Back In Cuba
I’m sitting in the light breeze, an ashtray to my left with a burning Romeo y Julieta Short Churchill perched on its corner. The sky is blue, the air is clean and I hear the waves rolling against the coast below me. I’m back in Cuba.
I’ve lost precise count, but this is about my 19th trip to this wonderful island where cigars were born. I’ve been here many times, as many as three times in a single year, but it’s been four years since my last visit. It was March 2020 when I flew from Cuba and it’s taken me longer than expected to get back. Pandemic canceled the Festival for a time, then the demands of the magazine kept me away. It’s wonderful to be back.
It’s Monday as I write this blog, but my Cuba adventure began on Sunday when we landed in Havana after the short flight from Miami. On my last trip I flew nonstop between JFK and José Martí International, but we have taken a step back in U.S.-Cuba relations, so there are fewer flights and getting there is harder than before. While I’m allowed to be here as a journalist, the days of free and open travel to Cuba are long gone. Americans can come here, but it’s not as simple as it once was. There are more regulations, more paperwork, and more barriers to entry. Fewer Americans are here than in the past.
Other things have changed, and not for the better. As anyone who has recently shopped for—or tried to shop for—Cuban cigars, two things are noticeable. One, there just aren’t that many to find, even here in Havana. Some have described the cigar shops as empty, but that’s untrue. They aren’t nearly as full as they once were, and you have fewer choices.
The cigar shops we’ve seen so far have been a mixed bag of shopping. I have yet to see a Montecristo No. 2, a Partagás Serie D No. 4, a Cohiba Esplendido or any kind of double corona, for example. But we have seen some interesting smokes, including the new Punch Triunfos (which we were told would be launching in Europe in May), Cohiba Siglo de Oro and plenty of others.
Then there’s the prices.
It wasn’t so long ago that you could find a great (and familiar) Cuban cigar in Havana for the equivalent of around $10. Not Cohibas of course but Montecristos, Punches, some Romeos. No longer. I found a delicious Hoyo de Monterrey Epicure No. 2 that I smoked at last night’s dinner for $17, a relative bargain. The cigars here are tremendously expensive: Montecristo Double Edmundos are $21.50, tiny Cohiba Siglo Is are $30, Montecristo 1935 Leyendas are $70, Cohiba Lanceros are sniffing $100. There are many cigars priced even higher. We will have a full report on pricing and availability later in the week.
Sometimes you need to be a bit creative in your smoking choices. I’m ed on this trip by managing editor Greg Mottola. When we were poking around the Casa del Habano at the Meliá Habana on Sunday afternoon, Greg took a look at the unbanded cigars wrapped in cellophane sitting behind the counter, over by the cash . “Should we try two robustos?” he asked me. “Absolutely,” I said.
We took our seats at the little bar in the shop, and I torched that house robusto. It took to the flame greedily. It was well made, sweet in flavor, with a good nutty quality as well as a pleasant woodiness. The draw was superb. One puff after another and I was smiling. Was it a classic smoke? Not at all. But was it the right cigar for that time? Absolutely. And the best part? The price was a mere $5.30.
Trust me, I’ll be going back for more. Sometimes in Cuba, you just need to keep an open mind.
Cigar Aficionado is in Cuba all week covering the Habanos Festival, so check back for updates every day.
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