James Suckling Most Recent Comments: See Also: Cuba and Our New PresidentPosted: 12:28 PM ET, February 06, 2009 President Obama seems to be one of the most popular subjects of the conversations I’m having in Cuba. The general impression is very, very positive with the average man and woman on the street, from taxi driver to politician, and all of them have high hopes for our new president. I even noticed that Hiroshi Robaina, the well-known tobacco grower, was wearing an Obama wristwatch when I visited him earlier in this week in Pinar del Río. Check out the photo.
Photo by James Suckling
Hiroshi Robaina sports a wristwatch to show his support for President Obama.
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Read my blog from earlier this week about this year’s tobacco harvest.
I haven’t spoken to a person on the island who doesn’t wish that the current U.S. restrictions on travel to the island, as well as remittances, be relaxed. This is apparently what President Obama has already promised in his first 100 days. He would allow Cuban Americans to travel to the island when they wish as well as letting them send an unlimited amount of money to relatives in Cuba. Allowing other Americans to travel to Cuba would take some sort of legislation instead of an executive order, if I am not mistaken.
Whether the President actually does anything remains to be seen. He has a lot more important matters at the moment, such as passing a successful stimulus package to bolster the U.S. and global economy. Perhaps changing things with Cuba will be a little easier task?
I noticed that Fidel Castro was even smitten with our new president, calling him nuestro amigo Obama in one of his recent blogs. Read more
Happiness Is A Dark Wrapper Called Edición LimitadaPosted: 04:22 PM ET, February 05, 2009 I have been smoking a number of Edición Limitadas since arriving in Cuba more than a week ago. I am a big fan of the cigars. I can’t say that I have collected, or bought, every edition, but I have most likely smoked them all one time or another in my career.
I think they are getting better and better each year. I remember when they first came out in 2000: a robusto Montecristo, a torpedo Partagas and a gran corona Hoyo de Monterrey. The quality was pretty bad. In fact, the Hoyo was so bad that most key retailers in Germany and Great Britain returned them. They were re-released the year after, if I remember correctly.
I recall trying to smoke a Partagas Pirámide with Desmond Sautter at his shop in the fall of 2000, and I had to light two or three of the smokes to find one that burned properly. They were not a great success.
The 2001 and 2002 editions were better, but I think that the darker colored wrapper dominated the blend too much. This most likely could have been because the blends the Cubans were using at the time were far too bland; so the darker colored wrapper had a bigger influence on the cigar in general.
Some of this year's corona tobacco leaf harvest ripens in the sun.
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In fact, I smoked a Romeo y Julieta Robusto Edición Limitada 2001 a few nights ago, and it was surprisingly mild with some spice and coffee character but rather neutral and boring. 87 points, unblind.
I was never a great fan of the RyJ E.L. Robusto anyway. I remember sitting on a panel during the 2002 cigar festival in Havana and comparing the robusto to the Partagas Serie D No. 4. The half dozen, or so, panelists preferred the standard issue Robusto to the Edición Limitada. Read more
The Montecristo GenerationPosted: 12:08 PM ET, February 04, 2009 Habanos S.A., the global distribution and marketing company for Cuban cigars, has been trying to keep a large number of new cigar releases under wraps for this month’s Habanos Festival, including a line extension for the Montecristo brand and a new size for Trinidad. But it’s failed after some obscure websites reported on a number of the novelties.
Participants of the festival in Havana will have the chance to smoke four new Montecristos on the opening night celebration on February 23. The four cigars in the new Montecristo Open range are the Junior, 38 ring gauge by 4 1/3 inches, the Regatta, 46 by 5 1/3 inches, the Master, 50 by 4 7/8 inches, and Eagle, 54 by 5 7/8 inches. The four cigars carry the traditional brown and cream Montecristo band but they also don a second green band with gold and white lettering. My sources at Habanos say that the Eagle and Regatta are unique vitolas for the brand and have never been produced before.
The cigars will be sold in newly decorated boxes compared to the classic line of Montecristo. In addition, all four will be available in tubes.
“We want to give something new to the Montecristo and the Habanos for the new generation,” said an amigo at Habanos. “We want to make something attractive to the new generation. Who are they? They are people in their early 30s and getting interested in the good life – from polo and boats to cars and tennis.”
I hope this “Montecristo Generation” still exists with the current economic meltdown. Regardless, the new Montecistos will be a welcome addition to Habanos. I heard that the cigars are similar to the Edmundo in flavor, meaning not particularly strong or light, but just right in my opinion. Vamos a ver—we will see.
A robusto in the Trinidad family, measuring 50 ring gauge by 4 7/8 inches, will be a welcome addition as well. Read more
Tobacco Road TripPosted: 02:52 PM ET, February 03, 2009 I drove out to Pinar del Río yesterday with a couple of Cuban friends, including the great ballet dancer Carlos Acosta. We drove an old and battered Kia four-wheel drive down the main autopista from Havana to the town of Pinar del Río and then to near the village of San Luis. The latter is the Holy Grail, as you know, for wrapper tobacco, or la capa.
I was surprised there weren’t more cars, trucks, or people on the road, not to mention horse drawn carriages, dogs and cows. The latter are particularly nasty on Cuban highways when you are driving about 60 or 70 miles per hour. They can do major damage to your auto as well as your body if you hit one. Luckily, we didn’t encounter many, although I was admittedly freaked out driving back in the night when we could barely see road out the windshield.
The few people on the road were holding pesos in their hands, waving them in the air, and hoping to buy a ride. I felt sort of guilty not picking up a few. And they always gave this surprised look as if we should have given them a ride or that we knew them or something. I hate that!
Anyway, after about 2 1/2 hours of driving, we arrived in time for a quick lunch with Alejandro Robania and his grandson Hiroshi. The latter is running the tobacco plantation for his family. And he is doing a hell of a good job. Tobacco traditions are alive and well in Cuba, as Hiroshi has well illustrated.
Hiroshi Robaina with a healthy tobacco plant in San Luis, Cuba.
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I was blown away by the quality of both the filler and wrapper tobacco being grown this year. Read more
America’s Insatiable Taste for Cuban CigarsPosted: 09:55 AM ET, February 02, 2009 We smoke a lot more Cuban cigars than you think we do. For years, I have been telling people – including CNN and other news organizations in interviews– that Americans illegally buy about 8 million to 10 million Cuban sticks a year. But I am way off.
Sources at Habanos S.A., the global distribution and marketing company for Cuban cigars, say that the official number they use internally is double my estimates. Yes—Habanos officially estimates that Americans account for 20 million of the total 150 million cigars the Cubans export each year.
But the shocker is that some of the top people in Habanos believe that the real figure these days could be as high as 50 million cigars. Or, to put it another way, one out of three Cuban cigars sold each year might be bought by Americans.
A heavy hitter in Habanos told me that they he spoke to top cigar shops in key cities in Spain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, Great Britain and others around the world and most reported that between 20 and 50 percent of their sales went to Americans. They visited the shop, telephoned or faxed their order, or used the Internet to get their cigars.
This whole conversation started when I asked him “what market do you see the biggest growth potential in this gloomy economic situation?”
“The United States,” he said with a big smile on his face.
I almost fell out of my chair at lunch. We were each smoking a Montecristo Maravilla, which was part of the Colección Habanos series in 2006. The cigar was phenomenal. It showed wonderful aromas of cedar, nuts, and cappuccino that followed through to a fresh and rich palate that increased in intensity with each puff. It was so Montecristo with the cedar and creamy character. This was a great smoke that I scored 95 points, non blind.
In between puffs, my friend gave an example of how Americans can affect the sales of a market when things go wrong. Read more
When Is It Too Many in La Habana?Posted: 03:05 PM ET, January 30, 2009 How many cigars are too many in a day in Havana? My girlfriend asked me not to smoke too many while I was in Cuba. Also, she was worried I might drink too much in the island’s fair capital!
I only smoked three cigars yesterday. Come on. Is that really too many? I could have smoked all day! I had no rums either. I might even email my mother and tell her my accomplishment.
Perfect lunch: Beans and rice rest with a smoke.
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I had a Romeo y Julieta Exhibición No. 4 for lunch. I smoked it while eating the classic Cuban cuisine at El Aljibe restaurant, including roasted chicken with the restaurant’s secret sauce, black beans and rice, boiled yucca, and salad. It was the perfect accompaniment with the cigar. I didn’t even have a beer or a mojito. I was very reasonable for a gringo in La Habana.
Just before dinner I smoked a Montecristo C Edición Limitada 2003 with some green tea and honey. What is better for you than tea and honey in the afternoon? The cigar was surprisingly mellow, too. It was a friendly smoke, just like getting a nice massage. It has aged wonderfully, delivering lightly roasted nut, café con leche and delicate earth aromas and flavors. Medium body. Fresh finish. 92 points, unblind. It’s really beautiful now.
Dinner was with some friends at Doctor Café, a small family-run restaurant that has great octopus and fish on the grill. I was joined by Carlos Acosta, the danseur of The Royal Ballet. He is an amazing dancer and a cool young guy. What an accomplishment to be part of The Royal Ballet, which is making an historical visit to Havana for 10 days in July. Read more
Good Morning from CubaPosted: 09:36 AM ET, January 29, 2009 I just woke up with my first cortadito, which may be the best espresso and warm milk made in the world. Forget your Starbucks or Coffee Bean. It is a very condensed, reduced espresso with rich, sweet milk. Italians would call it a macchiato, but it’s better than what I get in Italy.
My friend made it with Cuban coffee beans and long-life milk. The coffee brand is named Serrano. He has an Italian espresso machine and packed the ground coffee tight, made the espresso just right, and then added warm milk and white cane sugar. “If you like your coffee more bitter, then I won’t add the sugar,” he said.
He said that every area in Cuba has its own rendition of a cortadito. My Spanish is not perfect (I am starting lessons tomorrow to improve!) but he said that, for example, in Oriente the cortadito is more like filtered coffee with warm milk and sugar. “It much more suave (mellow) than the cortadito in Havana,” he said. Anyway, it was the right way to start the day in Havana.
My flight on Virgin yesterday was more than two hours delayed because the 747 had to be cleaned more thoroughly, according to the pilot. It was a nine-hour flight. Premium Economy was full of a travel group of people in their 60s or over. It was sort of weird with no young people on the flight. I started talking to the granny next to me, and telling her about Cuba and some of my experiences, and it reminded me of a flight from Milan on Lauda Air to the island about five or six years back.
I knew the president then, Andrea Molinari (he used to be in the cigar business, too), and he told the pilot of our 757 to take care of me on the flight to Havana. He did more than that! He asked me to come into the cockpit and sit in the jumpseat as they landed in Havana. It was AMAZING! We flew over the coast of the great city from the west and then banked to the left back into Jose Martí Airport approaching east. Read more
Credit Crunch on the Way to HavanaPosted: 12:13 PM ET, January 28, 2009 I am sitting in the Virgin Atlantic Lounge waiting for my flight to Havana. It’s already an hour late, and I guess it will be later. Travel to Cuba is always a calamity, which I will go into tomorrow following my flight. I have plenty of stories of amusing flights – which is a nice way of phrasing it. Some of you may remember my flight last year from Havana to Cancún on Cubana, the Cuban national carrier. I nearly had to change my underwear on that flight. Check out my old blog on that one.
Last night when I arrived in London from visiting my children in Yorkshire, I noticed that I left my credit cards at their mother’s house. Yes. I left all of my credit cards – the entire credit card holder. I was in a panic. I felt like I had left home without my trousers on or something — not that this has ever happened! I was freaked out to say the least.
When I arrived at the hotel at Gatwick, the woman at the reception desk asked me for my credit card that had been used to make the room booking. I politely said that I left it at home. I felt guilty in a strange way. “Well, you will have to pay cash then,” she said.
My credit is perfect, I thought to myself. I have no personal debt. I am not a subprime mortgage holder. Furthermore, I am not a former employee of Lehman Brothers, or any shifty hedge fund. What’s the problem?
“Can’t you just use the card on file?” I asked to the woman in Italian, since I noticed she had an Italian name.
She couldn’t help, even though she told me her life story in Italian and how she was from the center of Sicily. Chatting her up had no impact, so I tried logic.
“Why not just say that I didn’t show up and you can charge the room as a “no show” on my credit card on file and then you can give me the key,” I said. Read more
Off to Experience Cuba's Sweet Tobacco of ChangePosted: 11:02 AM ET, January 27, 2009 I am buying a few extra things today, like medicine and photo equipment, getting ready for an extended trip to Cuba. Simple things like vitamins or camera batteries can be hard to find on the island, even in the best of times. I leave tomorrow on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Havana. I am excited to get back to Cuba's capital. A lot has happened since I was last there in the autumn. We have a new president who has openly stated that he is going to change the U.S. policy towards Cuba, and the island is celebrating 50 years of its revolution. It's an important point in Cuba's history in many ways.
Just what will happen nobody knows, but I want to be on the island now to listen and to feel whats going down on the streets and in the fields. I want to smell the sweet tobacco of change. I want to experience the new, like the flavors of a freshly rolled robusto.
It seems that the U.S. policy for travel to Cuba will be relaxed in the not too distant future. I am sure that Cuban-Americans will be able to visit the island more often, as well as send more money to their relatives. The change in policy, which cut visits as well as monetary transfers to the island a few years ago, was cruel and unnecessary and achieved nothing but suffering on both sides of the Florida Straits. Whether any of you will finally be able to legally visit Cuba remains to be seen, but I think a very good possibility exists. Theres nothing more I would like to see then all of you on the island smoking a cigar, enjoying the ambiance of Havana, and making new Cuban friends. Thats the way it should be. And thats the way our two countries will grow closer together.
As for the revolution, the triumphs and disappointments are more than evident after the island's bold, half-century experiment in socialism. The most obvious is the good education and health care for all, but the rest is less apparent. Changes are badly needed on the island, just like the millions of tons of fresh cement and paint to renovate the thousands of facades of crumbling Spanish colonial buildings in the center of Havana. Read more
Winter's DilemmaPosted: 10:39 AM ET, January 05, 2009 Happy New Year. I have been spending a little over a week in Southern California and I have not had a cigar the whole time. I am Jonesing for one now. The problem is the environment. I have been staying with my parents in Palm Springs and Carlsbad, and there is no smoking allowed there— never was! And the weather has been so cold (for Southern California mind you!) that it has not been conducive to outdoor smoking, either.
I don't know how you all enjoy a good cigar during the bad weather months. I see pictures of people out on their terraces smoking in the snow or others in their backyards puffing away under gas heaters. I have to give all of you forlorn cigar lovers the highest kudos. You are men. True men.
But, honestly, it's not the right place to smoke a cigar in subzero weather, or in the wind blown garden of a man's castle. You will never get the true enjoyment of a fine cigar in such an environment. I just wouldn't bother. But I understand your persistence and your heroism.
There are exceptions for myself. I remember last year at a dinner with my two brothers in Oceanside at the beach and we all went up to the rooftop terrace of his apartment and froze and smoked together. It made us feel closer together, like a fine cigar does on a cold night. But it was a pretty unpleasant experience as far as cigar smoking goes. I couldn't taste a thing.
I don't have an answer for improving this dilemma. It's something we have to suffer through each year when the weather changes for the worse. I am happy that I can smoke in my house in Italy. I wish I could invite you there for a smoke. I no longer have a wife and my two dogs are used to the smoke. What could they say anyways? And they are not judgmental, like my ex-wife. They like me even if I have drunk too much or have fallen asleep on the couch or invited loud and drunken friends over for a nightcap, but that's another column.
Enjoying a great cigar during the winter can really be a bummer. Read more
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