Uh oh, someone gave me a book to read. Published in 1997, it's called The complete Idiot's guide to cigars 2nd edition. (I guess this sums up how my friends and family feel about my intelligence) This takes place during the cigar boom when every A list actor and actress was on a magazine cover with a cigar, and apparently, as cigars were "hot", there was a shortage of good smokes out there. The Author also felt that for the sake of revenue, the Cuban Government pushed out many smokes that were not properly aged, and although the top brands were still wonderful, many were disappointing, to say the least.
Makers of many of Cuba's premier cigar makers, after fleeing to South America with pocketful's of seeds have spent decades improving their product. So, now, in 2014, how do the new Punch, Cohiba, et all stack up against today's Cubans? Living here in the States, I rarely, if ever come across a real Cuban, but I'm sure many of you who live or visit other places have access to them, and some may still fondly remember the pre embargo smokes. Has the quality evened out, or are Cubans still the pinnacle of cigars?