I've been on a "Made in USA" cigar kick lately and I've been ordering from cigar shops in FL. Had some great cigars (Tabanero Cigars and Cigar Bundles of Miami) and some duds (Cuban Crafters).

Can any of you BOTL in FL recommend a local shop that makes great smokes and will ship to CA?

Thanks!
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Not from FLA, Mark, but I can recommend the El Originals from Island Smoke Shop in Key Largo. Bill is a manager and a member here.

http://www.islandsmokeshop.com/
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Try the Santiago Cabana from Island Smoke Shop as well.
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Any cigars have 100% USA grown tobacco?
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John Hay cigars. Their Diplomat, Cadet, Panatella and Swagger lines are made in the US with US grown tobacco. They are machine made, but they are all-long filler, no scraps or homogenized products. Their machines are pretty neat too, they are probably around 120 years old now, nothing like the modern cigar rolling machines, they have to be fed and operated by hand. The owners, Dave and Lauren are really great people too.

http://www.johnhaycigars.com/
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Hey Adam - are they decent smokes? I looked on the website and they have a cool old world look to them!
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It's been a number of years since I've had one, but they were always very consistent. Not the most complex cigars, but very unique flavors and a good taste. I always found them to have some similarities to the original release CAO America, which should surprise no one, since they use a number of the same/similar tobaccos.
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I 2nd Tom in that the El Originals are great smokes.

Also, in NYC, Martinez Cigars are fantastic.
http://www.martinezcigars.com/
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El Original Toro Maduros are my favorite.
Most guys like the El Original natural lanceros the best.
You simply can't lose either way. :-)
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:-):-)
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Here's a link to an article on some rollers in Miami. http://goo.gl/O0UejA
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Interesting site, but when I went into the shop it was quite confusing what are the 100% USA cigars in the sizes mentioned earlier about the brand. Made it difficult to order what they described.

In general, US cigar smokers are patriotic and selling them a 100% USA hand made product is an easier task IMO. Consumers need to be educated that this exists.
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All of the cigars in the 4 lines I mentioned are US tobacco. The handrolled cigars are not. It's pretty clearly indicated on the website. I don't know about their new B&M shop though. Was Dave or Lauren at the shop when you were there?
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Thanks gents!
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They do sound interesting and I like the rough figurado shape of the Cadet.
I might try acquire some to try!

Do you think they would have a US 'typicity" and express the "terroir"?

I also found the hand rolled cigars a curve ball on the website, as they are not US tobaccos. The ones Adam mentioned however, are.
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They need a 100% USA tobacco, hand rolled in the USA... Very simple. I hope they reflect the terrior of where they are grown and the tobacco strains used come through...
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Jeff Borysiewicz, owner of Corona Cigars in Orlando, FL is growing FSG (Florida Sun Grown) tobacco. Its an interesting project and I cannot wait to smoke the final product. I saw samples of cigars rolled entirely of FSG, but have not yet had it.
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Might need to check deeper into this. Looks pretty neat. Wouldn't mind helping them out.
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Once the embargo is lifted, USA made cigars will be a lot more interesting. If anyone can make a world class product; it's the good old USA! No third world Latin country required...
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