Has anyone else heard of these gems? I picked up a handful at Fadar's in Baltimore. They are supposed to be constructed from 40 year old Pre-Embargo Cuban tobacco that had been stored and was finally rolled and sold. Since it was Pre-Embargo, it is legal to sell. Let me tell you - they ROCK!! Absolutley gorgeous construction, perfect draw, and the most beautiful wrappers you'll ever see - and no bands. I've got a humidor full of Cubans, Opus-X (various sizes), Davidoff, all the good stuff. I search for premium cigars whenever I travel. I was so impressed with these that I picked up 15 more of the Toro size. Has anyone else had the pleasure?

Lay-Keow Ng, a scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, spent a year developing an acid test to test cigars for their acid signature. Cuban tobacco has an acid signature that has never been replicated when Cuban seed is grown elsewhere.

It is my understanding that the quantity of Cuban tobacco in the Pinar cigars is of such small quantity that the Canadian Acid test could not ascertain Cuban content.

If you enjoy the cigars and they are well made, they should stand on their own merit, irrespective of the source of tobacco contained within them.

FYI: Here's a URL for an article about the Canadian acid test.

http://www.nature.com/nsu/010404/010404-3.html 

Thanks Steve,

Tried the link - no joy. Even tried going to www.nature.com and searching - again, no joy. Not that I doubt the info, but developing a test in a year is pretty quick. Also, how would you test the acid content of the various tobacco strains in all of the Cuban regions and specifically for tobacco that may be 40 years old and come up with a definitive "acid signature"? Does the signature vary from region to region? From different spots on the same plant? From plant to plant? I would have to really look into the methodology. Perhaps a DNA related test, but then again, that would be expensive and not easy to accomplish in just a year. I'd really need to see the entire content of the research paper to determine its validity. Having done research, there are a lot of variables to be suspicious of.

Nevertheless, your last comment is true. Good smokes are a luxury to find - and these are exceptional, regardless of the content.

I was just curious about anyone else having tried them. The aroma and taste are reminiscent of the Cubans I've tasted in the past.

Any other opinions or info?

they claim to be 50/50 mixed.heck 40 year old tobbaco from anywhere has got to be real tasty. man they get 20 bucks a stick for 8 year old gurkah's !!!!!!!!!!!

I bought a box of these about three years ago and absolutely loved them. They were very smooth and also very flavorful. I enjoyed them.

http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y01/apr01/06e8.htm 

Remember, you've got to copy and paste, because links are unavailable on this BBS.