The Decline of Cuban Cigars ?

Everybody is talking about it ! Quality control in Cuba is not what it once was, and it feels like everybody is complaining. I myself wrote a couple of posts about consistency issues here and there.

Nonetheless, I was a little bit shocked to discover this article, by Marvin Shanken, in the respectable Cigar Aficionado : The Decline of Cuban Cigars. What is it about ?

• Lack of consistency;
• Quality control is poor;
• Increasing of the production to meet the growing demand led to lower quality;
• Cubans are not what they used to be.

Well... is that so surprising from Cuba ? I mean look at the country itself : Cuba is a communist country (a), led by a fierce, yet weakened, dictator (b), haunted by corruption (c), with almost no private sector (d), and a struggling economy (e).

If I may say so : what did you really expect Marvin ?

Comment from 2014: reading this post again 8 years later... I realize I have probably been too harsh with Cuba and with Mr Castro as well... A country that produces the best cigar on earth cannot be all wrong...