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I think the more interesting question is what happens to the rest of the Cuban tobacco industry. Tabacuba is the manufacturing arm. They own the factories, the warehouses, the escogidas, the stripping facilities, the state farms (which grow 70% of Cuban tobacco production), the Research Institute (which produces 100% of the seed, applies any chemicals needed, and generally supervises all production on the island.) The other 30% of production is the family farms. They are required by law to produce tobacco on their land. If the economy liberalises and they can grow whatever they want, most of them would probably switch to food production at the moment. The big state farms are mostly the former foreign owned plantations that were nationalised. Cubatabaco is the IP arm. They own the brands and have a few other functions like training. Most of the brand issues are settled everywhere in the world aside from the US, but even in the US many of the non-Cuban versions of the Cuban brands are owned by Altadis USA, so it's likely not that big of a deal. Habanos S.A. is marketing and distribution. It's a bit mercurial what they actually own. Cuba owns 50% or more of most of the distributors, but it's an investment company, not Habanos SA. Habanos owns the LCDH franchise, but that has been devalued a bit now that they all sell non-Cubans as well. The main thing they own is the contracts they have with everybody else. The whole thing is a pretty juicy cherry for anybody picking the bones of Cuba, so it's hard to imagine "the state" letting it go easily, whether the state is the current regime, a military strongman, a US puppet, a democratically elected government, or whoever. If it leaves state control, the most likely outcome is probably that it all ends up in the hands of a Cuban oligarch, possibly in partnership with Altadis and whoever owns that. If your aim is free-market capitalism then you'd really have to break up Tabacuba and privatise each of its many components separately, same with Cubatabaco and its assets. Habanos could continue to exist as long as it continued to make distributor deals with the new factory owners.

There is nothing like a catholic girl at the CYO......

https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2026-02-18-u1-e199894-s27061-nid321202-miami-herald-confirma-conversaciones-marco-rubio This makes sense, partly because concessions from the US are limited by US laws on the embargo which require the Castro family’s exile from political power. So an agreement for their exit is functionally a prerequisite. Sickening that it probably means keeping their ill-gotten gains, but this administration has never let moral objections about stealing (even from US citizens) get in the way. Moral scruples aside, it may ultimately be necessary for a settlement on reform and detente. Let’s hope the US doesn’t forget the nominally intended beneficiaries of all this posturing: the Cuban people.

I’d go Jimmy Page, but of the two listed it would be Jimi over Clapton, but wouldn’t go as far as calling it a ‘no contest’

In fairness to Oregon, that’s a ballot initiative. And speaking of frying fish, they’re included. I’m a firm supporter of ballot initiatives as an option but they may need to raise their signature threshold if something this asinine can make it on.

Yeah the whole movie cracks me up every time.

Hey gents - I had some custom cabinetry delivered to the garage today for installation tomorrow and underestimated how strong the VOCs from the fresh paint would be. It’s headache city right now. Timing sucks with how cold it’s been - thank goodness this is the final major work in the renovation. Enjoy your smokes and I’ll catch you all next time or at the Champagne masterclass (which I’m looking forward to).

exactly why it was such an enjoyable event.

It was the quality of the attendees that mattered 😁

My wife made me watch that movie with her and that line had me laughing in hysterics. I was imagining some knucklehead uttering those words to me about my daughter

I also hear they are trying to ban hunting. Because that is a fish that needs frying too.🤣

I see we've been on the same flights 😜

Yet another blue state that can't focus on important urgent things, yet picks on the working man who pays their tax on said items.

john, in fairness, i was talking attendance, not enjoyment. i thoroughly enjoyed rob's event. granted the full crowd could have easily been squeezed into a clown car and still had room for the elephant.

brilliant stuff. it came out back during schoolies (for our offshore friends, that period immediately after finishing high school where every kid pissed off to the beach and misbehaved very badly - all very sanitised these days). bunch of mates took a night off and we went to an old cinema - the sort that used to show pornos and had not been cleaned in years. about 12 people there that night. us, a couple of unfortunates and three old blokes in their raincoats who clearly did not realise that the last waltz was not a porno. i reckon we stood on the old fold up chairs, a dangerous thing to do, and roared our lungs out all night. loved it. went back a few nights later and did it again. snuck in a heap of beers (not that they cared). loved it. so many great perfoamnces but the most surprising performance was surely neil diiamond. not someone you would have expected to be part of it but that 'dry your eyes' is as good an anthem as i have heard.

john, all along the watchtower might beg to differ, with respect. but then dylan has also said that hendrix influenced him with that and other works. just as the Byrds did with mr tamborine man. dylan was the ultimate magpie.

Cmon. Dirty Dancing. Nobody puts Baby in a Corner.

Kudos to you both for sharing your experience so openly and candidly. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate reading it. Many times, those who take offense to having such things pointed out are those who need to hear it the most.

This time of year I avail myself of the 24/7 cigar lounge that is nearby, so I can enjoy whatever I like without considering the temperature. If I do smoke outside I don't really enjoy it this time of year, whether it's because I'm standing, wearing gloves, avoiding the wind, etc.

It’s a very important distinction. I gather Moe is referring to soundtracks composed of popular music rather than orchestral scores (the latter of which is of easily overlooked but crucial importance in my opinion).

Given the language of that press release they apparently are planning on turning the entire terminal into a cigar lounge, in which case I offer the project my full support.

It's rough out there, guys. I don't think most of us really know how rough. Awhile ago she posted some pics on another site involving our (okay, I'll be honest, mostly her) collection of historical and vintage cigars with interesting content about them. First few comments were entirely about her body and wardrobe choices. She was wearing cold weather outdoorsy clothing. Not gender specific and definitely not revealing by any stretch of the imagination. The resulting conversation was not about the cigars. It sucked and she stopped being interested in posting there, or posting much at all, because why would she. The comments weren't really all that gross or explicit, but they were unsolicited and unnecessary opinions tone policing her appearance and not about the cigars. I've posted literally the same content with zero issues. I persuaded her to at least stick her nose back into online cigar community in here, but it only took a few hours for basically the same thing to happen in response to a female voice, in a place I told her it probably wouldn't happen. It's bad, and I've seen too much of it to be able to kid myself that it isn't. I'm glad she did come out and share her perspective, but I doubt she'll be doing it again any time soon. And that is a lot of experience and perspective that is lost to the community because people can't just talk to women about cigars like a normal human being. I hope we can do better someday.

Pantywaists.

I just have to come here to say how amazing these cigars are. The 2025 ones I got have been unbelievable and they are going to be a permanent fixture in my rotation.

I am SUPER lucky in that I have outfitted my home office with air purification and ventilation and I have access to a nice lounge, so "winter cigar" for me is about a flavor mindset. Right now, when I want to bask in watching the snow fall, it's: RyJ Nobles (it has a kind of Christmas-y flavor to me); Monte Dumas (like smoking a brownie); and Fabrica 5 Canonazo (this thing is awesome).