Ten Reasons to Lift the Cuba Embargo

[M1903A1]

Originally Posted by TheRiddick

That's how they treated all their vassals, why would Castro be any different. But USSR was awash in cigars and sugar back in those days since Castro had no other means to pay, not that anything changed since.

I have a friend who's in the collectible arms business, and has traveled several times to the former Soviet Union on arms-buying expeditions. He has consistently said that Cuban cigars bought over there were among the worst he's ever had.

Reading about Castro's treatment of his Soviet overlords was actually pretty amusing...frequently he was threatening to either expose the latest Soviet military technology, which Castro was offering as assistance to other nations when he wasn't supposed to, or supplying military aid that could ultimately be traced back to the USSR when Moscow didn't want to be caught up in trouble. You could almost imagine the Soviet ministers in the Kremlin and KGB HQ pounding their desks in fury.

[TheRiddick]

Originally Posted by M1903A1

I have a friend who's in the collectible arms business, and has traveled several times to the former Soviet Union on arms-buying expeditions. He has consistently said that Cuban cigars bought over there were among the worst he's ever had.

I am talking about 1960-80s, before USSR fell apart. Back then CCs were cheap and plentiful, actually the only cigars you could buy and "fake" was unheard of since prices for CCs were so cheap it didn't make sense to make fakes. My first memory of CCs was back in 1971, a box of R&J and I can still recall the smell of those cigars (was too young to smoke in '71).

Do a search and read my posts on Cuban cigars in today's Russia, ~99% fake, main reason they are "worst your friend ever had" since they are not even "Cuban" and are produced by some fly-by-night outfits operating in Southern Russia where they grow tobacco. Once USSR fell apart Russia has no reason to deal with Cuba for the most part and although still gives Cuba some money the trade is just a very small fraction of what it used to be. Whatever trickles in from Cuba (trade wise) stays mostly with the "in" crowd, politicians and such, never hitting the retail shelves. Night clubs sell pretty bad fakes that can be easily detected by cursory view from 15 feet away, although sales are esthetically pleasing since they are done via semi-nude young models. Prices are stupid, though, and would be even for real CCs.