Could This Be the Most Exclusive Cigar in the World?

Egregiously postponed Cuban cigar releases — one prays for mere months, though the delay typically spans a year or two — have become customary for Havanaphiles, those who puff and collect Havana cigars exclusively.

Delays are now so common that it’s fair to wonder if it’s all mastermind marketing, designed to drive consumer fervor. Or is it, as many Dominican and Nicaraguan cigarmakers claim, due to a lack of skilled torcedores (cigar rollers) and a dearth of the dark, rich, oily tobaccos grown in western Cuba’s Pinar del Río province? Perhaps both. No one knows for sure, and the Cubans remain taciturn.