Cigar importers and smokers all terribly want to go on believing those things about their cherished Havanas.

ECONOMIST: Cuban cigars

And boxes of Havanas are now packed off with a mixture of shades and containing sub-standard cigars.

ECONOMIST: Cuban cigars

Could not something similar be done, at a realistic cost, for Havanas?

ECONOMIST: Cuban cigars

This is but one example of an improvised world trade in Havanas that, complete with an American boycott, is unique, not to say opaque.

ECONOMIST: Cuban cigars