat the Saratoga if you want the grandest accommodation on the island.

For a secluded getaway…

Sometimes you just want to get away from it all, and Cuba offers plenty of opportunities to find a peaceful retreat away from the crowds. Travel to the northern province of Pinar del Rio, and you’ll discover a part of Cuba that is a world away from the major cities and frenetic beach resorts. This part of the country is dedicated to tobacco growing for the famous Cuban cigars, and the beautiful countryside is ideal for hiking and horse riding. La Moka in Las Terrazas is the ideal base for a holiday in Pinar del Rio, a small hotel in a secluded location that is the perfect place to relax.

For a bustling beach holiday…

If you like a beach holiday that is filled with life, colour, and plenty of things to keep you occupied, Guardalavaca is the place to be. The biggest and most developed of Cuba’s beach resorts, Guardalavaca is also home to some superb hotels. For a place that is the life and soul of the party, the Playa Pesquero hotel is hard to beat. With facilities that include a swim up bar, six restaurants, numerous bars and the glorious Pesquero beach just a moment away, it is the biggest and perhaps the best hotel in Guardalavaca.

For a peaceful urban break…

Havana is often regarded as Cuba’s star attraction, but it is far from the only place to stay on the island. For somewhere a little less touristed but with just as much to see, head over to Trinidad. This town has the finest examples of colonial architecture on the island, and has even been awarded UNESCO World Heritage status for its remarkable buildings.

If you want to stay at the finest hotel in town, choose the Grand Hotel Trinidad. With its attentive service, high quality accommodation and ideal location in the heart of the Old Town, this five star boutique hotel truly stands out from the crowd, and is one of the best Cuba hotels.

Have you ever wondered where cigars were first produced?  It is widely believed that cigars were first produced in Spain.  But before cigars became all the rage in Europe, tobacco was needed to make them.  Tobacco is indigenous to the Americas, where native peoples have produced it for hundreds of years.  It is believed that the Maya of Yucatan peninsula in Mexico and parts of Central America cultivated tobacco, and even smoked it!  Tobacco use spread to other tribes, both north and south.  It is believed that its first use in the United States was probably among the tribe along the Mississippi.  It wasn’t until Christopher Columbus sailed his famous voyage to the Americas in 1492 that the rest of the world came to know tobacco.

It is said that Columbus was not impressed by tobacco or its use among native peoples, but many sailors grew found of the strange plant.  Soon it quickly caught on in Spain and Portugal.  From there, it spread to France, where the French ambassador Jean Nicot lent his name to the scientific name for tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum).  The origins of the word tobacco itself are still suspect, although many believe it is simply a corruption of the word Tobago, which is the name of a Caribbean island.  Still others believe it comes from the word Tabasco, a region (and now state) in Mexico.  

The first tobacco plantation in the United States was established in Virginia in 1612.  More tobacco plantations followed in Maryland soon after.  Although tobacco became a popular crop, it was only smoked in pipes.  The cigar was not introduced to the United States until the late 18th century.  Israel Putnam, an army general who had served in the Revolutionary War, is credited with introducing the cigar to the United States.  He had traveled to Cuba after the Revolutionary War and returned with a box of Cuban cigars.  Their popularity quickly spread, and soon enough cigar factories were established in the area of Harford, Connecticut, where General Putnam resided.  

In Europe, cigar production and consumption did not achieve widespread popularity until after the Peninsula War in the early 19th century.  British and French veterans returned to their homelands after years of serving in Spain with their tobacco pipes in tow.  Among the rich and fashionable, the favored method of taking tobacco was the cigar.  Cigar smoking remains a habit associated with the rich and discriminating of upper society.

Roatan, and San Pedro Sula are both part of a Central American country. Honduras is a country that was badly washed out by its political history, plight of economy and even the occasional natural disaster brought about by hurricanes over the years. However, Roatan is a paradise of the holiday maker, especially for the cruise vacationers. As for San Pedro Sula, it is where the tobacco growers of Honduras live in.

Beside being one of the poorest countries in Central America, Honduras is also one of the many countries which is still unable to repay the loan from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. In some people’s view, the country is a place of poverty, crime and political unrest. This is also probably the reason why the people of Honduras are not united in thoughts and behavioral patterns. Despite all their various problems, the people of Honduras do share one common identity though, and that is their cigars.

Ever since the cigars from Cuba are banned from entering the US because of a sanctioned trade embargo against the country, cigars from Honduran have started to grow in familiarity and popularity among the people of the US. In fact, Honduran cigars have grown to become the favourite among many cigar lovers in some European countries.  

If we were to trace the history of Honduran cigars, we will find that they actually had their roots from Cuba. Many tobacco farmers had decided to migrate and settle in their neighbouring country, Honduras, when they were no longer allowed to operate their businesses under the communist rule because Fidel Castro announced that all businesses in Cuba shall come under the government’s control.

Frank Llaneze, the founder and President of the Honduran-American Tobacco S.A. (H.A.T.S.A.), is one of the earlier creators of Honduran cigars. He has invented a new type of cigars that had since become very popular with the cigar lovers. He was persistence in looking for ways to create a new type of Havana tobacco by mixing it with other Caribbean countries’ tobacco species. He knew that he was in desperate need of a new variety of tobacco before all Cuban tobacco was wiped out in the Cuban revolution. After many futile attempts, he finally succeeded in growing a new specie of tobacco seeds in the Honduras’ fertile soil. This new specie of tobacco seeds were actually the offspring of the Cuba and Connecticut tobacco seeds. In today’s world, many renowned cigar brands such as Excalibur, Hoyo de Monterrey and Punch were produced by H.A.T.S.A. and they are the top cigar brands which are very popular with the American cigar aficionados.

A mixture of nuts and wood gives rise to the flavour of the well-known Honduran cigars. An aroma of spicy and woody finish topped off full-bodied taste of the delightful cigar. It is not uncommon to find a stick of Honduran cigar, which is comparable to their Havana predecessor, accompanying a toast of red wine. The American tobacco lovers find great elation in the Honduran cigars, especially since the Cuban cigars are only available in the expensive black market.  

Despite being a country of great poverty, Honduras is definitely in possession of one of the world’s riches that many countries would desire to own. It is believed that in the near future, Honduras will be rid of its poverty state and become the tobacco capital of the world.

Long associated with the rich and powerful, cigars evoke images of relaxation and rich flavor. A culture around the art of smoking, created and debated by cigar aficionados, assembles various theories and accessories to facilitate or enhance smoking. Cigar smoking, much like wine tasting, has for many years been viewed as a diversion of the elite of society.

The general consensus is that Spain is where cigars were first produced, catching on quickly in the other European countries. Although manufactured in many different countries, Cuban cigars have been considered one of the most flavorful and rich of all cigars for an appreciable period of time. This is due to the regional microclimates Cuba is blessed with, which are said to produce the highest quality tobacco. Combined with the skill of the country’s cigar makers, the result is a world standard in cigars. Other countries that produce sizeable amounts of tobacco and cigars include Brazil, Honduras, Ecuador, Mexico, Cameroon, Indonesia, Dominican Republic, and the United States. Many speculate that the reason cigars have long caught the attention of so many lies in the way it is manufactured. Hand wrapping is the basis of all high quality cigars. Unlike cigarettes, which are mass-produced by enormous machines, cigars undergo a lengthy process of fermentation and aging (much like wine), creating subtle flavors and textures before they are individually wrapped by craftsmen working with their own hands. This makes cigars highly individual, each with a subtle unique character, the best of which provide no smoky aftertaste at all.

The taste of cigars is also much more complex than the flavor of cigarettes. Most cigars are created by wrapping three distinct and different layers of tobacco leaves together, yielding a depth of flavor impossible from a cigarette. Long leaves of tobacco are typically used as the filler in high quality cigars, though a combination of scraps may also be used. This creates complex flavors subtle variations, and different textures. Cigarettes, on the other hand, are mass-produced, filled from gargantuan hoppers containing generally only one type of tobacco. Cigar flavor variation is further diversified by the addition of non-tobacco flavorings. If desired, a cigar aficionado can find chocolate, apple, vanilla, or even coffee-flavored cigars! Most common, however, are cigars flavored with expensive liquors.

Despite the fact that cigars have long been enjoyed for their smooth and complex flavors, smoking them does pose a considerable health risk. All tobacco products contain the addictive substance nicotine. Everyone has heard about the negative health risks of nicotine, but not everyone is familiar with how it causes them.. As even the casual smoker can attest, nicotine is a stimulant that produces a mild sense of euphoria. It is extremely addictive and cigar smoke contains a multitude of toxins, carcinogens, and irritants. There is still a significant risk of developing various types of oral and larynx cancers even though most connoisseurs of cigars will avoid inhaling the smoke.

The study of the economy of Cuba can be divided into four phases. The first phase consists of the occupation of the island by the Spanish, which led to the extinction of the aboriginals and the bringing of African slaves to work on the sugar plantations. At this point of time, Cuba provided for the highly profitable business of sugar cultivation and its exports. Sugar industry was the crux of Cuba’s economy and Cuba rose to become one of the largest producers of sugar in the world.

The second phase pertains to the years following the wars of independence against the Spanish and also the invasion of Cuba by the US. It is marked by the sweeping powers of intervention obtained by the US in 1902, with the Cuban economy being controlled by the growing investment of the US citizens in the sugar plantations of Cuba. Now, again, money and profits from the sugar plantation, sugar refineries and subsidiary sugar products such as rum went to the many American investors and a few Cuban elite. The other major industries also included tourism, tobacco, transportation, mining and the communication industry.

The third phase begins with the Cuban revolution and the beginning of Fidel Castro’s rule in the year 1959. All plantations that were more than 400 hectares became state owned and all industries including the petroleum and the telephones became nationalized. This lead to the US trade embargo towards Cuba. Cuba lost its traditional international market. However, Cuba found a trade and political ally in the USSR when the Cuban-sugar for Russian-oil package worked well. Cuba reoriented itself to the Russian and pro-Russian market and did over 80% of its international trade with them. The next 30 years saw tremendous improvement in health care, education and social welfare. Cuba boasts of a 97% literacy rate and the life expectancy increased to 76%. There was an egalitarian distribution of income and Cuba’s income inequality index became the lowest in the world.

All was well until 1989 when it became clear to Cuba that sooner or later Cuba would have to learn to do without any subsidies or trade relations with the USSR and the eastern European countries. The fourth phase begins here with the government dubbing it as the ‘Special Period in Peacetime’. The economic reforms include:

(i) the opening and gearing up of tourism as an industry

(ii) diversification of the agricultural sector by producing fruits and vegetables and rice along with live stock for local consumption that include the visiting tourists.

(iii) production of more of citrus food and less of sugar

(iv) focusing on that sector of fisheries which sent its fleets to nearby seas and exporting spiny lobsters to Japan

(v) State-owned lands have been converted to agricultural cooperatives that are managed to a certain degree by the workers. Retail outlets at a small scale have been allowed for the food market. In the field of food production, allowing the sale of excess production (which is above the state-fixed production quota) in the free market has brought down black markets, in addition to enhancing production

(vi) Foreign investments in various industries such as tourism, mining, telecommunication, construction and manufacturing sectors have been allowed

(vii) Self employment has been legalized for around 150 occupations.

Investment into biotechnology and pharmaceuticals during the third phase reaped returns when products of this industry were available for export now at the fourth phase.

The other Cuban industries include cement, steel, agricultural machinery and construction.

Fisheries, nickel and ore production, growing agricultural products such as fruits, tobacco are some areas that have shown growth in the export sector. Cuba now exports to European countries (50%), Canada and Latin America (20%), and Asia (20%).

Spain, France, and United Kingdom have invested in the tobacco and cigar production. Spain and Canada have invested in the exploration of oil off the shores of Cuba. Mexico, Canada, Australia, South-Africa, Netherlands, Brazil, and Chile are the other major countries that have invested in the various industries of Cuba.

Cuba has entered into an agreement with Venezuela whereby thousands of Cubans who are doctors, teachers and sports trainers, and engineers would move in to Venezuela to assist their development program in return for 53,000 barrels of oil per day being shipped to Cuba for the next five years.

“Energy revolution” where apart form changing the entire system of power generation and distribution, energy conservation is also aimed at, has been in vogue in Cuba for the last two years. The quality of life of the Cubans are improving with the volunteers of the government replacing on a door-to-door campaign, the existing electric stoves and lights with the ones that are more efficient and less energy consuming. Energy efficient refrigerators and television sets have been distributed and would be installed in all the thousands of housing units that the government is building. Energy efficient buses from China would soon be available for the Cuban public transport. It is just a matter of some time when power generation would take place at hundreds of units that are well synchronized, thus avoiding wastage of power while distributing it through very long distances. Generation of natural gas while exploring for oil at oil rigs is also considered.

Cuba has also legalized the US dollars. Further, the Venezuelan inputs for domestic oil production and upgradation of existing power stations have raised the level of optimism. Cuba is also hoping to find oil off its shores. Apart from the sugar industry and its related products, there are various industries such as tourism (also called the lung of the Cuban economy), fisheries, nickel and ore production, production of tobacco, Cuban cigar, citrus fruits, pharmaceuticals, coffee, besides basic manufacturing industries which have earned Cuba foreign exchange. Cuba has learned to manage its post-USSR economic condition and is steering towards a more prosperous economy.