Oh brother ...
... here we go again ...
50 years ago Cuban Tobacco importer Grossman Cigar Company of Tampa, Florida declared bankruptcy and its assets were ordered frozen. Those assets included 46,000 pounds of Cuban tobacco purchased in 1956, 1958 & 1960.
Before bankruptcy proceedings had fully played out, the company’s owner died which launched a probate battle between his family members. The legal fight lasted more than 20 years when the Pinar Company eventually acquired the tobacco but it took them until 1999 to get it authenticated and several more years to get the U.S. Governments approval to sell it, but only after it is exported to Ecuador where the tobacco is hand rolled into cigars by Cubans.
What makes this tobacco even more special is the judge who proceeded over the legal battle was a cigar lover and ordered the tobacco to be kept in pristine, saleable condition all the time, properly humidified and temperature controlled. Like a rare bottle of 50 year old wine, these cigars are even more rare and available now.
Yeah right ... I've been hearing this story for how many years now ??? The bottomless pit of pre-embargo tobacco leaves that never run out ... LOL!
