For Cigar Lovers

[Roy Hersh]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43397342/ns ... le_oneline

Your thoughts?

[Moses Botbol]

Good. We can start giving China a taste of their own medicine by sending them fake Habanos in lead based varnished boxes. I can only imagine the influx of fakes that are/will be imported to China. Most wouldn’t know a Sir Winston from a Macanudo and pay twice as much.

I have saying emerging markets are more important to Habanos than USA on cigar forums for years. As long as China does not disrupt Habanos traditional distribution chains or lower the overall quality; this is good for Habanos. Hong Kong has a strong Habanos consumer base so hopefully their educated palate will guide the rest of China.

[Andy Velebil]

Prices, they will be a going up!

[Moses Botbol]

Prices, they will be a going up!

I am not we'll see a wholesale rise in prices from Habanos. We could see a drop in quality as was the case in the boom years, but I think Habanos has learned their lesson and the investment has been put in place (in terms of curing and processing).

What we will see is more and more fakes. As soon as bands and boxes start getting printed in China, look out!

[Andrew E]

From a strictly economical viewpoint, increasing demand is one reason I prefer the embargo not to be dropped. As soon as any restrictions are lifted in the USA you can expect Cuban cigar prices to skyrocket, and probably see quality diminish to meet that demand. Frankly, it's surprisingly easy to get legit Cubans so any demand increase is bad for the rest of us.

[Luke W]

So many Trademark issues to work out with American companies using all the big Cuban names. It would take a while for Cuban cigars to be on the shelf in the states, even after the embargo is lifted.

[Moses Botbol]

So many Trademark issues to work out with American companies using all the big Cuban names. It would take a while for Cuban cigars to be on the shelf in the states, even after the embargo is lifted.

Altidis has rights to most USA and Cuban marcas, so I would not think trademarks will be as big a deal. It's easy enough for Habanos to create USA brands if need be. To those that have cigar collections, the introduction of legal Cuban cigars should be a huge valuation to worth of they already have. I hope internet cigars sales from overseas is not squashed.

[Eric Ifune]

One curious, historical prescedent are the "clear" Havanas, i.e. cigars made in the US using cuban tobacco. These were a big deal prior to the Cuban revolution. I'm wondering if the Cuban govenment would allow sales of bulk tobacco and if they would be used alone or in blends of other countries tobacco. I'm guessing the government would disallow this, but with the relaxing of state ownership of agricultural products, maybe a farmer or two could part with a few bales. Might make for some interesting blends.

[Andrew E]

One curious, historical prescedent are the "clear" Havanas, i.e. cigars made in the US using cuban tobacco. These were a big deal prior to the Cuban revolution. I'm wondering if the Cuban govenment would allow sales of bulk tobacco and if they would be used alone or in blends of other countries tobacco. I'm guessing the government would disallow this, but with the relaxing of state ownership of agricultural products, maybe a farmer or two could part with a few bales. Might make for some interesting blends.

That is true, we could end up with some mega-blend we've never been able to experience before. Although I think if they wanted to do that they could've done it even without a legal US market.
Immediate demand, though, would be for the fabled Cuban "Puros." I think that demand alone would put the kibosh on any real mixing of blends. Unless some Non-Cuban cigar maker wanted to pay top dollar for some Cuban harvest output, I don't see anything but Cuban's coming out of Cuba.

[Luke W]

I would love to see what the Fuente and Padron families could do with some good Cuban tobacco.

[Moses Botbol]

There are a few European made cigars blended with Cuban tobacco. P.G.C. Hajenius is first brand that comes to mind. If Fuente & Davidoff are smart, they'll stay mostly away from using Cuban leaf in their cigars. They have a great niche and process already in place.