OK, a real question...maybe ignorant, but pertinent none the less.

Is there any real reason to stock up now before prices skyrocket if that GD embargo is lifted?

I'm serious. I can barely afford them now, and not at all if prices go up.
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:-) Not Cuban.

But thanks for the reminder........................ I owe ya one :-)
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I had Jamaican plantains this weekend, and they will scrumpdilicious.

You know what I like about you right now? :-)

Not a GD thing. :-) :-)

Chocolate cannolis. There, I'm a sadist. :-)

I would bet a month's salary prices will go up if the embargo ends.

I would not make the same bet that it will happen anytime soon.
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That and quality I think would nosedive due to increased demand from the U.S. market.
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Supply and demand are two great examples on how & why greed will drive up the price & quality to $H!T... :-)
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I'm hoping the embargo doesn't get lifted, people forget about the HUGE price increase it would cause.
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Unless it's inadvertent, I can't see that happening.

I can see them rapidly ramping up manufacturing to meet the demand, but if in the process there is a lowering of the quality of that supply to get more cigars out there, they would turn off a large part of an entire possible customer base because they would be producing poorly made cigars. Couple that with it's almost a given that vendors will ramp up the prices regardless, you've got a combo for losing an entire market segment almost instantly. Once the novelty wears off, the populous won't pay a high price for a tent peg more than two or three times before going back to their Macanudos and NC whatevers that don't have the quality problems. If there is reduced quality, there will be a reduced demand and prices will have to follow suite.

By keeping supply tight and quality at present levels, they can ramp the prices through the roof, and if they don't, law of supply and demand will do it for them.

Does HSA, or more accurately, Imperial Tobacco, see this possibility? I don't know.

:-)
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No you can't Vin. It is against the law still. I will tell you when it is legal to buy Cuban cigars. Until then you have to smoke the crap you have in your coolers and humidors. :-)
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Well hopefully it will give us an option for legally purchasing CC's. I have always wanted to see the island also, so US tourism would probably bring some money into the economy.
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I agree with those saying prices would sky rocket and quality would go to hell. I can imagine hoards of non cigar smokers streaming into my local B&M demanding a "cuban". That being said I would much rather the price went up than the quality went down. Quality is always the most important thing to me.
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who are you think you are?
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This makes me a tiny bit sad

:-)
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Doesnt matter origin, the ones from the internet eat/taste better :-)
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If they don't have cellophane
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Thats what I was afraid of :-)
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Although I agree with you on almost everything here, I do hesitate to agree that the demand will drop dramatically because of lower quality cigars. I can assure you that there are enough douche bags out there who are willing to drop serious cash on these sticks simply because Cubans would now be the "in" thing to smoke and it would impress their colleagues and friends. Just because they are crap sticks does not mean that the palates of these idiots would become more refined. Although the purchases of these idiots would probably not be enough to create a large demand, it may keep the demand afloat for a few years at least until they realize their foolishness. Just my :-)
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You know I love you, Vin! :-)
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i am partial to Nigerian plantains... it's all about the dodo :-)
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Well that's my story and I'm sticking to it.
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Who's to say the new vanguard is not even more radical than an aged Fidel? There will be some reforms, but don't dust of the US Passport just yet. Cuba may be able to hold their socialist ideology and yet make some needed reforms.

This could be good news for the Cuban people. I worry that radical change could do just as much harm as doing little. We have seen up and down Latin America what happens when there’s revolution. Cubans aren't simple villagers like in Central America; they're more educated than Americans.
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