Does Cuba sell their tobacco to other rollers?

[SCgarman]

posted June 24, 2014 11:20 AMJune 24, 2014 11:20 AM

My next Cuban was, in fact, a Canadian one. Does that count? I don't care, honestly! It was made in Toronto at Frank Correnti cigars on 606 King Street West. I walked past this place twice before realizing where it was. It's down an alleyway between two restaurants. You look up, and it's the second storey of an old building that's been there for who knows how long. Walking up the stairs you see cut-out boxes from known brands like Montecristo and Romeo y Julietta.

I open the first door and am greeted with a display case with many boxes of old cuban cigars. I look around and can't see anyone. I'm fairly creeped out. I turn left and keep walking. To my right seems like an old smoking lounge with a TV playing Sports Centre. The lounge looked antique. It's like wearing your favorite slippers. I wish we could light up in here.

I walk further in. At this point, I'm about 40 feet from the door and still haven't seen anyone. Then a guy welcomes me. He's in his thirties with a backwards baseball cap. There are two women at the back working on decades-old rolling tables. What a throwback! I tell him I'm interested in the cigars he has and recommends the robusto. There's a whole stack of them freshly rolled today to his left. There are petite coronas and panetelas on the table as well. I opt for the robusto. It's a good size and a great way to enjoy a new brand.

I chat with the guy. Who rolls cigars in Toronto anyways?! He tells me they've been in business for three generations. They order their tobacco from Cuba with their own blend and hand-roll cigars here. The phone rings and he picks up. A few minutes later he tells me that was the General Manager of the New York Rangers' secretary on the line. Apparently the boss wants to put in an order. There's tons of well-known people who order from them. The only way to get a legal cuban in the States, after all.

On to the cigars.

The first one was good. The construction was good, but not excellent. It wasn't the beautiful wrap of a top-quality cuban smoke. It was nicely packed though. Didn't smell much, but I drew that up to it being so fresh. I light up outside with a book and some water (I actually drink a lot of water when I smoke). I tasted that it was quality. It was a bit stronger, a good draw, but I felt something off. I had trouble with it and had a hard time keeping it lit. It also didn't burn right to me. I was a bit disappointed, but it cost next to nothing (11$ smoke for an hour and some).

Three days later.

The second one, I was sold. It rested three days in the humidor and whatever happened made it great. Excellent draw, even burn, beautiful smoke. Tasted fantastic. I mean it, FANTASTIC. I was at the nub and wanted more after an hour and fifteen minutes of utter bliss. If I wasn't convinced before, I was sold. Maybe it was the scotch and the Leffe I was drinking, maybe it was the good-looking girl I was chatting with the whole time. Either way, my yearning to try other cigars was the only thing stoping me from ordering a box right then and there

[Puros Y Vino]

IIRC. Frank Correnti's has vintage Cuban leaf on hand. 25+ years old or so. But their cigars aren't Cuban puros, they blend in other leaf. Apparently they had a long time agreement to purchase Cuban tobacco in the pre-embargo days. I have yet to visit it myself but some other locals went there and got the story. Perhaps they'll chime in.

[SCgarman]

IIRC. Frank Correnti's has vintage Cuban leaf on hand. 25+ years old or so. But their cigars aren't Cuban puros, they blend in other leaf. Apparently they had a long time agreement to purchase Cuban tobacco in the pre-embargo days. I have yet to visit it myself but some other locals went there and got the story. Perhaps they'll chime in.

Makes sense. I would imagine Habanos S.A. has strict control over their leaf. If not anyone could roll genuine Cubans and the Cuban gov't. would lose BIG$$$$$

[LordAnubis]

I. Will. Go. There!!!!!!! Cheers for the heads up about the place, and great story

[shlomo]

Interesting. Correnti has been around forever. Not much positive said about them though, and the legal Cuban in the state's just sounds plain wrong. Not many businesses would talk about high profile clients either....

[ogus]

Johnny O! could not be reached for a comment.

[tmac77]

Been to this place a number of times and tried a selection of their cigars definitely not 100% cuban. They claim to have old wrapper from 25 years old that they purchased from an old cuban connection. I have seen the wrapper in it's raw form in their storage room where they keep all their leaf and I can with a certain degree of certainty state that they are not cuban. Not sure how they get off claiming to be rolling cuban puro's. As for the cigars I would put a quintero up against them any day.

[Maplepie]

Not much positive said about them though

since when have you been known to put things lightly?

That comment is probably the nicest thing i've heard said about them!

[Trent0341]

I. Will. Go. There!!!!!!! Cheers for the heads up about the place, and great story

Pretty sure this was a quote from another forum (from a guy who joined five days prior and has six post). I believe that NYCgarman was relaying that story and asking if it was even possible. Seems people don't think much of these cigars.

[SCgarman]

Pretty sure this was a quote from another forum (from a guy who joined five days prior and has six post). I believe that NYCgarman was relaying that story and asking if it was even possible. Seems people don't think much of these cigars.

Correct!

[Pedro2486]

Pretty sure there's a Rob and Smithy YouTube review of these kicking around.

[tmac77]

Pretty sure there's a Rob and Smithy YouTube review of these kicking around.

Yes there is. I sent Rob a couple of samples of these cigars a few years back for a deck review. They gave it better marks than they really should have as it was a gifted cigar.

[garbandz]

There used to be a Canadian brand called Tueros,with cuban tobacco and machine made in Canada.

In the early 90's they were pretty good,the ones I got in 2004,not so much.

The Canary Islands used to produce a lot of cigars with Cuban leaf,do not know if any were 100% Cuban though.

[polarbear]

I. Will. Go. There!!!!!!! Cheers for the heads up about the place, and great story

Save your money for Cuban Customs ;-)

[tmac77]

I. Will. Go. There!!!!!!! Cheers for the heads up about the place, and great story

It is worth going to to see a bit of Canadian cigar history but not to buy cigars at.

[canadianbeaver]

Tom, remember we went to that Cuban festival and that young guy with the baseball cap was rolling them and giving them away for free? We smoked a pile of them and drank our faces off. The more we drank, the better they were. Price was right too.

[tmac77]

Tom, remember we went to that Cuban festival and that young guy with the baseball cap was rolling them and giving them away for free? We smoked a pile of them and drank our faces off. The more we drank, the better they were. Price was right too.

With the amount we all drank that night a dog **** wrapped in banana leaves would have scored a 92

[canadianbeaver]

With the amount we all drank that night a dog **** wrapped in banana leaves would have scored a 92

*spat coffee on ipad*

[421eme]

I've been there a few times, and was amazed by the decor more than the cigars.

They're not all that bad, but definitely not my Partagas brand.

They definitely need to rest a bit before you smoke em. I was really just curious that they actually rolled them there.

I've had their robustos more than any of their other styles. Had one of their presidentes - holy smokes it took me a while to get through that - definitely have to give it your full attention if you light one up. Almost to the point of being a 2 hour smoke.

Cheers, Carl

[tmac77]

Be warned if you buy any cigars from them be sure to store them in zip locks and not open in you humidor as their leaf is riddled with beatles

[Maplepie]

their leaf is riddled with beatles

there's a joke about the British invasion and cigars being invaded somewhere there...

but i'm too tired to make it

[imangelo]

I've had a few cigars from Frank in the past. Honestly, I think they are a great cigar for the price. The robustos are $10 and smoke pretty well although they aren't so great that I'm running over there instead of reaching in the humidor. $10 for a decent Cuban robusto is essentially unheard of in the Great White North.