The embargo is 98% of the allure for the US market.
I could grab any old five pack with no locale on the band and claim they were Cuban and all my nonsmoking friends would want, neigh, need one, "just to experience it". The huge prevalence of fakes also goes to reinforce this. We're not talking Gucci purses for $10 and Rolexes for $20. We are talking about a huge, predatory market that knows both the idolized status of the CC in history, as well as Americans' blind and senseless desire to break the embargo. There are guys selling tourists $300 glasstops of Cohibas anywhere in the Caribbean or Latin America right this very minute. A couple weeks later ole Jebb decides to celebrate by smoking a Cuban he snuck back from his vacation, and clips the end off his $20 cigar to find a condom wrapper and a grasshopper rolled up inside. Are they Cuban? Sure! Are they good? I mean...I guess you could try one if it'll burn...
Cuba makes everything from garbage to gold as far as cigars go. Get some from a reputable, proven (I assume?) dealer like ColdHardMetal and try them alongside top quality sticks from non-embargoed nations. I think you'll get my point. The locale imparts subtleties upon a cigar, but the blend and roller make the taste and the quality. I just smoked a Flor de Antillas robusto last night with more than two years of age on it that was just heavenly. It was made in Nicaragua by a tobacco family that bailed the fuck out of Cuba when the government absorbed the tobacco industry. Ended up getting Aficionado's Cigar of the Year for 2012.
I just pissed my cigar budget away a few weeks ago on 1 of only 250 boxes of La Gloria 2011 Limitada Flechas made or I'd be all over a box of Upmann's. As soon as I can pull it off under the radar, I'll be snagging a lil' somefin somefin, but I am already gonna be in deep with the ball and chain when I unpack some fancy ass, well polished, handmade cedar box full of expensive looking cigars. There's no explaining that one away or hiding it in the coolerdor.
Anyways, CHM, we'll be chatting in the future. Sorry for the rant. I have a bunch of thread to catch up on.
No question there is a "forbidden fruit" aspect to the whole thing. It really just comes down to personal preference with respect to flavors more than anything. Some people like wine from France, and others prefer from Chile. Same with cigars. Personally I prefer Cubans, so that's what I smoke. I don't really even know all that much about non Cuban cigars, so that's not what I sell. I have had good NCs, almost exclusively Nicaraguan when I think about it although Davidoff makes some nice sticks that come out of the Dominican if I'm not mistaken, but for the most part I don't like the NCs I've tried. Less depth of flavor, and a bit of an odd aftertaste to me.
The main advantage NC manufacturers have over Cuban is access to better machinery. As a result you see a lot less construction issues with NCs than CCs. NCs will also use tobacco from different countries to get a wider variety of blends, whereas CCs are always pure Cuban. NCs won't use Cuban tobacco at all because then they are blocked from the US market. You will see "Cuban seed" blends that are from Cuban strains grown in other countries. They don't have the benefit of the growing conditions in the Pinar del Rio region of Cuba where they grow tobacco, so they aren't quite as good, in my opinion, but not bad.
As far as fakes go, unfortunately there are a lot of fake CCs floating around. See
this thread for an example. Know your vendor being the primary defense against falling victim to counterfeit merchandise. I've spent years in the online cigar community and have a very good knowledge of who is worth dealing with and who isn't, so take that for whatever it's worth.
Anyway, always good to see some discussion on the topic. Look forward to hearing from you.
Current Inventory to get a link on this page.