By Alexander Britell

While Cuban cigars are renowned the world over for their quality and their history, the process of how Cuban cigars are made – and just what they mean to the Cuban people – have remained largely unexplored, particularly in film. But thanks to the efforts of James Suckling – one of the world’s leading experts on cigars (and wine), viewers of his new film, Cigars: The Heart & Soul of Cuba, get a unique glimpse into the culture and production of habanos. Suckling, the former European Editor at Cigar Aficionado and now the pioneer of a new media venture, JamesSuckling.com, that provides cutting-edge analysis of wine and cigars, guides the film, which was written and directed by noted Canadian director James Orr. To learn more, Caribbean Journal talked to Suckling about Cuban cigars, their importance to the Cuban people and what makes them one of the most sought-after products in the world.

What motivated you to make Cigars: The Heart and Soul of Cuba?

I always wanted to do a movie on Cuban cigars, because I’ve been going [to Cuba] since the early 1990s as the European Editor of Cigar Aficionado. So when I left the magazine, one of the main reasons was that I wanted to do this movie on Cuban cigars.

What was the process like making the film?

The process was actually a lot easier than one might expect. I know the subject very well, after writing about Cuban cigars for almost two decades, and then I was working with my friend, director James Orr [Sister Act; Three Men and a Baby], who is a very accomplished Canadian film director, and he smokes cigars, and he’s one of my best friends. So we didn’t really have a script. It was all done spontaneously, and it went really well. We had a local film crew, and worked with an English guy who has a travel business there, so he also helped in the production. It was a really fun project, with friends, and it came out really well.

What do cigars mean for Cuba?

I think it’s almost like a religion for Cubans. They have such pride in cigars, and the tradition, the process, it’s part of their culture, so it’s sort of like when you think of wine, with Frenchmen, or pasta with an Italian.

You’ve been traveling to the country for some time now – what does Cuba mean for you?

There’s something mysterious about Cuba. The people are educated, the histories are amazing – going back to Columbus, and everything is just so beautiful with the colonial architecture. It’s like going back in time.

Did you learn anything in making the film that you didn’t expect?

Because when we filmed it, we didn’t really have a script, in an interesting way, we didn’t know completely what we had. We went though the process of cigars, but it was really a journey to find out why Cuban cigars are the best in the world, why they are so exceptional. In the end, after five days of doing the film, it was really my sort of journey, into finding out why. Obviously the things are the soil, the climate, the processes, the history – all of this accounts for the greatness of Cuban cigars. But in the end, what we realized was that it was the people, the Cuban people, that make it with such passion and love.

How do cigars impact other facets of Cuban life?

I don’t think it impacts it much at all – other than that it’s an accepted pleasure and pastime in Cuban life. It’s also used in their Afro-Caribbean religion, Santeria, but it’s just something that a Cuban enjoys – like a good glass of rum – it’s just sort of part of life.

How much has the quality of Cuban cigars changed over the years?

From about when I started going there in the early 90s, the quality was amazing. Production was pretty small. And then, by around 1998, they started over-producing, and the quality went down until about 2001. Then they started really focusing on quality, and fine-tuning some of the process. Now, I think the quality is back up to where it should be.

What do you see going forward for Cuban cigars vis-à-vis the United States?

Well, if the embargo were dropped, they might be able to sell their entire production. Right now, estimates are that they export about 80 million to 100 million cigars a year, and maybe as much as a third of that goes to the US anyway – whether it’s Americans traveling, buying them, or them being smuggled in. America is probably now the biggest consumer of Cuban cigars.

What do you ultimately want people to take away from this film?

I hope that the film can give people the feeling of how Cubans are, and how Cubans are very much like all of us, with the same aspirations and feelings, that this sort of forgotten island for many people actually has much more in common with us than we may think. I think the biggest thing is, when people see the movie, they can ‘t believe how much work goes into the production of Cuban cigars – from growing the tobacco – where the tobacco may have been handled over a hundred times through making the cigar, and can go through 200 processes. So it’s really interesting – I had no idea about how much went into making the cigar, and in a way I can’t believe how inexpensive they are. I think what I liked, too, about the movie is that by seeing the process, seeing the people behind it, you really get an idea that, in this age of internet and Twitter and Facebook, that there are still products like Cuban cigars that are really hand made, that are artisanal products, and I think this is really important.

Today I was fortunate enough to find a wonderful post on a cigar forum site, www.friendsofhabanos.com, where not only have I participated online but met members in person several times at a herf, or gathering to smoke fine cigars. This post tells of the delicious pairing of salty foods and cigars. The author was kind enough to allow me to post it here. Enjoy!

I am currently teaching at The College, first year. Unlike now, where neophytes take their courses based on their area of expertise, all first years took Foundation Studies: 2-d Design, 3-d Design, Colour Theory, Drawing, Symbol, a couple of others I cannot remember. This was over thirty yeas ago!

Two Dimensional design consisted of creating a series of acrylic canvases for an older fellow named James Cridland who had little patience for students who did not understand his humour but was a very nice man. He had a huge farm of dairy cows north of the city and came in several days of the week to train us.

Move ahead thirty years… I have become a successful graphic designer, illustrator, account director, wife and mom, and somewhat of a vintage art collector. We enter the BUNGALOW shop in Toronto’s Kensington Market and find this lovely painting on the wall, marked 1960′s graphic whatever.

NO NO NO I say, that’s from my class, Jim Cridland, OCA, 2-D design, 1979-ish. Matthew says, “You have to be kidding”. The owner pulls it down from the wall, and not only am I right, but I even know the artist, none other than Kim Yakota, who I worked with for years.

This is the painting. That is me in the class. These are the markings on the back, and that is the logo of the Art College way back when. The painting graces our dining room wall and we were thrilled to purchase it for $200.

Here in the province of Ontario, Canada, we take them so seriously that I dared to attempt to bake some and take them to a dinner party. I worked at it for 2 days. And I lied about making them until a positive reponse came through so I could blame it on someone else if they sucked.

Well turns out they did NOT suck and so I thought I would share the experience and recipe with you!

LISA’S BUTTER TART RECIPE

Filling:

• 1/2 cup room temperature butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• a few drops of lemon juice

In a medium bowl cream together all of the filling ingredients until smooth.

Pastry:

• ice cubes
• water
• 2 1/2 cups (625 mL) all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp (5 mL) salt
• 1 cup (250 mL) cold lard or shortening (8 oz/250 g)
• 1 tsp (5 mL) white vinegar or lemon juice
• 1 egg, beaten

Pastry:
Place three ice cubes in a measuring cup and add enough water to cover. Set aside.

In a bowl with a spatula and a pastry cutter [or in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade], combine the flour and salt. Blend well. Cut the cold lard into cubes and add to the flour. Cut in the lard just until the mixture resembles large flake oatmeal.

In a glass measuring cup, whisk the vinegar and the egg. Add enough of the reserved ice water to make 1/2 cup (125 mL). With the motor of the food processor running or while stirring vigorously, pour in the egg mixture. Blend until the mixture forms a ball.

Turn the dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. If necessary, knead to make a smooth ball. Press into a disk and wrap tightly. Refrigerate for 45 minutes. Roll out dough to 1/4-inch thickness adding extra flour to prevent sticking. Cut to fit 5 oz (125 mL) muffin tins using a 6-inch (18-cm) cutter (or smaller if you want to make more tarts). Refrigerate until ready to fill. We filled them 3/4 full.

Bake 375 for 17-19 minutes

Carlito Fuente of Arturo Fuente Cigars initially intended the summer crop only as a setting for Garcia’s movie, The Lost City, in 2004. Veteran actor and director Garcia, though, had other ideas. “When we finished shooting the scene, I asked Carlito what he was going to do with the tobacco,” Garcia recalled. “He said if the tobacco was good he’d use it. I suggested using it to make cigars with the logo from The Lost City, and that the project would benefit his foundation” — the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, which provides education and health services to communities in the Dominican Republic. After five years of careful aging, the summer-grown tobacco turned out to be superb: a leaf exhibiting all the celebrated complexity of the original Fuente Fuente OpusX wrapper, but with a unique character all its own. The medium-to-full body, and complex and sophisticated flavors of the summer-grown wrapper make Fuente Fuente OpusX The Lost City a distinctive experience for any cigar connoisseurs, no matter what their taste or preference.

The Lost City portrays the passions and conflicts of a Cuban family torn apart by the revolution. Garcia plays club owner Fico Fellove, who faces intense pressure both from politicians who are pulling his country apart and from mobsters who want to muscle in on his business. In the movie’s most poignant scene, Fico’s brother Ricardo—who has become a high-ranking official in the new Castro regime—visits their uncle Donoso at his farm to inform him that Fidel’s regime will confiscate his tobacco farm. Donoso, who could not control his disappointment and anger with Ricardo, has a heart attack and dies at his own farm, and Ricardo, overcome by grief, commits suicide shortly afterward.

To further emphasize the Fuentes’ position on the store’s purpose, the Fuente family opted not to be financial partners in the venture. The store is a straightforward licensing deal, structured as a partnership between the Freys and Levin, who pay an annual royalty fee directly to The Cigar Family Charitable Foundation.

A sub branded and even rarer cigar in this line is the Opus X Forbidden Lost City. I, ahem, just happen to have smoked one of these tonight so I thought I would share it with distinguished readers. Enjoy!

Here is a review of one… and you will love the name!

Here are some of my favorites.

From top left:

Aroma De Cuba, Nicaragua; Zino “Chubby”, Dominican; Cohiba Behike (pronounced BeHeeKay), Cuba; Opus X, Dominican; La Aurora 107, Dominican; La Aurora Preferido Cameroon, Dominican; Bolivar 1895 (non-Cuban), Domincan; AveMaria, Nicaragua; AVO, Dominican; Davidoff Moduro, Dominican.

Why so few Cuban entries you may ask? For this posting, they just did not have the artful labels.

Cigars and coffee have been matched together as long as they have been making cigars and growing coffee beens. The rich taste of the cigar matched with a succulent cup of coffee starts the day for many as well as anytime of the day. One of the hottest brands out today is Rocket Fuel Coffee, owned by Lisa Rotenburg, and has a variety of coffees to fit every taste. Lisa took a moment recently to sit a chat with GCPuffs.



G.C. Thanks Lisa for taking time for us,how did you start in the coffee world?

L.R. As an illustrator and graphic designer, I was looking for a business I could run from home that would make use of my extensive portfolio of illustrations and paintings. I have been painting for about 15 years. Every painting is recorded as a high resolution scan and can be used as licensed property – cards, posters, you name it.  I saw a coffee company for sale but realized I did not have to buy anything I could start the site myself based on my experience as a graphic designer, a Power Seller on eBay and an entrepreneur. I found a supplier here in Toronto and went to CoffeeFest in Chicago to learn about the industry. My husband Matthew is a CEO and chartered accountant and fabulous mentor. We both happen to love coffee. The rest is pretty much learning as I have gone along and here three years later, we have http://www.rocketfuelcoffee.com/.

G.C. You often talk about cigars, how long have you enjoyed them?

L.R. About 4 years ago Matthew brought home a couple of cigars from a golf tournament. We tried them on our back porch and liked them but it was way too strong for me. We visited a shop near us and I tried a vanilla “thing” and we started being regular customers, moving into Cuban mild cigars, buying a small humidor. When I opened my coffee business, we became more interested in these premium topics such as Single Malt Scotch, cigars, and steaks.
Two years ago I became very active on coffee forums on the internet, even moderating one of them. I am very active on Facebook and Twitter, with literally thousands of contacts combined in these venues. Last year I figured it out that cigar folks might become coffee customers if I joined their forums. It is risky as they don’t much like a female in there too much – and I am the only one most of the time. But I am trying my best to hold my own and I am a good cigar customer on the
trade section so I think that is why they tolerate me.

G.C. How do you think the combination of cigars and coffee work as a pairing and is that something you try to promote as a cigar smoker?

L.R. Cigars and coffee are the perfect pairing and are part of what I call my “$25 theory”. This is before we even get to the perfect taste complement, which I will get to in a moment. Lisa’s $25 theory suggests that if you will spend $25 on a wonderful cigar (or 2), or a half pound of great coffee, a glass of single malt Scotch, a decent bottle of wine, delicious dessert for 2, a good rib eye steak… you get the idea where this list is going… you will buy the items interchangeably on the list. So to participate on these discussion forums or market to one will market to the other. So on my website it is very nice to list a coffee and cigar pairing. Everyone wins. And it is delicious!

G.C. With all your involved in with cigars and the coffee, what is it that you find gives you a get away from it, time to just relax?

L.R. It is with coffee and cigars that I do relax… at our log home in Feversham, north of Toronto.

G.C.What do you see for the future of your coffee?

L.R. We are working on a couple of very interesting projects right now where we are trying to sell larger volumes of Rocketfuelcoffee.com. One is getting involved on a Group Coupon site. We like the idea of roasting fresh Hawaiian Kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain Rocketfuelcoffee.com and putting together a one or two pound gift box and shipping it out to customers on these venues. A second project I have been exploring is called Raiserbean.It allows schools, churches, foundations or hospitals to use Rocketfuelcoffee.com for fundraising. They sell our amazing coffee and split the profit with us. We can even design custom labels for them. Of course the link with cigars is always on our mind!

G.C. You seem to really enjoy what you do. Is there ever a time it gets to be a little to much?

L.R. Interesting that you should ask that. This is not only a business for me. I am kind of obsessed about coffee, cigars and art. A good steak, a glass of single malt scotch and you have a great day for me. I can talk about these things forever. My husband has to shut me up. So it does not get to be too much for me. It is others that perhaps that I should be more worried about.

G.C. What’s next for you? Any new coffee coming out?

L.R. Right now I am very active in the art tours in my community where that log home is located. My paintings sell very well and I love painting up there. The coffees sell well and I love sitting on our back deck smoking special cigars. Recently I discovered Casa Fuentes, but they are hard to get up here! Trading for coffee is a good way to get them. New coffee? Folks seem to like the best ones we have. New ones don’t do as well.

G.C. Again thanks Lisa.

L.R. You’re welcome!!

If you have not tried Rocketfuelcoffee.com, you’re missing out on some of the best gourmet coffee on the market. Check out the web site and try some. If you’re not sure about what type you may like, ask Lisa, she loves to help!
G.C.

And here I am with Jorge, the man himself:

My only comment about the cigars, which lit beautifully, smoked evenly and tasted of caramel, coffee and sweetness, is they were slightly bitter. I think that is because they were straight off the rolling table. I bought several (at $15-20 per, how could I not??) and will store them in my humidor for 6 months to a year and revisit and report.

“Cigar pictures Copyright ©2011 by Andrew Welch, used with permission”

An inside look at the cuban counterfeit trade

Rod Steele. Ajaxcigars.com 13/05/2002

Victoria (Canada).- Cuba’s present economic hardship has its people searching endless new ways of making money. In the old days when counterfeiting existed on a very small scale, it was considered merely a ‘gentleman’s offense’. Today however the Habanos counterfeiting business is in full bloom.
This article will take you from the acquiring of the raw tobacco to smoking in capitalism’s fine salons.

First meet Jose who used to live in Pinar del Rio on a Finca (farm) about 15 klicks from San Juan y Martinez. Mucho trabajo y poco dinero or ‘much work for no money’. Jose didn’t want anymore so he moved from the Vuelta Abajo to the ‘city of capitalism’ Havana. With an old Chevy pickup truck we head to Pinar del Rio to buy tobacco. After three hours we arrive in San Juan y Martinez.

Many Vegueros throughout Cuba hold back some tobacco for the black market, where they can get up to ten times the price paid by the state. First stop, nada. Now its off to San Luis, 20 minutes away. It is a poor region. Most of the Vegueros here own little plantations and anyone earning more than $100 per month is considered rich. The Vegueros leads us to his Casa del Tobaco. On the racks are thousands of leaves that look like hundreds of bats hanging around.

In one corner are bales of tobacco that have been wrapped in palm leaves. The tobacco is still light in color which means that the fermentation is not yet finished. Jose wants tobacco for 5000 cigars and talks with the Vegueros about price. The deal is set at filler for $2.50 per kilo and a sheaf of wrapper, which contains about 100 leaves for $4.00. Total cost $500.00 a small fortune in Pinar del Rio. Fully loaded we head back to Havana. Jose is sweating and is afraid of getting caught by the police. He hasn’t been in the business very long.

The tobacco is stored in Nuevo Vedado, a section of Havana where we meet Benito. He’s a car mechanic with his own shop – which hides other things. Jose’s tobacco will rest here for a few days before being distributed and processed further. He explains that this tobacco is reserved for an American (we’ll meet George later) living in the Bahamas who has ordered 50 boxes of Partagas Lusitanias, 50 Punch Double Corona, 50 Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas and 50 Cohiba Esplendidos. The American wants only the best quality and is willing to pay for it.

We spoke with another counterfeiter who buys his tobacco from some of the worst regions, where tobacco for cigarettes and other tobacco products are grown, and sold only for domestic consumption.

The tobacco

The leaves are small and the fermentation shorter. This is where the smaller counterfeit organizations buy their tobacco. Behind innumerable streets and corners where extremely poor people live, we wind our way through the dark passageways, staircases and doors of an old colonial place. Everything is worn and run down. Collapsed walls, a strong stench and begging children.

Its like a garbage dump. In a small room sits a young boy and an old woman who can barely walk. She receives a monthly government pension of $2.00, an amount impossible to survive on. She learned from a neighbor how to roll cigars. The boy and the lady are rolling ‘Churchill’ style – maybe a future Cohiba Esplendido, they don’t know. We test the quality of some of these cigars.

Poorly proportioned with both hard and weak spots. The cigars are not cut at the right length as this will be done later at the finishing workshops. The cigars are like the garbage dump, partly rotten and moldy. These people work day after day without a break.

One worker can make approximately 200 cigars per day. A man enters the room and requests unfinished cigars for 10 boxes of Cohiba’s. He is surprised by our presence but we persuade him to take us to the guy who makes the boxes. In the back yard of Eduardo’s house is a small workshop. In between half built chairs and cabinets are vast amounts of cigar boxes. One worker puts the boxes together. In a corner stands a hand press that imprints the brand labels on boxes.

Now, the stamps

The stamps are either stolen or counterfeited by specialists. ‘With furniture you can’t make money’ he complains. ‘The Cubans are too poor to buy such things.’ ‘We have to improvise but in this way the Cubans are world champions.’

The next day we visit a Cuban in Centro Habana. His workshop is his living room. Cigar bands, quality seals and other materials are everywhere. On one table are a lot of empty boxes. He puts the bands on the cigars and cuts them to length. He has them spread across the sofa in piles of ‘good quality’ and ‘bad quality’. When he packs them in the boxes he makes sure the poorest are on the bottom. He tells us that he doe not sell the cigars to the tourists – this is done by the Jineteros or street hustlers. He told that he spent a year in jail when he was caught by the police with 10 boxes of counterfeits. The next time would mean several years – so he leaves it up to the Jineteros. He puts the tax / seal stamp and Habanos label inside the box. He will attach the labels to the box only if the customer requests it.

The counterfeiting organizations work in small groups and co-operate closely with each other. Their methods are simple: at the doors and in the immediate area of the cigar stores and factories, stand the Jineteros offering reduced prices. From all sides, they try to persuade you not to buy in the shops. They always tell the same story – right from the counterfeiters manual.

They have a brother, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt or nephew who works in the factory and brings them out for them. If this were true then the entire production of the Partagas Factory would disappear on the black market – every day! Everything is the same, the brands and the sales pitch. The quality and the price however vary. The main counterfeit cigars are the larger sizes and bear well-known labels. The most fraudulent of all are the Cohiba and Montecristo. Other brands can be delivered as well, without delay.

“Cigar pictures Copyright ©2011 by Andrew Welch, used with permission”

A Cuban problem?

Now most would think that this is just an internal problem within Cuba. Well here is where it gets interesting. Every year thousand of tourists go to Cuba to buy the Falsificaciones. Many of them do it intentionally, like Dieter who is an aficionado from Stuttgart. Twice a year he flies to Cuba to buy cigars in the official shops. He buys ten boxes for his own enjoyment. Another 10 boxes he buys on the black market for $30 a piece. He in turns sells these in Germany at half the going market price. With his earnings from the sale of the black market cigars he finances his personal cigar purchases. The black market cigars must be sold quickly because they have not undergone disinfection like those in the factories. Therefore, within a short period of time the tobacco beetle is hard at work.

Hans, a Dutchman living in Cuba, tells us that, for the past three years, he has made his living from cigar smuggling. Five to six times a year he flies to Amsterdam with 100 boxes of counterfeits in his luggage. We ask him to tell explain to us how he takes such large amounts out of Cuba without detection. He says that he knows ‘people’ at the airport and pays them $10.00 per box -no questions asked. Then Hans offers us the opportunity to join him in business because, by the way, he is short of money. He shows us a business card and then laughs. It is a card from a well known cigar shop in Amsterdam with subsidiaries all over the Netherlands. Every time he goes to Amsterdam he claims he sells them all his cigars at Dfl 500 per box. ‘Its quick money’ he says.

Going to the US

George (he’s the guy that Jose bought all the tobacco for) lives in Tampa Florida but is a citizen of the Bahamas. He owns a yacht which he rents to tourists who want to go deep sea fishing. On one of his charter trips to Cuba several years ago, George got the idea to smuggle cigars when he saw his passengers bringing vast amounts with them. Soon after, he once again sailed to Cuba and contacted counterfeiters. At first he bought only a few, now George smuggles around 2000 boxes a year to the states.

The cigars are loaded into George’s yacht and in a flash the boat is cleared for departure and heads for the Bahamas. He remains there for a few days and then travels under the American flag to Miami.

In Miami a distributor pay $250 per box and the cigars leave Miami for fine cigar shops, restaurants, bar and clubs – from New York to Los Angeles. Tom and his buddy ordered 1000 cigars from a Torcedor (roller). He pays the Torcedor a $1000. ‘Good quality that we would smoke as well’ he says. Then a counterfeiter provides the bands for $60. They fly back to the US via the Dominican Republic. One has the cigars in his luggage the other has the bands in his. In the USA they declare the cigars as ‘Dominican Seconds’ and pay a small duty. Once back in Palm Springs they put the bands on the cigars and fill boxes that we keep on hand. They offer them under the table in their smoking lounge. ‘For one Cohiba Robusto we get $40. They sell like hot cakes’ he said.

In the state owned media, tightening the black market activities is constantly talked about. On the street, however, it’s a different story. On every corner, you are offered cigars. It seems each household is selling cigars. The police turn a blind eye. When we asked the police why nothing is being done to stop this – we are told that most of Havana would be in jail if action were taken.