nino

@Vito Pleaaaaze .... don't go overboard and embarrass me - too much Vaseline in one post .... 🤣 I have no seals - not even in my metal lockers - but you have my seal of approval for your method that you so passionately followed through. No - my collection is not "over the top", it is mostly below ground ( in content and location )... Yes - I posted here some time ago about my method ( which I learned from good friends who still use it like me ) of metal lockers - Zarges - which I humbly consider a perfect method to store cigars long term. Here is the link to my comments and pictures in that Thread from 2012 : And you are right - there is no need to use any humidification in this system/lockers. Perfect. KISS : Keep It Simple ... Thank you for your kind words @Vito I just try to contribute. And FYI : Here is a new Zarges metal locker I just received a month ago - a pretty historical one, from 1962, German Army Medical Kit - have 2 of those now and like 8 normal "ones". PS : The boxes have not yet been placed in Ziplock bags here ! Enjoy your collection !

Looks perfect for long time aging to me - well done ! I am too lazy, just place them in Ziplock bags and inside airtight metal lockers.

Peter, DO NOT question the obvious - you might get convinced otherwise ...

Mindboggling and well known Cuban practice - not just with Qatar https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2019/nov/08/cuba-secret-deal-to-monetise-medics-working-in-qatar Explotation in Focus - Employment Cuba’s secret deal with Qatar to take up to 90% of doctors' wages Most of the money earned by Cuban medics working in Qatar goes to their national government. But while some feel exploited, others tell a different story Pete Pattisson in Dukhan Fri 8 Nov 2019 07.00 GMT Drive west from Doha’s glistening glass towers, past two World Cup stadiums still under construction and out into the desert, and you’ll eventually reach a small hospital surrounded only by sand and shrubs. At its entrance hang two flags rippling in the scorching breeze: one of Qatar, the other of Cuba. The hospital belongs to the Qatar government, but its entire medical staff – 475 doctors, nurses and technicians – is from the Caribbean island half a world away. The Cuban hospital, as it is officially known, opened in 2012, boasting world class facilities and services. But there is one thing that is not up to international standards: the salaries the Cubans are paid. At just over $1,000 (£778) a month, they receive as little as 10% of what other foreign medical professionals can make working in government hospitals in Qatar. The remainder of their earnings are pocketed by the Cuban government under a secret deal with the Qataris. Neither the Qatari or Cuban authorities would reveal details of the agreement, but sources with knowledge of the hospital estimate Qatar pays Cuba between $5,000 and $10,000 a month for each medical professional. Cuba has been sending doctors around the world since the early 1960s; there are currently an estimated 30,000 Cuban doctors and nurses working in 60 countries. Starting with missions to Algeria and Chile, the programme has grown into a global exercise in soft power driven by humanitarian, political and economic goals. Cuban medical teams are often at the forefront of disaster relief efforts in Latin America. Leasing doctors to other countries is the main source of hard currency for Cuba’s cash-strapped economy, earning the government $6-8bn a year – far more than it makes from tourism. In the past decade, partly prompted by declining revenue from its medical programme in Venezuela, Cuba has turned to new countries with no shortage of money: Qatar and Saudi Arabia. In a similar arrangement with Brazil, the Cuban government was reportedly paid about $4,000 a month for each medic, of which the doctors received $1,000. When the rightwing Jair Bolsonaro, an opponent of Cuba, took power in Brazil last year, thousands of Cuban doctors left the country, prompting fears that poor areas of Brazil would be left without sufficient medical care. Cuba is not the only country that exports its citizens to earn foreign currency. North Korea has also sent workers to Qatar under a programme with some similarities. Although doctors sign up voluntarily to take part in the missions, US-based critics of the Cuban government say the programme is exploitative. “I have no doubt that they are subject to a form of compelled labour … Cuba is a totalitarian state with a guaranteed pool of captive low-paid workers easily exploited as exportable commodities,” says María Werlau, the director of Cuba Archive, a Miami-based thinktank opposed to the Cuban administration. Werlau says Cuba’s medics are victims of wage theft, passport confiscation, heavy surveillance and forced family separation. Amid deteriorating relations between the two countries, the US has recently increased criticism of the medical missions. In June, the State Department downgraded Cuba to the lowest tier of its Trafficking in Persons report, saying: “The [Cuban] government did not take action to address forced labour in the foreign medical missions programme, despite persistent allegations Cuban officials threatened and coerced some participants to remain in the programme.” However, others argue the medical missions are highly-coveted opportunities in a country where doctors earn just $40 to $70 a month. “I don’t believe that they are being exploited,” says John Kirk, professor of Spanish and Latin American studies at Dalhousie University in Canada. “They are earning significantly more than they would earn at home. They have been trained in a socialist system, have paid nothing for their medical training, and understand that the superior amount paid to the Cuban government is used to subsidise the healthcare system back in Cuba.” The Guardian spoke to several medics at the Cuban hospital and some defended the system. “I believe we should help everybody,” says one. “Based on that, yes it is fair, because I know that the other amount is used to support our health and education system … but if you think only of yourself, of course it’s not fair.” But a medic who defected from the mission in Qatar says he “felt like a slave” on discovering that other doctors in the country were being paid more than him. “We were doing the same thing and earning far less than them.” One reason doctors join the programme is that, even allowing for deductions made by their government, Qatar remains a lucrative and sought-after posting for Cuban healthcare professionals. With such paltry salaries at home, its attraction is obvious. “Life in our country is very hard and the salary is very bad,” says one medic at the hospital. “Here we earn money for [Cuba] and for us too … One part for the country, and one part for each person.” No one knows the exact amount the Cuban government is earning from their labour, and some seem not to care. “The education in Cuba is free. The government prepares us for many years and so the government needs to take something for this,” says one. Others sound less convinced. “I earn about $1,100. It’s not the best, but its not bad.” Told that other foreign medical professionals earn far more in Qatar, he nods in agreement, “Yes, but not Cuban people.” The medics say their families are allowed to visit, but not stay – a policy critics claim is a deliberate strategy to deter defections. Anyone who abandons a medical mission is barred from returning to Cuba – and their family – for a minimum of eight years, unless they are willing to rejoin the national health system. “They are using what they love the most to make them think twice before leaving. It’s cruel, it’s inhumane, it’s unconstitutional and against international law,” says Annarella O’Mahony, a member of No Somos Desertores (“We are not deserters”), a group that campaigns for the right of Cubans who have abandoned state contracts to return home. Anyone attempting to leave faces another problem: on arrival in Qatar, Cubans say they have to hand over their passports, a practice that is illegal in Qatar. Qatar recently announced reforms to its labour laws, which for the first time may allow workers to change jobs without their employer’s permission, but it is unclear whether the Cuban medics will be free to find more lucrative work elsewhere in Qatar’s healthcare system. Up until 2017, Cuban medical professionals who wanted to leave could seek asylum in a US embassy under a programme introduced by President George Bush in 2006. The defector from the Cuban hospital, who left in this way, says he knows of 16 others who did the same, though he was driven less by conditions in Qatar and more by the opportunity for a new life in America. Barack Obama withdrew the legislation just before he left office in 2017 as part of efforts to normalise relations with Cuba. “Now they are trapped again,” says the defector. Despite being cut off from his family in Cuba, the defector says he has no regrets about leaving. “I tell my mother when I talk by phone that, despite all the difficulties and pain, I would do it again. I will never return to Cuba. There is no future there.” A spokesperson for the Hamad Medical Corporation, the government body that manages healthcare in Qatar, including the Cuban Hospital said: “As with similar Cuban health programmes around the world, salaries of hospital staff are paid for by the Cuban government.” The Guardian repeatedly approached the Cuban embassy in Qatar for comment, but received no response.

I know - it was the cynical in me commenting on the Che gear tourists will take home after being 2 weeks in Varadero, half a day in Old Havana, listened 50 times "Querido Comandante" and believe they've seen the "real Cuba" .... 🙂 Y para los que saben de que se habla aqui la estatistica :

Beautiful insights and good interview. A pleasure to watch !

Never bought any cigars at Havana airport nor seen anything worth taking home ... unless you need Che pics, caps and Tees ...

No idea how it works in other countries but in Germany AFAIK the tobacco comes from the 5ta Avenida warehouse where it is in bond and the rollers get it from there for their tour. It has to be weighed and consumption noted for tax purposes.

No you are not ... The Chinese are deeper into the Cuban economy than you think possible. Especially outside of tobacco.

Nope Two ... 🙂

Why am I not surprised ... : https://ministryofcigars.com/no-cohiba-behike-58/?fbclid=IwAR0X52t_UKg_ChIi1mfO3K8cUirAafZE2Lov_TtSNIgvntFPvuL-nLyZPyQ No Cohiba Behike 58? There won’t be a Cohiba Behike BHK 58 according to sources from Ministry of Cigars. Last week, the French magazine L’Amateur de Cigare, broke the news that Habanos is working on a Cohiba Behike BHK 58. And that samples have been handed to several international Habanos distributors. Sources within the Habanos family confirmed the existence of the Cohiba Behike BHK 58 test blends. That those cigars were handed to several high profile cigar distributors was also confirmed by these sources. Our sources want to remain anonymous. But they also said that the cigars are way too strong to be released. Habanos decided to pull the plug on the idea and have parked the whole Cohiba Behike BHK 58 project. Challenge One of our sources, who had smoked the cigar, said the cigar was too strong to be smoked more than halfway. His exact words were “you will die. You will die happy though, but still, you would die”. At the Ministry of Cigars headquarters, strong cigars are part of a healthy diet. So we told our source that we were up for the challenge. Unfortunately, our sources could not supply us with a sample for review purposes. So it looks like there won’t be a Cohiba Behike BHK 58 shortly. But the project shows that Habanos is looking further into expanding the portfolio with bigger ring gauges and shying away from the classic, slender vitolas. So maybe within a few years, Habanos will give the project another try, with a milder blend. But as far as our sources know, for now, the project is halted. Let’s wait and see what happens.

You're right - just finishing a MAY 2007 box here and they are quite good..

El Rey Del Mundo Demi Tasse ...

So here we have the Nicaraguan contribution to a 100% Habano ....

Keep the vaseline in case you need it elsewhere - good you follow my restaurant advice, and - more importantly - the "select company" advice.... Yes, we talk Sunday - todo listo !