The Quest for Real Cuban Cigars- Muriel Cigars

It is a rare (and appreciated) occasion when someone comes up with a real Cuban cigar. There are many available derivatives of Cuban tobacco out there. Companies go out of their way to mention our Communist neighbor off the coast of Florida whenever they can. Even the smaller, less expensive game cigars like those made by Garcia y Vega claim to have come from Cuban-seed tobacco.

Online or Over the Border

Authentic Cuban cigars, of course, cannot be purchased in the United States due to the longstanding embargo against the Castro regime. They can be had in Canada, though, as California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger can tell you (he caught some flak for buying a Cuban stogie while in Toronto on official business). And they can be bought online, which is but one more example of the way global trade works in the Internet era.

Don’t Fall for Marketing Ploys

Just because the name on a package of cigars implies some connection to Cuba is hardly an indication of quality tobacco inside. Muriel cigars, for instance, may “sound” Cuban to the novice cigar enthusiast, but a box of Air Tips in no way passes for a Cohiba. Serious cigar-lovers wouldn’t even consider smoking a cigar made by a company that also offers a line of filtered cigars (as Muriel does). To them, it takes a great deal of knowledge even to recognize a “real Cuban cigar”.

Filtered cigars and game cigarillos may have popular appeal to those who just want to have a flavorful smoke on the big fishing expedition, as sales figures would indicate. But the cigar aficionado takes into account so many other factors when choosing a cigar that wouldn’t occur to the average Joe. Still, there’s some merit to the words spoken by Mark Twain so long ago: “I judge by the price only; if it costs above 5 cents, I know it to be either foreign or half-foreign and unsmokable.”

Speed Dating

Ever wonder what it would like to sit down, talk to someone for no more than two minutes, stand up and say goodbye, move to a new table and sit down for another two minutes and repeat the process all over again, twenty different times? Welcome to speed dating, where all the awkward introductions and conversation fluff is thrown out the window and daters get down to the nitty gritty.

History

Originally created by a rabbi to introduce Jewish singles in hopes of finding a match friendly partner to marry, speed dating is a way to meet a large number of people in a relatively short amount of time. By the early 2000s, speed dating had achieved popularity status and shown up in popular televise on shows like Sex and the City. At an event, daters meet for anywhere from two to ten minutes. At the sound of the buzzer, glass, gong, what-have-you, daters move to a new person. At the end of the “round” daters submit a list of names to the organizer and if a match is made the information is passed on to both parties.

Advantages/Disadvantages

Some of the advantages of speed dating include the fact that parties can weed out prospective partners quite quickly. Parties also are introduced to people that maybe they wouldn’t normally talk to at bars or clubs and offer a chance to make an impression without the distractions one might find at the aforementioned places.

Not everything is positive, though. There are several disadvantages to speed dating including the time. Parties are allowed a relatively short amount of time to get to know a person and may miss out on meeting a person based on first impressions rather than deeper understanding.
Also, the term “dating” may be misleading in that both parties really aren’t dating, they’re meeting each other, communicating for a few minutes and then moving on. The real date wouldn’t come until after a match is made. So, in essence, speed dating really can be considered a pre-selection, or a very quick blind date.

Looking for information on dating sites?