Rip’s Journey to Cuba

I have been thinking how to organize and start this thread. Finally, I decided to start whatever came to my mind. I am starting this with some of the Cuban cigars I brought during my trip. I will add more information step by step.

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beatnic

Rip, I start to drool whenever I see a new post by you. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us.

rzaman

I appreciate your kind comments Rick. I will share lot more information to this thread. This time my trip was very different and I have collected a lot of information about cigars and the culture of Cuba. I hope you are doing well. Thanks!

beatnic:
Rip, I start to drool whenever I see a new post by you. Thank you for sharing your adventures with us.

rzaman

During my recent trip to Cuba, my goal was not to buy any regular Cuban cigars rather than, Humidor, paintings, special releases, limited edition or the regular cigars I really enjoy smoking. My other goal was to collect custom rolled cigars. Now a days custom rolled Cuban cigars also produces some regular line for the tourists, overseas sells and the regular visitors. Again, I asked help from my friend who is one of the Director of Casa del Habano. I wanted to have the aged and top quality custom rolled cigars. I met La China from Partagas, Yolanda Gonzalez from Melia Cohiba Hotel casa del habano store, Hamlet Jamie Paredes from CDH now with Partagas, Monsdale, Jose Luis Perez Mingollo from Cohiba factory, Jorge Lopez Leal from CDH La Habano Diplomatic Club. This time, I spent two days just to spend some time with them, smoke cigars with Q&A session. I also wanted them to share their top line aged custom rolled cigars not the commercial line. Thanks to my CDH friend who made it possible. I also got Don Alejandro Robina’s personal smokes from his grandson Hiroshi Robina. It was really fun to visit Robina’s farm in the Pinar del Rio again.

I will post a different thread with custom rolled cigar and it’s different grade and quality some other time. I will also post my custom rolled cigars pictures to that thread. Here are some pictures of the cigars I collected during my recent trip to Cuba. I also received a special gift- a full box of H. Upman Sir Winston from 2001. This was a gift from the same gentleman who gave me the Cuban made Davidoff Chateau Lafite from 1969 during my last trip. Other rare collection was Montecristo XV Club Habana version. Only few boxes were rolled with long aged tobacco for Club Havana Diplomatic Club CDH store for the members only. How can I leave such a gems? I collected it through a member of the club since I was not a member. Other special releases are from Partagas 20th Anniversario though they are PSP2 or PSD4. In reality they are different blends with long aged tobaccos. I will post detail when I review these cigars. Other collection is special San Cristobal de La Habana XV Havana Cigar festival release. This cigar immediately caught my attention with its super smooth extreme complex flavors and aroma. So far this is the best San Cristrobal I have ever smoked. I bought three leather bags because I know they will disappear very quickly. Overall, another successful and memorable trip to Cuba.

The Kid

Amazingly awesome

dennisking

I enjoy all the effort you put in to sharing your passion with us. Thank you very much. You picked up some really beatiful pieces this trip. Question, does the San Cristobal XV stand for Extra Vigoroso or is it a Roman numeral?

The Kid

dennisking:
I enjoy all the effort you put in to sharing your passion with us. Thank you very much. You picked up some really beatiful pieces this trip. Question, does the San Cristobal XV stand for Extra Vigoroso or is it a Roman numeral?

Dennis, I would go with a roman numeral,, its also on the Montecristo's as well.. I would assume from that, that these are some "anniversary" cigars, which may be "Aged".. ,, Awaiting to hear what Rip has to say about it.

bbass2

Thanks for sharing Rip. Those leather cases are really unique!

curtpick

Been watching this Rip ! Great write up !

AVJim

Rip.......thank you so very much for sharing! Unfortunately, this is a dream for many of us that will never come to fruition and appreciate your generosity in sharing these memories! I can't wait to see more pictures and commentary on your adventure! Always a pleasure! Again, thank you!

Man, what it would be like to sit down with an exquisite cigar and a glass of that fine hooch to pour over your photo album!

rzaman

Thanks Dennis. The San Cristobal XV is the Roman numeral. The last Havana Cigar Festival was XVth one.

dennisking:
I enjoy all the effort you put in to sharing your passion with us. Thank you very much. You picked up some really beatiful pieces this trip. Question, does the San Cristobal XV stand for Extra Vigoroso or is it a Roman numeral?

rzaman

Hi Rudy, the San Cristobal is the Roman numeral for XVth Havana Cigar Festival. San Cristobal released them only for the XV cigar events. These cigars are completely different blend than regular SCDLH cigars. In my opinion, they are the best San Cristobal cigars. The Montecristo's XV is a special and very limited release for the members of exclusive Club Habana only. La Casa del Habano opened their store inside Club Habana 15 years ago. To celebrate their 15 years of business they specially rolled these cigars for the club members. These cigars were rolled by Jose Luis Perez Mingollo of Cohiba factory

Here is a little information about Club Habana from Lonley planet:

This fabulously eclectic mansion in Flores dating from 1928 once housed the Havana Biltmore Yacht & Country Club. In the 1950s the establishment gained brief notoriety when it famously denied entry to Cuban president Fulgencio Batista on the grounds that he was ‘black’ (Batista was in fact of mixed blood with a black mother and a part-Chinese father). Castro had better luck when he dropped by for dinner some 30 years later and the club remains one of the few places where he has dined in public. These days the history of the establishment seems to have swung full circle and it is again a popular hangout for foreign correspondents and diplomats. The club has its own beach, swimming pool, tennis courts, bar, boutiques and health club. Here are some pictures of the Colonial Club Habana and the casa del Habano store.
The Kid: dennisking:I enjoy all the effort you put in to sharing your passion with us. Thank you very much. You picked up some really beatiful pieces this trip. Question, does the San Cristobal XV stand for Extra Vigoroso or is it a Roman numeral?Dennis, I would go with a roman numeral,, its also on the Montecristo's as well.. I would assume from that, that these are some "anniversary" cigars, which may be "Aged".. ,, Awaiting to hear what Rip has to say about it.

rzaman

Thanks Ben. The leather cases are unique as well as the cigars.

bbass2:
Thanks for sharing Rip. Those leather cases are really unique!

rzaman

Thanks Curt...I appreciate your kind words.

curtpick:
Been watching this Rip ! Great write up !

rzaman

Thanks Jim. Many more stories and pictures will be posted here. I appreciate your kind words. I want to go back to Cuba again. I love this country.

AVJim:
Rip.......thank you so very much for sharing! Unfortunately, this is a dream for many of us that will never come to fruition and appreciate your generosity in sharing these memories! I can't wait to see more pictures and commentary on your adventure! Always a pleasure! Again, thank you!

Man, what it would be like to sit down with an exquisite cigar and a glass of that fine hooch to pour over your photo album!

rzaman

When I saw this Cuban painting, I fell in love immediately. The face has an arrogant expression but at the same time it represents the true beauty of a Cuban woman. I asked the painter what is meaning of the fish on her head. The artist refused to disclose the meaning. Well that's how the artists are. Actually, I bought this painting during my first trip. I don't know why I fell in love immediately with the painting.

danielzreyes

rzaman:
When I saw this Cuban painting, I fell in love immediately. The face has an arrogant expression but at the same time it represents the true beauty of a Cuban woman. I asked the painter what is meaning of the fish on her head. The artist refused to disclose the meaning. Well that's how the artists are. Actually, I bought this painting during my first trip. I don't know why I fell in love immediately with the painting.

A mermaid with a Dali twist.

rzaman

During my first trip to Cuba, I missed this restaurant-La Cocina de Lilliam . I was too busy with cigar related matter. However, during my second tour, I had more time to explore the country and its culture. Many culinary institutes and figures debate over the quality of food in Cocina de Lilliam vs La Guarida restaurant in Havana, Cuba. La Gurida is more popular because of all the famous celebrities who visit this restaurant. Recently U.S. singer Beyonce, and her famous husband Jay-Z visited La Guarida restaurant in Havana, Cuba. Both are exclusive restaurants in terms or quality of foods. However, I have visited both and will recommend La Cocina de Lilliam over La Guarida in terms of quality of food and most importantly customer service. Both require advance reservation. However, there is no touch of friendliness in La Guardia. They also just want you to eat and leave. On the other hand, Lilliam is more quiet, surrounded by tropical garden and the customer service is excellent. This is a place where you can enjoy a fine vintage wine and spend as long as you want. Good vintage wines are always pricy but in Cuba the price is triple since wine considered as a luxury goods. As you know that I not only enjoy fine cigars but also fine food and drinks. I love this restaurant so much that I went there twice during my short trip. Everything is good here and they know how to make sea food-specially the huge lobsters.

Please allow me to present a glimpse of La Cocina de Lilliam restaurant in Havana, Cuba. Next time I will write about La Guarida restaurant.

One of Havana´s few family-owned restaurants, La Cocina de Lilliam, is a culinary gem and a true reflection of his owner Lilliam Dominguez Palenzuela´s lifelong passions. Exquisitely composed and pleasantly presented, each recipe has been honed, tested and retested until perfection. She began cooking as a teenager, learning from her mother and a neighbor who shared her kitchen and culinary knowledge.

Fifteen years ago, the Cuban government allowed, for the first time, the opening of small private businesses and Lilliam took the opportunity to leave her then-career as fashion designer and open her own restaurant, bringing with her an eye for detail and visual appeal. Today she happily cooks alongside her daughter Cleo and brother Carlos, while her sons and her husband helps keep the restaurant running smoothly.

Every visit is a new experience, as Lilliam continuously changes the menu, furnishings, plants and atmosphere to meet her evolving vision of perfection.[Source: La Cocina de Lilliam site]

And of course I had a fine and vintage custom made cigar rolled by China after the great meal.

big chunks

rzaman:

During my first trip to Cuba, I missed this restaurant-La Cocina de Lilliam . I was too busy with cigar related matter. However, during my second tour, I had more time to explore the country and its culture. Many culinary institutes and figures debate over the quality of food in Cocina de Lilliam vs La Guarida restaurant in Havana, Cuba. La Gurida is more popular because of all the famous celebrities who visit this restaurant. Recently U.S. singer Beyonce, and her famous husband Jay-Z visited La Guarida restaurant in Havana, Cuba. Both are exclusive restaurants in terms or quality of foods. However, I have visited both and will recommend La Cocina de Lilliam over La Guarida in terms of quality of food and most importantly customer service. Both require advance reservation. However, there is no touch of friendliness in La Guardia. They also just want you to eat and leave. On the other hand, Lilliam is more quiet, surrounded by tropical garden and the customer service is excellent. This is a place where you can enjoy a fine vintage wine and spend as long as you want. Good vintage wines are always pricy but in Cuba the price is triple since wine considered as a luxury goods. As you know that I not only enjoy fine cigars but also fine food and drinks. I love this restaurant so much that I went there twice during my short trip. Everything is good here and they know how to make sea food-specially the huge lobsters.

Please allow me to present a glimpse of La Cocina de Lilliam restaurant in Havana, Cuba. Next time I will write about La Guarida restaurant.

One of Havana´s few family-owned restaurants, La Cocina de Lilliam, is a culinary gem and a true reflection of his owner Lilliam Dominguez Palenzuela´s lifelong passions. Exquisitely composed and pleasantly presented, each recipe has been honed, tested and retested until perfection. She began cooking as a teenager, learning from her mother and a neighbor who shared her kitchen and culinary knowledge.

Fifteen years ago, the Cuban government allowed, for the first time, the opening of small private businesses and Lilliam took the opportunity to leave her then-career as fashion designer and open her own restaurant, bringing with her an eye for detail and visual appeal. Today she happily cooks alongside her daughter Cleo and brother Carlos, while her sons and her husband helps keep the restaurant running smoothly.

Every visit is a new experience, as Lilliam continuously changes the menu, furnishings, plants and atmosphere to meet her evolving vision of perfection.[Source: La Cocina de Lilliam site]

And of course I had a fine and vintage custom made cigar rolled by China after the great meal.

As always your pictures look amazing Rip I'm glad you enjoyed yourself

rzaman

*****I dedicate this thread to my late friend Rick aka Beatnic who always enjoyed and encouraged me to write more about my overseas trip. I miss you Rick.*****

My intention is to write up my personal observation and experienced about Cuban custom roll cigars today. However, I am using some information from one of my previous post to provide an overall idea about the cigar market in Cuba.

Street vendors: Practically in every tourist spots, people offer Habanos but they are fakes. Sometime they offer foreigners to take to Paratagas, H. Upman and other factories for a visit but in reality they take the tourists to a different building just next to the original factories. Sometime these factories are not small and looks real. However, the price is 50% less than the original. I smoked some of them; some are good but of course not as good as true Habanos. These street sellers are very aggressive. They come with fake bands and sometime with original band.

Black market: There is a black market for Cuban puros in Havana and I am not going to mention the name. One individual is very well known to the foreigners. He indeed, sells band less original, even Behike. He offers them in bundle. Original Cohiba Behike, a bundle of ten costs US$150 to $250 or more. I did not buy any because I never break the local rules. However, it can offer great value to some smokers.

I would like to explain a little more about this market. As I mentioned to my earlier post that Cuban average salary is $25-35. It is very difficult for many citizens to full fill their daily needs. As a result, people who work for different factories they exchange their goods with something else to maximize their needs. The people who work in the Cuban cigar factories, sometime they also receive cigars for personal consumption. They sell them to this individual and also pass additional cigars to the market. Please don’t ask me how. Many tourists especially the Canadian and the Europeans find this place as a great deal. I have to say though many of them are little off colored and different in sizes. I would say 40% are perfect and 60% are factory second. However, I do not believe that the factory handout Behike to the labor for personal consumption. One legitimate source informed me that 50% Behike cigars are real and 50% are fakes at this market. The problem is to detect the original vs. fake one because they all come without bands. The fake Behike cigars are also very well made with good tobaccos.

I also discovered a black market in Pinar del Rio. When I was in San Juan tobacco growing area (part of Pinar del Rio) couple of tobacco farmers and rollers informed me that not all Habanos are rolled in Havana. They also role some locally and send them to Havana for cutting and packaging. They showed me different sizes of Cohiba Siglo VI and offered US$5 apiece. They are excellent smoke but again fake. I couldn’t verify this information and still believe that true Habanos are rolled in Havana. Here is a picture:

During my second trip in Cuba, my goal was not to buy any regular Cuban cigars rather than collect genuine and top quality custom rolled cigars. I collected authentic custom rolled cigars from La China from Partagas, Yolanda Gonzalez from Melia Cohiba Hotel, Hamlet Jamie Paredes from CDH now with Partagas, Monsdale, Jose Luis Perez Mingollo from Cohiba factory, Jorge Lopez Leal from CDH La Habano Diplomatic Club and also from Hiroshi Robina.

Top quality custom rolled cigars depend on the authenticity and the quality of tobaccos. 85% custom rolled cigars are fake even in Cuba. This statement came from my friend who is one of the Director of casa del Habano. During my second trip to Cuba he took me to some of these factories. They are literally next to Partagas, H Upman and other major factories. He also told me that even the famous rollers make many custom rolled cigars with poor quality tobacco since it is an extra income for them and the demand is high. Most of these custom rolled cigars are rolled close to the entrance of every licensed Casa del Habano stores. However, my personal experience and my source from CdH told me that the top quality custom rolled cigars are never for display. They are always resting somewhere behind the stores and the somewhere in the factory. According to my source 85% custom roll cigars are fake and commercial goods. The Habano quality tobaccos are rare and only given to very few rollers. However, some tobaccos are also stolen from the factories. Some of the high quality tobaccos are also set aside for Grand reserve line and for special release cigars though they come with exgisiting name with an additional band to differentiate from the regular line.

The ways to get the top quality custom rolled cigars are via direct connection with Cuban cigar industry people. These cigars are unique in taste and appearance. The wrappers are deep coppery color, slightly thicker and silky smooth. They burn perfectly until the end. They are also very expensive. In a nutshell, Cuba does not have enough tobacco to make top quality custom rolled cigars. The collectors have their legitimate sources and practically blindly trust their sources. However, my personal opinion is- it is not that difficult to distinguish them from the first puff- yes they are that good.

Most of my custom rolled cigars have been collected during my trips in Cuba. I always bought them via my CdH source and some came as a gift from a cigar aficionado who is a very experienced smoker, work and live there. Usually they do not sell this grade more than bundle of 5-10, rarely bundle of 25. There is a niece market for this grade and the rollers understand that there is no rush to sell them. I discover this niece market cigar accidentally while I was invited to a Embassy party. I was given one to smoke and my mind blew away from the first puff. These cigars feel very cold in hand, dark coopery color, super smooth and releases a lot of dry fruits, bean and earthy aroma before light up the cigar. I asked the host about the source. He refused to reveal but was kind enough to offer a second one. That’s all I needed lol…I took it to my CdH source and smiled and said “are you willing to break your bank account?” Luckily my trip to Cuba was legally authorized with license from the Department of Treasury. As a result I was able to transfer a good amount to pay for these gems. They still offer 50 years aged custom rolled cigar but in my opinion they are good to smoke within 10-15 years. Lately I’ve come to the conclusion that cigars should be smoke within first 10-15 years. It is still interesting to smoke but beyond 15 years the cigars start losing its aroma and many delicate mild flavors. I do not believe in super aged, dusty cigar anymore. I understand my statement can cause a debate but my observation is coming from my personal research, aging and smoking experience. Aged cigars are sold with hefty price in Europe and Asia but one of the reasons is also the culture. These cultures have long history and they find a sentimental value anything with age. It is also part of the self-actualization. I am not going to break my bank for hyper marketing. I will leave this topic for another day.

I don’t think I will buy custom rolled cigars via any other sources. The price is so high that I wouldn’t trust anyone rather than verify by myself.

jliu

awesome post again and again Rip. Thank you for sharing! Rick would have loved that post.

Rain

Rip is my Robert Jordan of cigars. Him and Dustin are two guys that can make you feel like you're part of the review/story. Thanks Rip!

bearb

Hmmm! Given that i can travel to this magical island without issue...i dont need a reminder as to whom to contact for details when i finally get around to it! Thanks again for sharing your travels with us Rip.

Martel

As always, great. Beautiful.

danielzreyes

Good stuff Rip.

catfishbluezz

I'm just curious, if someone was traveling back to the states from the island, could you bring back unbanded cigars and claim them as NC product? I am curious, as Seth and I plan on making a visit for our show/site possibly next year. It would be amazingly hard not to try lol.

Darktower007

Rip, The place you went things you saw, and the array of amazing smokes you got are things of dreams. I have only smoked one Cuban in my life, it was a birthday gift. Probably fake, but the forbidden fruit was magical None the less. Thank you for sharing.

Rain

catfishbluezz:
I'm just curious, if someone was traveling back to the states from the island, could you bring back unbanded cigars and claim them as NC product? I am curious, as Seth and I plan on making a visit for our show/site possibly next year. It would be amazingly hard not to try lol.

I've heard that you almost have to prove that they are NOT isoms....one of those guilty until proven innocent deals. Understandably so, I guess.