US tightens ban on Cuban cigars

AFP/Yahoo ^ | 10/6/04

[Cosmo]

Maybe you have some insight as to why the gigantic Fuente Hemingway I just smoked ( forget the name, exactly) was almost tasteless. Is this how they all smoke or did I get a dud?

[camle]

I tend to disagree, but then again, who am I? I do wish you good luck and happy fortune. but i think you're underestimating how much would be involved, and how much people are willing to risk on the venture.

[Cosmo]

That was my recent Partagas serie d #4 experience. paid a premium to a local dealer who offered to sell me some Cubans on the downlow because I bought so many top quality cigars. Pretty much junk. It wasn't wet, but it contantly weent out .....and I neeed a new keyboard:)

[tdadams]

Until that embargo is lifted, I don't smoke Cubans. It's the law. I'm amazed at how many here don't seem to care...as long as it interferes with their personal pleasure, the law can go hang.

Maybe you don't understand the principle involved, but there are many of us who simply won't roll over and say "Yes, sir, how high sir?"

Just because it's a law doesn't make it's right, and conceding to an unjust law only lends legitimacy to bad laws.

[mhking]

SMOKE THIS!

Just damn.

If you want on the list, FReepmail me. This IS a high-volume PING list...

[B Knotts]

"The question is often asked whether United States citizens or permanent resident aliens of the United States may legally purchase Cuban goods, including tobacco and alcohol products, in a third country for personal use outside the United States," the notice said. "The answer is no."

How can that possibly be enforced? I support the embargo, but that's absurd.

[Chode]

"look at it this way, i'm not supporting their economy... i'm just burning their fields" Kinky Freidman

[tdadams]

OK. It's clear to me now. You obey laws with which you agree, and disobey the rest. I get it.

You're being obtuse, so I won't entertain this kind of trolling from here on. But there is a difference and you know it. Buying a Cuban cigar and murdering someone... morally equivalent? Please!

You don't have to pretend to be a dunce just to make a point that's not worth making.

[Freebird Forever]

Let me guess, it was offered by a 14 year old boy and cost $5 for a box of 20.

Actually it was a cab driver who seemed to have a line on everything.

[ConservativeLawyer]

But how will they prove that a particular stogie isn't a "pre-ban" stick?

I'm certain post-ban cigars will be stamped with "Law Enforcement Use Only." < / sarcasm >

[Pukin Dog]

A good quality Cuban has such an array of complimentary flavors and just the right body that it makes most of the cigars you can buy in America taste like you're smoking a grocery bag.

Thank you, that needed saying.

From a life-long Partagas lover. It is a shame that so many fakes have invaded the industry that most people never experience a true cuban anyway.

[monday]

"For example, Americans are barred from buying a Cuban cigar in other countries, even to smoke it outside the United States."

Seriously? What are they going to do, hire a cop to follow each American around no matter where they go?

[Uncle Vlad]

You got a big-time dud! Hemmingways of all sizes have a nice leathery spice to them. Sounds like you had a Hemmingway Masterpiece. It measures something like 9 inches by 48 ring gauge. And it just keeps getting better the farther down you smoke it. The last time I had a Masterpiece, it was really gooooood.

[Uncle Vlad]

Yeah, if it's too moist, it's not going to be very good. Ideal humidity for me is about 70. Anything over that is too moist.

[tortoise]

There is nothing else like them. A good quality Cuban has such an array of complimentary flavors and just the right body that it makes most of the cigars you can buy in America taste like you're smoking a grocery bag.

Yup. There is a perceptible difference in quality in the top-end product, though it probably won't be apparent if you are smoking junk cigars -- that would be like comparing California and French wine by tasting screw-top. By being very picky, I can find Dominicans and Hondurans that are roughly as good as Cubans, but arguably not quite as fine on average across the cigars from those locales.

[tdadams]

I've got a Partagas from a box that I picked up in Scotland two years ago sitting in my humidor. I can't bear to part with my last one.

[devane617]

Get the rope ready. I have never, and will never, pass up a chance for a Cuban Cigar.

[monday]

"I'm stunned that preventing Americans from consuming goods outside of the USA's borders is even constitutional."

It isn't but that has never stopped them. Income taxes were unconstitutional at one time.

[MplsSteve]

In principle, I agree.

In practice, it's not that easy...even when I put some effort into it.

[Pukin Dog]

My supplier is the same who supplies Arnold S. I will never be without. There is nothing illegal about possession. But don't ask, because what I pay for cigars, some people would not pay for a used car.