Where to find Cuban Cigars in Miami
An intrinsic part of Cuban culture, there was a time when the cultivation of tobacco and manufacture of the cigar was a regular part of the education system in Cuba.
You could still argue that a fine Cuban cigar represents the living lifeblood of Cuba and an artform in itself. The Cuban cigar has become a thing of legend.
But if like other products from Cuba, they're not permitted for import. What is it you're enjoying from the last few hand-rolling factories in Little Havana?
There is admittedly a bit of a poetic license applied when discussing Cuban cigars with aficionados of modern Miami.
Most of the stock is Dominican or is finely cultivated in Florida, a little closer to the Gulf Coast, near Tampa.
But the seeds and strain are of Cuban descent. Many of the workers are Cuban-American or Cuban-Dominican, now living locally in Miami. The techniques for preparing the torpedoes are stylized Cuban.
And the rollers of the finest Cuban cigars have achieved their proficiency over 19 months of intensive, practical study in their native Cuba, followed by many, many years of experience in honing their own specialized process.
Get chatting with a roller and you may find they've been perfecting their trade for an incredibly long time.
I myself wondered if a few of them had secretly found the secret elixir of youth in the activity, in one shop I met a (seemingly) young woman before me had been rolling for more than 4 decades!
Pair your Cuban with coffee or something sharper in brandy. Take in the music and artwork of vibrant Calle Ocho and relax - asking questions and confirming the precise origins of your cigar just leads to more questions than answers. You'll just have to decide for yourself.
If the seed stock is Cuban. If the tobacco is a Cuban strain. If the workers are Cuban. If the rollers are Cuban and they fashion the finished product in a traditional Cuban style... what else would you call them?