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Title: Ban on Cuban cigars goes up in a puff of smoke
Source:
Fortune
URL Source: http://fortune.com/2014/12/17/ban-o ... rs-goes-up-in-a-puff-of-smoke/
Published: Dec 17, 2014
Author: Ben Geier
Post Date: 2014-12-17 23:23:32 by Buzzard
Keywords: None
Views: 89
Comments: 7
A new policy by President Obama means that importing up to $100 worth of Cuban tobacco products will be legal. Getting your lips around a high quality cigar just got a bit easier. Today’s announcement that the United States will normalize relations with Cuba means that it will be legal to transport Cuban cigars and other alcohol and tobacco products into the United States. Cuban tobacco and alcohol imports will be capped at $100, while ceiling for all Cuban goods brought back will be $400. The impact on the cigar industry could be huge. Cuban cigars are considered by many aficionados to among the best, and their availability – at least legally, speaking – could mean a big lift sales. “It’s going to be massive,” said Christopher Bledsoe, the president and owner of International Cigar Experts, a cigar shipping company. “Ever since we’ve been in business, which has been about 12 years, we consistently have people ask us about Cuban cigars.” But first, Bledsoe said he’ll consult with the company’s lawyers to figure out exactly what’s allowed. For instance, can it only list Cuban products for sale that are priced below $100? Cuban cigars have been one of the most controversial products banned by the United States as part of its Cuban embargo, which started in the early 1960s following the rise to power of Communist Fidel Castro. Despite the ban, cigar smokers have gone to great lengths to get their hands on Cohibas and Montecristos. For instance, President John F. Kennedy, who was famously hawkish on Cuba and who expanded the embargo to ban the import of nearly all goods in 1962, bought 1,200 Cuban cigars just hours before they officially became illegal. More recently, people have bought up Cuban cigars in Mexico or other countries where they are legal, and smuggled them back home in their suitcases. Now they can light up a Cuban stogie without breaking the law as long as they do so outside or in a spot where it’s otherwise legal. Poster Comment: Sounds like the cigars can be brought in from Mexico, too.
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#1. To: Buzzard (#0)
They can be bought world-wide, except in the states. They are a delicacy, so to speak. The forbidden fruit. Last one I had was from an NSA honcho.
Anyone who wants them can have my part of them. Even back when I used to smoke I didn't smoke cigars because I always thought they smelled too bad. Yeah, even worse than cigarettes.
Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends. Paul Craig Roberts "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Frederic Bastiat
Yeah ! And now it appears that they're just a road trip away for me. I had one in a fancy pants bar in Germany circa 1980. I'm not a cigar aficionado, but I remember it.
Stale cigar smoke is bad anywhere, especially in a car. But I don't mind fresh smoke as long as its not allowed to linger. So is stale cigarette smoke. Americans who have no experience with, or knowledge of, tyranny believe that only terrorists will experience the unchecked power of the state. They will believe this until it happens to them, or their children, or their friends. Paul Craig Roberts "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it." Frederic Bastiat
I smoked one back around 1996, my manager brought one back from Mexico for me. It was good, but I wouldn't pay a premium over other readily available cigars just to smoke another one. They're not that special, IMO.
Sounds like the cigars can be brought in from Mexico, too.
#2. To: Buzzard (#0)
#3. To: Fred Mertz (#1)
They are a delicacy, so to speak. The forbidden fruit.
#4. To: Buzzard (#3)
#5. To: James Deffenbach (#2)
they smelled too bad
#6. To: Buzzard (#5)
Stale cigar smoke is bad anywhere, especially in a car.
#7. To: Buzzard (#0)
-Alex Kurtagic
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