Cigars

I know the embargo only affects the States, it's why I can't buy them at home. However, the States is a massive market and it would dwarf Spain if/when it opens to Cuba. There is also precedent.

In the late 90s there was a cigar boom in the States; everybody smoked and it was fashionable to have a cigar. Magazines like Smoke and Cigar Aficionado were started, martini and cigar bars opened everywhere and many, many cigar labels were started and internet sites started supplying Americans with Cubans. The boom lasted a couple of years and abruptly stopped.

All those cigar bars and labels went out of business and I think Cigar Aficionado was the only magazine to barely hang in there by the skin of its teeth. More to the point, the effect it had on Cuban cigar quality was pronounced. Cuba overproduced to meet demand and quality plummeted. You can still find 'vintage' cigars at cut-rate prices on most sites from '99 and 2000 because almost anyone with experience avoids those years like the plague. The leaves weren't aged properly, the rolling was shoddy at best and a box of cigars resembled tent pegs more than anything else. It wasn't uncommon for fewer than 10% to be smokable and it isn't unheard of that some boxes were completely fucked.

Finally, cigars in the States are rarely 'puros' from one region. They will have a Nicaraguan filler, Honduran binder and Connecticut wrapper or similar. Much of Cuban tobacco will be used in other cigars from existing marcas so they can say they are Cuban or use Cuban leaf. A pure Cuban cigar will become much rarer than it is now.

So, based on all that, I think the quality will take a massive hit. It will return, but it will take a few years and I won't be buying then, so I'm stocking up now.