Cuba after Castro

What do you think is going on in Cuba? Does it matter who takes the reins of the government over there? Some sources report that Castro will recover (eventually) and return to power. If he doesn't, will his brother Raul change things or will it be status quo?

Will the U.S. ever lift the embargo? What will the new Democratically controlled Congress do?

I also wonder what will happen when the embargo does end. Will the Fuentes, Padrons, and everyone else run back to produce cigars? They currently claim that Dominican, Honduran, and Nicaraguan tobacco is just as good as Cuban tobacco. Will their tune change when Cuban tobacco becomes available again?

There will undoubtedly be a spike in the price of Cuban cigars, but I believe it will be short lived and prices will return to normal shortly.

There are a lot of unanswered questions. I don't think much will change in the near future. I'm sure the experts will fill us with information though.

Garo Anniversary Salomon

I had the chance to smoke a Garo 10th Anniversary cigar the other night. It was a large "Salomon" sized cigar. It was well rolled, with a reddish colorado wrapper. The wrapper had a few veins showing but overall construction was good. The cigar was very easy to light, and produced lots of smoke. It produced a sweet smelling aroma at first. However, after a few puffs the cigar had a slight taste of lighter fluid. It was not as strong and flavorful as I had anticipated. This cigar had been highly rated in Smoke magazine.

The lighter fluid taste went away after a few minutes, which was welcomed. The aroma turned to a nice tobacco smell which was accompanied by a nice tobacco taste during the last third of the smoke.

Again, this cigar was much lighter bodied and milder than I expected from such a large smoke.