Quote Originally Posted by craig View Post
Marketing can accomplish a lot, I agree. However, the cigar doesn't have to be a puro to benefit - look at the CAO America - look at CAO, in fact. There are many American cigar companies that have produced, or could easily produce, in the US, but they don't seem to have to in order to retain their "American-ness."

In any case, the defining characteristic of most premium cigar tobacco is that it is grown in volcanic soil. Cigar smokers are used to the flavour of tobacco grown in volcanic soil. An American puro (non-Hawaiian) would have to overcome that.
Interesting that a couple of notable exceptions to that are CT Shade and both CT and PA Broadleaf. Not sure if the soil is volcanic in nature in Cameroon or Mexico either. Without a doubt, the soil composition plays a large part in the flavor of a given tobacco, however, it is not the only factor.