For Americans, Cuban cigars hold a unique mystique. Illegal but not overly difficult to obtain, nearly every cigar smoker has smoked one or knows a guy who can get them. Lately, I’ve been asked a few times about Cuban cigars, so I’ve done some thinking about the puros from that “Island South of Miami.” Specifically, I get asked two common questions: Are Cubans really the best?

In my opinion, not really. Cuban cigars can be fantastic, but they are far too inconsistent. Construction and flavor seem to regularly vary from box to box, and sometimes stick to stick.

Cuba is probably the best possible place to grow tobacco. Cuba is to cigar production as France is to wine production. It was a comparative advantage in terms of micro-climate. The problem is the production of Cuban cigars is state-owned by a totalitarian regime. No doubt, if the French wine industry was run by a Communist dictator for half a century, the great French wines would have turned unreliable and often poor.

Under one government conglomerate, many Cuban cigars have lost their character. While I’m too young to have experienced it myself, I’m told there was a time when every brand had a unique flavor profile. Today, in addition to the construction issues and lack of properly aged tobacco, too often all Cuban cigars seem to be a variation, of the same basic blend.

What happens when the embargo ends?

Or, more likely, I’m asked something like, “You must be looking forward to the embargo ending?” My answer: Yes, but not for the reason you think.

When the embargo finally ends, and you have to imagine it will eventually, there will certainly be a big run on Cuban cigars. Everyone who has ever smoked a cigar will want to try a Cuban and the result will be more rushed, poorly constructed Cuban cigars than ever.

In other words, once the embargo ends I’ll probably smoke fewer, not more Cuban cigars. Still, I’m excited about one aspect of the embargo ending: the ability for non-Cuban cigar makers to use Cuban tobacco. Once the great cigar makers of our time get access to Cuban tobacco, which they can properly prepare and age and blend with other tobaccos we’ve come to enjoy, then I’ll really be excited about the embargo ending.

New cigars are on their way to shelves from General Cigar Co. The company has shipped three new sizes of existing lines in the Macanudo and C.A.O. La Traviata cigar brands. The two new sizes in the Macanudo family are both in the extremely popular 6 by 60 size, the Macanudo Café Gigante and Macanudo Maduro Gigante. Each will retail for $7.99, and will be sold in 25-count boxes. The cigars could reach shops as early as this week. Director of public relations Victoria McKee said that these sizes are popular sellers. “It’s a continuing and maybe growing trend, this larger ring size.”

C.A.O.’s new addition is called the Luminoso, a 4 1/2-inch-long, 50 ring gauge version of the La Traviata Maduro line. Ed McKenna, brand manager for C.A.O., said, “C.A.O. La Traviata Luminoso is one of our top-sellers, so it was only natural that we gave C.A.O. fans a new take on one of their favorite cigars.”

The suggested retail for this new cigar will be $5.10, and they will be sold in 30-count boxes.

Following worldwide bans on smoking in public places, cigar bars have become something of an endangered species. But we’ve spotted a few of the clubby, usually dimly lit dens making appearances once more—this time ensconced in luxury hotels. And in some of the new iterations, they’ve got technology on their side—advanced air filtration systems make spending time in one a breath of fresh air. Here are a few of the best cigar lounges around the globe.

For both business and pleasure, cigar bars first made their comeback in London, where boutique hotel DUKES London welcomes stogie-loving guests in the Cognac and Cigar Garden. The secluded patio behind the hotel offers a long list of cognacs to accompany the Cubans. Ten Manchester Street Hotel’s all-weather cigar terrace lets you take your pick from cupboard-style humidors stocked with Cohibas and Montecristos and even hosts monthly cigar talks with specially paired drinks. London’s latest? A cigar garden—with a retractable roof—will open outside Mark’s Bar at the new Belgraves hotel in March, soon to be followed by a cigar bar opening in May Fair Hotel this spring (complete with a cigar concierge).

On the other side of the world, The Ritz-Carlton, Beijing’s swanky Davidoff Lounge welcomes guests nightly until 2 a.m. For those set to impress, the bar’s VIP rooms (which are equipped with everything from card tables to Wii stations and karaoke machines) are available for business meetings and private parties. Davidoff cigars from the Dominican Republic are the top choice here, but you can also puff away on hand-rolled Cubans.

U.S hotels have picked up on this old-school tradition, too—Florida (given its proximity to Cuba) hosts some of the grandest smoking rooms in the nation, and thanks to filtration systems, many of them allow you to smoke inside. The Forbes Travel Guide Four-Star Ritz-Carlton, Key Biscayne’s onsite Rumbar lounge is a Havana-inspired watering hole with a private humidor and live Latin music on the weekends. You have to smoke outside here, but the year-round warm weather means there aren’t many complaints.

A little further north, where golfers meet beach-goers, Hammock Beach Resort in Palm Coast keeps tradition alive at their Crown Jewel Cigar Bar. Cigar aficionados will appreciate the décor reminiscent of a 19th century London cigar bar—not to mention being able to smoke inside—and you can choose your stick from the walk-in humidor stocked with Crown Jewel Series cigars, as well as Ashtons and Padrons. The leather and wood-filled space offers plenty of nostalgia—a draw for even the modern cigar devotee.

Midtown West is home to a large number of textile and clothing factories, but on the western reaches of the Garment District there is a factory of a different kind-where customers can buy the product straight from the production line. Martinez Cigars on West 29th Street shares a block with textile wholesalers, a handbag store, and a Subway franchise. Customers can buy a range of Martinez brand cigars, all made on site, but they can also have a cigar rolled for them then and there.

“These guys have been here forever,” says Terence Roberts, who studied at the nearby CUNY Baruch campus in the 1990s. “I got into cigars through coming here when I was a student. They’ve been part of the community for a long time.“
‘Forever’, in this case, is 1974, when Antonio Martinez opened the store at this exact location. A cigar roller in the Dominican Republic, he moved to New York from the small town of Tamboril in 1972 to work as a roller at another cigar company. “He saw an opportunity, and within two years he had his own operation,” says his son Jesus, a thoughtful and amiable man, who has been managing the store since the mid-1990s. Antonio Martinez, who died in 2002, did not speak English, so New York-born Jesus helped him out on weekends.

Martinez is about the size of a studio apartment, with Dominican and American baseball memorabilia and old photographs taking up most of the wall space. Cigar boxes are stacked wherever there is free space and three specialist cigar-rolling tables line the back wall. The company has four rollers, or tabaqueros, who work in different shifts mainly during the week. The store’s chairs are usually occupied by people smoking their cigars and chatting.
The cigars, which Martinez also sells through their website, range from three to 10 dollars for individual cigars, and can also be purchased in boxes of 25. Major cigar brands like Cohiba or Graycliff on the other hand can cost from around 25 dollars to hundreds of dollars per cigar, depending on factors like the blend of leaves, the wrapper, and prestige.

“Due to the smoking ban,” said Martinez, “I would say we are selling slightly fewer cigars than before, but it is a great business. You get to meet all kinds of different people, especially being in New York City—and you can have great conversations just sitting here and smoking your cigar. ” Smoking is allowed in the store because it is a retail space. “I’ve been coming here since Jesus Martinez was a baby,” said Tony Betances, who worked on the other side of Seventh Avenue as a furrier for many years. “Cigar smoking is different from cigarette smoking,” said Martinez. “People like to savor them and enjoy each other’s company.”
New York City has a cigar manufacturing history. In the late 19thand early 20th century, Manhattan had over a thousand cigar factories, more than any other city in the world. The industry declined after the First World War with the increasing popularity of cigarettes, and because many manufacturers moved operations to the Caribbean and Central America.

While an atypical sight in the Garment District, which is a also not historically a Hispanic neighborhood, there are in a fact a handful of cigar businesses in Midtown West that sell their own brands—but Martinez Cigars is the only one in the area that still has on-site rollers. Dominican-run La Rosa Cubana on Sixth Avenue was a Midtown cigar institution, but they moved to Atlantic Avenue in the Bronx last month due to rent problems. Taino Cigars (named after Cuba’s indigenous population) also had rollers in their Hell’s Kitchen location until a few years ago, but now get their cigars come from Florida. D.P. Cigars, nearby on 30th street, don’t have rollers in the store either.

At Martinez, business is good—they have a core group of regulars but there is a growing number of tourists stopping in thanks to an increase in area hotels and attractions. Martinez has no intention of moving operations. “The business and the foot traffic is here,” says Martinez. “A few years ago we were worried because a lot of the buildings around here were being torn down or sold to build high-rises, but we are lucky because, having been here for 37 years, we have a great relationship with our management company and they are very fair. The rent rises a little each year, but not too much.” Martinez wants to expand the manufacturing side and have more rollers. “I will try to keep that operation here, but if the rent gets too expensive in NYC, I might have to move the additional rolling operations to the Dominican Republic—but this would be in addition to our store here.”

Their tobacco is shipped from the Dominican Republic or Miami direct to the store about once every two months, as demand dictates. The wrapping leaves are from Sumatra. The small freshly-rolled cigars stacked like tiny piles of lumber on the shelf above the rolling station are their most popular product, says Johan Pena, Jesus’s cousin. “Christmas and New Year’s are very busy times, but we‘re also very busy in the summer,” said Pena. “A lot of our regulars have been coming here for years, so they prefer our stronger cigars now.”

Years ago, I overheard a gentleman make a wise statement in a cigar shop that has stuck with me ever since. “The best cigar is the cigar you like the best,” he said. What a wonderfully simple (and true) declaration. So many people choose to smoke cigars that are new or expensive because they think those sticks will make them look cool. Others only choose cigars that have received the highest ratings, or those that are made by the trendiest cigar makers. Still others only smoke the biggest, the boldest, the darkest, or the thickest. And others hunt for certain flavor profiles.

But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that the cigar you choose makes you feel great and provides a pleasant experience. There’s no right answer when it comes to picking your cigar or deciding when, where, or how to smoke it. As long as enjoyment is the end result, you’re doing it right. Keep up the good work.

And if you have an all-time favorite cigar, well that’s fine too. I applaud your ability to narrow down the massive field to one supreme smoke, whether you’ve deemed that smoke supreme for its sentimental value or its physical attributes. Just don’t be shocked when I tell you I don’t have a favorite.

I often get asked what my favorite cigar is, and I think people are surprised—and sometimes disappointed—when I don’t have an answer. The truth is, I don’t have a favorite all-time song either. The music I listen to depends on a lot of different variables, not the least of which is my mood. Results can vary across genres that are completely dissimilar. If I could name a favorite song, it would change so often that it would render the act of naming a favorite completely meaningless.

That said, I do have a dozen or so songs that I would consider consistently among my favorites, some because they have sentimental value, some because I just really like the way they sound. The same could be said for cigars. Maybe I should have a “top five” answer prepared for the next time I’m asked what my favorite cigar is. Or maybe it’s enough to say, “I like too many cigars for too many different reasons to pick a favorite.”

No, I don’t think you have to have a favorite cigar. But I won’t hold it against you if you do. If you have a favorite, feel free to share it in the comments below, and feel free to mention why it’s at the top of your all-time best-of list.

Bartow city commissioners said Monday they’re optimistic that the redevelopment of the historic cigar factory could stimulate new development around that building. But they’re also certain that if renovations aren’t under way on the 87-year-old building within three years, the city needs to have an alternate plan for the building that may include walking away from the project. “We can’t just perpetuate this forever,” said Commissioner A. J. Jackson.

City Manager George Long said the city is ready to launch several programs simultaneously to get the ball rolling on redevelopment.

Initially, city administrators will seek proposals from developers wanting to redevelop the historic site, which is among the few remaining factories in the state where employees rolled handmade cigars.

Thompson & Co. opened there in about 1925, and the site at 235 N. Third Ave. continued to house cigar-making operations until the 1960s.

Since that time, the building has passed through a series of uses, from a storage house to a meeting room for civic groups. It fell into the county’s hands, but as surplus property, it’s fallen into disrepair in the past decade.

The county was ready to demolish it last year when a community group convinced the city to take ownership of it.

The city will outline its requirements for anyone seeking to redevelop the site.

At the same time, Long told commissioners Monday night, Bartow administrators will seek to have the site designated as a brownfield area, which means the building or the land beneath it may have been contaminated at some time and must be cleaned up before it can be redevelopment.

Following a recent Maryland study that found teenagers are increasingly reaching for flavored mini-cigars, the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative plans to lobby lawmakers to raise cigar tax rates from 15% to roughly 65%, matching the tax on cigarettes. According to a report in The Capital, teenage cigar use in Maryland has risen by 11% over the past decade, per a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene study released in November. The same study said sales of the mini-cigars have risen 176%, even though teen smoking in general has declined.

You can buy legal cigarettes without taxes, Winston cigarettes, for only 17$ per 10 packs.

Vincent DeMarco, the Maryland Citizens’ Health Initiative president said state Sens. Jennie M. Forehand, D-Montgomery County, and Verna L. Jones-Rodwell, D-Baltimore, have agreed to sponsor legislation that includes the tax, which is expected to generate about $30 million annually.

The cigar industry has called the push a “misguided” way to shore up government coffers disguised as an anti-smoking campaign.

“There is a fundamental right in this country for the small businessmen and women we represent to sell a legal product at a fair profit without undue government interference,” said Bill Spann, CEO of The International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association, in a statement.

“There is a similar fundamental right for American citizens of legal age to make an informed, conscious choice to enjoy these fine, artisan products,” Spann said.

He pointed out that teenagers don’t reach for the $6- to $30-a-piece cigars his industry sells.

A cigar-tax boost failed in the state last year, but local sellers expect the pressure to continue again as the state faces an estimated $1 billion deficit, according to The Capital article.

Currently, a pair of bills are being considered in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, S. 1461 and H.R. 1639, the Traditional Cigar Manufacturing and Small Business Jobs Preservation Act of 2011, that would spare premium handmade cigars from FDA oversight. Cigar Rights of America, the leading cigar consumer advocacy group, has suggested that if premium handmade cigars fall under the FDA’s control, a slew of changes could hit and devastate the industry.

Among the possible scenarios that CRA suggests could become realities are:.
A ban on walk-in humidors, as found in Canada, as well as banning self-service displays and online or mail-order of cigars.

· Limits on advertising and promotions, including banning cigar sampling/tasting events.

· Banning logoed cigar merchandise such as hats, t-shirts and jackets.

· Banning the use of the word cigar or tobacco.

· Manufacturers having to submit blends to the FDA for ‘testing’ before being allowed to be sold at retail.

· Adverse impacts on flavored tobacco products.

· Defacing of cigar boxes and their often intricate artwork with grotesque, graphic images.

· Price increases due to new fees on manufacturers, as well as ‘user fees’ on consumers to finance FDA regulation.

H.R. 1639 currently has 135 co-sponsors from states across the country, while S. 1461 has received support from four senators, including bipartisan support from Florida’s Marco Rubio and Bill Nelson.

Each of Arizona’s eight U.S. Representatives and both of the state’s U.S. Senators were asked to comment on these two bills and asked whether or not they would be supporting the bill being proposed in their chamber of Congress to exempt premium handmade cigars from FDA oversight and protect cigar smokers’ rights.

Only two of the state’s eight representatives provided responses through their spokespeople.

Adam Sarvana, communications director for Rep. Raul Grijalva, said that “Rep. Grijalva voted for the Tobacco Control Act and feels it’s the best way to handle tobacco sales and marketing. Nothing has changed his mind since that vote.”

Grijalva’s 7th Congressional District is the second largest in the state, covering 22,872 square miles, including a large portion of Tucson, while extending west to the California border and south to the Mexican border.

Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who represents the southeast corner of Arizona, including a portion of Tucson, in the state’s 8th Congressional District, has not returned to work following the Jan 8, 2011 shooting at a public event that left her fighting for her life. She is currently in Houston working full-time on her therapy and recovery, according to Mark Kimble, Rep. Giffords’ senior press advisor.

Both Giffords and Grijalva were co-sponsors of the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, with Giffords voting for the bill while Grijalva did not vote on it.

Among the other six representatives, spokespeople for two of them acknowledged the request for comment but weren’t able to actually provide one.

Rep. Ed Pastor of Arizona’s 4th Congressional District that covers South and Central Phoenix as well as portions of Glendale and Guadalupe, didn’t provide a comment, though his press secretary, Maura Cordova, said she would “keep trying.” Pastor voted for the Tobacco Control Act in 2009.

Genevieve Rozansky, press secretary for Rep. Jeff Flake, said that “the Congressman is looking into this matter,” but left it at that. Flake represents the 6th Congressional District, which covers parts of Mesa and Chandler, as well as all of Gilbert, Queen Creek and Apache Junction, an area home to several cigar stores. Flake opposed the Tobacco Control Act.

Which leaves four U.S. Representatives – Paul Gosar of District 1, Trent Franks of District 2, Ben Quayle of District 3 and David Schweikert of District 5 who failed to supply any comment on the matter – or even an acknowledgment of the request.

Franks was the only representative in office in 2009 when the Tobacco Control Act came up for a vote – he voted no on the proposal. Ann Kirkpatrick and John Shadegg, who represented Districts 1 and 3 respectively, each voted no, while Harry Mitchell, who represented District 5 at the time, voted yes.

Unfortunately for cigar smokers, some of these districts contain a number of cigar stores. District 5 is home to numerous cigars stores in Scottsdale,Tempe and Ahwatukee, while District 3 covers a significant portion of Central Phoenix, Scottsdale and Cave Creek.

As for Arizona’s two U.S. Senators?

Neither Senator John McCain nor Senator Jon Kyl, both Republicans, responded to a request for comment. Neither was a co-sponsor of S. 982, the Senate’s version of the Tobacco Control Act from 2009, though Sen. McCain voted for it while Sen. Kyl voted against it.

Be wary Arizonans – the elected officials who could be representing your cigar rights and freedoms are not only not doing so, several of them can’t be bothered to explain why they don’t care about your freedom to enjoy a perfectly legal product without government interference and regulation.

Concerned cigar smokers who want to protect their freedom to enjoy a cigar are encouraged to contact their elected officials and request that they support S. 1461 and H.R. 1639. While a printed and hand-signed letter sent through the mail is most effective, Cigar Rights of America has made it possible to send an e-mail in a matter of moments, simply by filling out your name and address.

Make no mistake about it – your ability to smoke a cigar in both Arizona and the United States are coming under direct attack, and it will be up to your elected officials to keep the FDA’s hands off your cigars. If you value your freedoms and rights to enjoy a cigar, the time to act is now.

Australia and Cuba: one is a robust democracy with a free-trade agenda and the other is a one-party state where the government sets prices and rations food. But that has not deterred Cuban Ambassador to Australia Pedro Monson Barata from accusing Canberra of ignoring trademark protection and trampling free trade. New tobacco retailing rules that from December 2012 stand to spoil the sales of Cuban cigars in Australia sparked Barata’s tirade. Infinitely more worrisome than a dig from Havana is a High Court challenge to the world-first public health initiative from Philip Morris International Inc, which owns Marlboro and six more of the world’s top 15 cigarette brands.

Philip Morris complains that ‘plain packaging turns tobacco products into a commodity, robbing Philip Morris Ltd of its ability to differentiate its products from competitor brands.’
A year from now tobacco products must come in plain green packets. Logos and other brand imagery will be banished. Covering most of the packet will be graphic warnings of the health hazards of smoking.
The new rules are aimed at cigarette smokers; cigar smokers, a minuscule sector of the market, are set to become collateral damage.
‘I don’t know whether I’ll still be here next year,’ said Ray Battistella of Cigarworld Australia, one of the nation’s biggest cigar importers. ‘I’ve spent half of this year worrying how I’m going to cope with these new regulations.’
Battistella’s emporium in Queensland’s Gold Coast is a sight to behold. The temperature is kept at 18-20 degrees year-round and the humidity at 70-75 per cent. More than 380 brands are on display, not only from Cuba but from Nicaragua and elsewhere.
According to the regulations, the tins, tubes and wooden boxes would have to be covered in plain paper. The bands on individual cigars would have to be snipped off or concealed.
‘What it means is that customers who buy a selection wouldn’t know what they were smoking in a month’s time,’ Battistella said. ‘We’re not going to know what’s what.’
Smoking has been under attack in Australia for nearly 100 years. High taxes, advertising bans and restricted sales have reduced smoking rates to among the lowest in the world.
The industry response to the new rules is being watched by governments in Europe, Canada and New Zealand, where similar legislation could be promulgated.
Melbourne retailer Alexanders Cigar Merchants is trusting that the government will relent and exempt the high-end cigar market from proscriptions intended for cigarettes.
‘I don’t believe we’re going to get to that point,’ said Danny Alexander, predicting that common sense would dictate a waiver for cigars.
‘We’ve dozens, hundreds, of different brands. How are we going to distinguish them?’ he asked. ‘We could repackage them but why would the customer bother?’
The big complaint from cigar sellers is that the new regulations are just one more reason for Australians to circumvent local retailers and order their smokes from overseas websites.
‘They come straight to your door, and there are no warnings on them,’ said Alexander.