The best smokes in the world still come from the Vueltabajo.
A few things I've noted:
1] A WHOLE lot more inferior-grade smokes seem to be coming off the island. The QC is still generally there for factory stuff, it's just that low-end stuff that would have never seen the light of day is now banded and boxed and sold by "entrepeneurs". A cash-poor country/populace will monetize it's premium crop.
But the premium stuff is still being produced in the legit factories, and it's still as good as it's ever been ... when you can get it (the real stuff, I mean)!
In a similar vein:
2] A WHOLE lotta sticks that are legitimately "Cuban" are NOT bought from factory stores, and have not gone through the still-rigourous factory QC process. Which is to say, just because somebody's uncle went to Cuba and paid a taxi driver $50 for a box of Lanceros doesn't mean he's got the goods. Yeah, I know, the guy works at the factory, and steals the raw materials and packaging, and makes it at home during his spare time, yada, yada.
It ain't the same! If a traveler to Cuba did not source the box at a factory store and pay retail there (like $300 a box for some of the better vitolas), he's got moonshine. That's not to say there's not good 'shine, but it's still 'shine, and Macallan 18 it will never be.
In Cuba, factory or bust!
FAKE HABANOS IN HAVANA 3] A WHOLE lotta guys who think they've smoked Habanos have smoked nothing but counterfeits, often made in Central America. I've seen wildly divergent claims as to the ratio of legit/counterfeit sticks on the US black market, and even the most conservative estimates usually consider the lion's share of "inventory" to be bogus. If I see one more box of "Esplendidos" with a glass top, or "Habanos" in cellophane sleeves, or Cuban maduros ...
Some counterfeits are damned hard to distinguish (until you light one, usually), but an awful lot are obvious fakes to anyone with half a clue.
Here's one clue, if they smell like ammonia, welp, there's your sign. Sometimes, you don't even need to look at foot cuts, or labels, or color-sort, or stamps, or boxes. Just check the waft and a young box (most counterfeits are young/still sick) will readily give itself away.
4] Here's where I think the comments about QC are well placed: Even legit, factory Habanos, same brand/vitola, you can often note a distinct difference in quality depending on what country/establishment outside of Cuba you buy them (and that NEVER used to happen). Which is to say, a box of Lusitanias sourced from Harrods in London, or Switzerland, is often noticeably better than a box sourced from Canada or Mexico. I'm not the first to notice that countries with strong currencies seem to have better "luck" scoring the Class A chit from Fidel.
HABANOS SWITZERLAND There are a lot of good non-ISOM cigars. I'm a fan of Honduran stuff, especially Villazon. And I've tried a lot of the top-tier non-ISOM stuff, some of which cost more than a genuine trophy Habano.
None can hold a candle to the true, genuine, premium stuff that still comes from the Vueltabajo. OK, not the garbage hurricane leftovers that would have never made it of the island prior to, oh, say the Soviet collapse. I'm talking the genuine article.
Find me a better Churchill than a R&J.
A better double corona than a HdeM or a Lucy.
A better robusto than a Epicure #2 (not such a big fan of the Cohiba).
A better petite corona or torpedo than a Monte.
And the best corona gorda in the world continues to be a Punch Punch.
Not that I'd ever indulge in contraband or anything. I'm just speculating here.
rb
