OK, thank you Mr.
Obama. Since you announced the easing
of restrictions on travel to Cuba, and access to fine Cuban spirits and
tobacco, people want to know what this means to the Cuban Cigar industry, and
most importantly, their direct access to it.
My phone, email, social media, and postal box have all been ablaze with
that one single question.
Well I don’t want to
disillusion anyone, and in spite of what my GOP thumping friends and family may
accuse me of, I do not have direct access to the Administration, and do not
participate in creating International policy.
However, please allow me to expand on some of the things I do know about
this landmark change and how it is affecting worldwide Cigar markets.
First, I content that the very thing that directly crippled
the Cigar industry in Cuba, is the very thing that has helped it thrive over
the last several decades. I will go a
bit further, by saying that the Unites States embargo of Cuba is the very thing
that has saved and preserved an industry, who by all rights, should have faded
into pages of history long ago.
Why is this and how did it
happen? Well, Cuban Cigars have taken
on an almost mystical reverence in this country. Let’s face it, most Cigar smokers know very little about materials,
construction, blending, composition, aging, growing technologies, and vertical
integration. They have virtually no
understanding of how a new box or product line arrives at their local tobacco
retailer.
When a friend, and we have
all had them, was able to sneak a Cuban through our borders either North or
South, and we toasted that Cigar with a childlike anticipation, we exclaimed it
as a near biblical experience. Maybe it wasn't actually due to the flavor, draw, or burn of an amazing Cigar, but
simply because well… hell, it was a Cuban right? They have to be great; we were always programmed that they would
be, but were they really all that we were led to believe? Well, no it sure wasn’t, and there were
several very good reasons why:
1. Limited Ingredients: Cuban Cigars are made strictly from Cuban
tobaccos. That means while huge
operations throughout Central America scour the world to find the finest
binders and fillers that compose a great Cigar, Cubans are limited to only
using tobaccos they themselves can cultivate and manufacture. This is a significant disadvantage.
2. Loss of Experience & Skill: Thanks to Mr. Castro and his Marxist
policies in relation to corporate independence and economic growth, the count
of viable and surviving Cigar factories have dwindled in Cuba. What became of this knowledge and
experience? It departed with the
growers, rollers, and farmers that fled to other neighboring countries in hopes
of a better life. Not only did they
take their talents but they also took with them the very growing seeds, the
inner life force of the Cuban Cigar industry.
3. Lack of
Competition: With a lack of
competition in the Cuban market, there was nothing to keep the fat cats on
their toes, guarding against upstart rivals and investing in their own
infrastructure. Without this
motivation, their organic evolution stopped, trapped somewhere in a time warp
of the early to mid-1960s.
4.
No
Reinvestment: You can imagine how
this choked off manufacturer re-investments back into their businesses, not only
due to the lack of competitive motivation, but also because of the
unpredictable and psychotic Cuban government.
It really isn't sound business logic to invest millions into an industry
where the government could step in and take possession of all assets and any
second. These companies had other
options, and they used them. Yes, Cigar
production is an age-old art, heavily rooted in the talents of hand-rolled
artists. However, technology has showed
us that it provides a consistent quality of product. Not necessarily in the mechanical rolling of Cigars, but in the
Quality systems that guarantee a smooth and defined taste, replicated in each
product line, down to the very stick. Many of the manufacturers who had
operations rooted in Cuba and extending to other Central American markets,
chose to put those reinvestment funds into the other countries, and not into an
aging and unstable Cuba.
To summarize, the Cuban embargo, the mass exodus of
qualified and experienced manufacturers, the underground transport of the Cuban
Cigar seed, and stagnation of it’s infrastructure, has allowed the industry
paradigm to shift, taking root and thriving in the countries of Honduras,
Nicaragua, Dominica, and others. The
Quality Control, robotics, and vertical integration quickly became prevalent in
these new emerging Cigar markets while primarily bypassing Cuba.
When comparing the taste and
quality of these new products against Cubans, not only would I put the higher
end Diamond Crown, Opus X, or Julius Caesar Cigar up against the best Cohiba
that Cuba has to offer, I could easily choose from a wide variety of very
affordable Arturo Fuentes, Padron, Rocky Patel, or Perdomo Cigars that I know
would give the Cuban Cigar makers absolute fits.
I do not know if the position of
US Senator Marco Rubio is valid, as he contends that the relaxing of the Cuban
restrictions only serves to make the Castro regime more powerful. Again, that is a little too political for me
to intelligently argue. I do know that
all the questions that I am being asked about fresh access to Cuban Cigars can
be easily answered with a simple, “It doesn't matter that much really”. Maybe now we will appreciate all of the hard work and dedication of these Central American growers and the operations that
they have built. Their products really
are sensational.
I can only imagine about what our
greatest American ambassador to Cuba would have thought about what has happened
to its struggling Cigar industry.
Knowing what I do about Earnest “Papa” Hemingway, I would bet he would
take a few puffs of today’s Cuban, spit and say, “Well that’s a damn
shame”. I sadly would have to agree
with him.Until next time, keep em long and lit.
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