In Cuba, Cigar Lovers Are a Lifeline

Wednesday, March 02 2011

By VICTORIA BURNETT | The New York Times

HAVANA — Simon Chase, a British sage of the cigar world, stood in an elegant hotel salon here on Wednesday before a select group of aficionados, scrutinizing a box of 1970s cigars for evidence of their proclaimed vintage.

One clue, he said, was the style and quality of the seal on the box. Another was the cigar’s old-fashioned, slightly domed end, or “cabeza tumbada.”

The group muttered with interest and lit up, using cedar strips, or spills, to avoid contaminating their cigars with lighter fumes. Gray wisps curled into the air, and a brief hush fell as they solemnly considered the $90 smokes.

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