WEST LEBANON, N.H. — News last week of the United States restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba might make cigar aficionados’ mouths water, but as the longtime trade embargo on the country remains — for now — don’t expect to see a Montecristo No. 2 for sale in the Upper Valley just yet.
Nevertheless, some cigar dealers and smokers last week said they’re hopeful that President Barack Obama’s announcement was just a first step, and that the easing of restrictions could continue to the point where Cuban cigars are for sale in Vermont and New Hampshire.
Christine Clarenbach, owner of the West Lebanon tobacco, beer and novelties shop un-dun, considered the prospect as she surveyed the roughly 300-cubic-foot wood and glass case her husband built to regulate the humidity of the thousands of cigars they have for sale.
“We’d have to put in another humidor. I don’t know where we’d put it,” Clarenbach said, looking around the tightly packed store. “But we’d figure it out.”
A short drive down Route 12A, Beverage King owner Rich Houle compared the near-mythological allure of Cuban cigars to that of the cherished craft beer Heady Topper, brewed in Waterbury and sold with per-customer limits because of huge demand.
“It’s something you can’t get,” Houle said, “so you want it.”
In fact, Americans will soon be allowed to smoke Cuban cigars in the United States — they just won’t be able to buy them here. New guidelines taking effect in the coming weeks will allow licensed Americans to return to the U.S. from Cuba with up to $100 of combined alcohol and tobacco products, which could cover the cost of three to 20 cigars, depending on size and quality, experts say.
Any cigars brought back to the U.S. must be for personal use, not resale — the same rule that was in place prior to the Bush administration’s 2004 decision to tighten restrictions on travel to the island.
Under the imminent changes, Cuban cigars purchased in Canada will remain banned from being brought over the border into the U.S.
Management at both West Lebanon stores said that a number of customers have mentioned the Cuba news with hopes of soon smoking a Cuban cigar, either earnestly or not.
“They’re always joking about it,” said Beverage King manager Josh Higgins.
He’s never smoked a Cuban cigar himself, but considering they’re “supposed to be the greatest,” Higgins said he’s optimistic that the rules could allow Beverage King to sell them in the future.
Un-dun employee Chris Williams, the store’s cigar buyer, said there’s “definitely excitement” and people have already started asking if they have any Cuban cigars in stock.
“It’s definitely come up, but it’s just a baby step right now,” Williams said.
Questions also remain about Cuba’s ability to meet demands if American stores were suddenly able to buy Cuban cigars in large numbers.
Clarenbach said she thought the “initial push would be huge,” largely from casual cigar smokers, because of the novelty of the idea. She suspects that true aficionados have already found ways to get their hands on them.
She also wonders about the costs: The average price for a midline cigar at un-dun is currently around $10, she said, and when she traveled to the Caribbean, she bought Cuban cigars for at least $20 each. The markup to get them to West Lebanon could increase that number significantly.
“I just hope that the price is reasonable for the customers, because that’s a concern,” she said.
For now, both Higgins and Williams said that there are plenty of other cigars, such as those from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic, that have started to encroach on Cuban cigars’ kingly reputation over the course of the half-century embargo.
The Cuban tobacco rolled into the country’s cigars is revered because of its climate, fertile soil, proximity to the equator and hand-rolling technique. Propelled by the desire to supply a “huge” U.S. market, cigar distributors have strived to replicate some of those prized characteristics in other parts of the world, Williams said, calling those cigars “as good, and more reasonably priced” than their Cuban counterparts.
Not everybody in the U.S. has been going without Cuban cigars the past 50 years. Lyme resident Ryan Miller, a cigar smoker and regular un-dun customer who enjoys smoking Cuban cigars when he can, said the current rules are easy enough to work around — there are even online distributors in places like Switzerland, he said, who will mail Cuban cigars to your doorstep, usually passing by U.S. Customs officials undetected.
While the idea of being able to drive down to West Lebanon and pick up a Cuban cigar is appealing, he said he’s not exactly sure what to think about Obama’s announcement. Miller said he still has questions about whether reported human rights violations in the country are being addressed.
“We don’t know if there are little 9-year-old kids picking tobacco out in the fields and things like that,” he said.
He acknowledged he would probably be among the first customers to try to buy Cuban cigars if they became available here, but said the frenzy would soon die down and he would hope that officials would pay attention to the other issues.
“I just don’t want to see the rest of the stuff go by the wayside because, ‘Oh boy, we’ve got Cuban cigars,’ ” he said.
Maggie Cassidy can be reached at mcassidy@vnews.com or 603-727-3220.
