As any cigar affectianado knows, Cuban cigars are considered the ultimate in forbidden fruit. Since the embargo was enacted on Cuba in the 1960’s, their cigars have been severely restricted from entering the United States. Since then, many people have done backflips and risked felony conviction to smuggle bundles back into the U.S.

Since that’s the case, I found the following quote on Holt’s Cigar‘s website to be especially interesting:

Before the US embargo Cuban cigars were considered to be the very best in the world by virtually all cigar smokers. Pungent and full-bodied without excess strength, the smoke of a Cuban led to rapturous descriptions in prose and verse. Slowly though, more and more is heard that the fabled Cuban cigar is no more; the land is not fertilized properly; the master cigar rollers are gone; there is no quality control; and so on. It is not for us to become involved in this discussion, but we will throw a word of caution into the pot – most Cuban cigars sold in the US today are high-priced fakes. Beware!