Bulz, first off, I haven't seen you around in a while, and it's good to see you back. I hope all is well with you and yours. Secondly, notwithstanding what you may have seen around here lately, let me open a point of debate here, and I'm not trying to be a wise guy or a tough guy, so please don't take this wrong.
Firstly, I already know this, and have for quite some time:
"One could argue that now the "fact" is actually the best Cuban cigar manufacturers that have the long family traditions in the industry are now Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras,and Ecuador residents."
That is most certainly a fact.
Secondly, don't forget that without cigars, Cuba would be worse off than it already is. And how does Cuba continue to SELL their cigars to everyone all over the world? And how is it that Americans are tripping over themselves trying to get them?
Is it strictly because it's illegal and it's "exciting" to smoke them? It's not exciting to smoke lousy pot, I can tell you that much, and lousy pot DOESN'T sell well. And they're not illegal in other parts of the world, and the whole world is tripping over themselves to get Cuban cigars.
And how can something so subjective as taste in cigars ever become a FACT? It's about what people like, and most
EXPERIENCED American cigar smokers who have ever had, say anywhere from ten to twenty REAL Cuban cigars of about four to five different labels, will vote in the majority that Cuban cigars are still the best. So, if we are to deal in FACTS, and if taste is something that can EVER be relegated to a FACTUAL realm, it must therefore be a fact that Cuban cigars are the best tasting cigars by and large.
By the way, I say this as someone who smokes overwhelmingly and buys ONLY Non-Cuban cigars. Still and all, I've had a fair share of real Cubans in nine years of cigar smoking, and they are simply the Olympic Gold Medal standard in cigars. Are there ANY cigars I like as much as a good Cuban? You bet. But by and large, across the board, the Cubans still get the Gold by a lean at the tape over most Non-Cubans.
I think this is something very interesting that you've presented, and it might be worthwhile for us to take a poll here. It might be presented as something like, "out of the members who know with 99.9% certainty that they have smoked at least five genuine Cuban cigars in their cigar smoking careers, how many feel Non-Cubans are superior?"
I'm still not sure any poll on taste could be considered factual, but it would be interesting to see the response.