:-) :-)

Great job Tom. It's great to see people really care about one another.
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That made me laugh out loud.

When I was new in the cigar world, I got to try a couple clear Havanas thanks to some of the great BOTLs at Club Stogie. It's a tribute to them and an honor to be able to turn new guys on to them as well. I hope at least one of them smokes well for you, Dave. :-)
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May I ask stupid question.....what is a clear havana?
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was thinking the same thing -

Nice hit as well.
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A clear Havana is a cigar usually machine-made in the United States using varying amounts of Cuban tobacco prior to 1962. They're legal for Americans to buy, sell, trade, and smoke. But damned hard to come by.

"The cigars were called clear Havanas because customs officials used to sit in the factories and clear the tobacco used in them through customs as it was brought up from the warehouse basement." --Brooks Whittington of Halfwheel.
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A clear Havana is a cigar made with Cuban tobacco, but is manufactured outside of Cuba. There used to be lots of companies in the US making cigars with Cuban tobacco, mostly pre-embargo, but some lasted on stocked cuban tobacco into the 70's.
There are also bonded clears, and iirc they were made under government inspection.
A government official would unlock the factory in the morning, make sure all the tobacco was certified from cuba, okay the smokes that were rolled, and lock up at night.
Someone else might help with that.
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Thanks for the explanations, Dave & Scott.
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Tom started me on the darkside. Good people, expensive people, but good people.
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Baller!
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Awesome commraderie!
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