Jon -
I definitely agree on the 2nd point. I'm about 50% on the first point. They won't necessarily taste completely different -- remember that the same tobacco farmers that grew the stuff in Cuba used certain regions, certain
terroir, for reasons. These experts can find similar
terroir in other areas (though obviously the soil is not going to be a spot-on match). All I meant to say was that a good, hearty leaf, grown under different circumstances can still produce excellent tobacco, and may (
may) result in equal or superior cigars -- once curing, blending, rolling, etc. are all factored in to the mix too.
If you don't have good leaf to start with, you're pretty much dead in the water.
Serge -- one of my favorite all-time smokes are cigarillos soaked in Niebaum-Coppola red wine. Unfortunately,
AFAIK, they're only available at the vineyard. Mmmmmm I miss those.
So maybe we're equally pussified.
JP