"New Cohibas"

Hmm...Im sure talks have been made with the Cuban companies under the table. They couldnt sell those products in the US if they talked to the Cubans and it was known to the public. Association with the Cubans falls into the embargo sanctions.
I would imagine that there has been money shipped under the table to the Cuban companies and that they have some sort of say in the product that is named after the original companies. While Cuban trademarks are not honored in the US, they are honored in many other countries down in the south...there must be some sort of non-public agreements.

There may be some agreements with Altadis...but I doubt General Cigar and Cuba get along well.

I doubt that. Its really expensive for a cuban company to take on a US one. Cohiba or Cubatabaco rather did and I believe Trinidad did as well. Thats why Cohiba is a notable case.

As was said ealier, Cuban rights mean jack in the US. If things were clear cut then there would be suits flying all over, but the Trading With the Enemy act blurs the lines quite a bit. If and once the embargo is lifted, then companies will start to squabble about rights.

UP , UP , AND AWAY WITH THE EMBARGO!!!

General ligitamately purchased the rights to partagas and punch from the founders of those brands when they fled castro. So even if the embargo lifts, General Cigar will still own the rights to distribute cigars under those names.

More then likely the surge in demand and lack in supply woudl drive the prices up rather than down. UK analysts suggest it could increase the price of Cubans in countries that already sell them by more then 100%. While they are illegal in the US, a good deal of them already end up here.

I imagine what you would see is a lot more cigar makers using some cuban tobacco and mixing it with other components to keep the price level managable. Cuban puros would probably be a hard find and very expensive.

I think overall though people would realize that there are a lot of great cigars from all over the world and we would definately see another boom.

Consider this. Export data on Cuban cigars is hard to come by, but fewer then 30 million cigars typically export in a year. Now take a cigar maker like Camacho (they make la fantana and some other boutique brands) They will turn out 17 million cigars in a year. So if you think about it, there really isnt a whole lot of cigars coming off the island.

Frankly, I hope the embargo never lifts, right now is probably about the most affordable time for regular cuban cigar smokers to buy and get their cigars. Just my .02

I agree. I would not want to see the embargo lifted from a cigar smoker standpoint. Not only will demand far out-reach supply, the market will FLOOD with fakes. Also due to the demand, you might see a drastic change in quality. I am perfectly happy where it is now, including the prices. Just my .02

CC, what is your take on this?

Capt said:

I am perfectly happy where it is now, including the prices.

Click to expand...

AMEN!

I would think that within a few years the whole Cuban cigar business would be dessimated and its reputation ruined. Since Castro planted cane in a lot of the tobacco fields I don't think the companies could keep up with the demand they would face. I think that they would soon either reuse the fields with the cane or introduce new tobaccos into the blends. Either way the distinctive cuban taste would be ruined especially if they planted in the cane fields as Cane is notorious for sucking all nutrients out of soil.