Will his brother run a similar regime? Will the States drop the embargo after some talks? How will it change the way Americans view Cuban tobacco?

Hard to say. But I wanted to share a cool story about a little old Cuban lady that stopped by my store earlier this week.

A super lovely older Cuban lady stopped by the store this week. She started off with how seeing cigars sparked a memory of her father from her childhood in Cuba and how he always had one in his mouth.

Then she went on to tell me that supposedly Fidel is very ill... his brother will more than likely take control soon thereafter his death... and there may have already been some talk that he (the brother) initiated w/ the States that so far, resulted in nothing.

She also mentioned that due to Fidel's hunger for power and money he apparently did something to the sugar and cigar plantations and farms that had a long-term effect on the soil and the quality of the crops. Sadly the end results are not what they were about 20-some years ago. With all the crazy weather fluctuations over the past few years, with all the hurricanes and storms, the crops have suffered quite a bit and Fidel didn't prepare the country properly for the changes and tried to save money by NOT preparing. While he supposedly has millions in the reported bank accounts (there are several that are NOT reported) the country, the people, and the sugar and tobacco industries suffer.

Also, it was interesting to hear that with all her travels and living in the states for more than half her life she too has noticed that the type of Cuban that's emmigrating to the States is a completely different breed than what they were back in her day. Back in her day when she came with her family, they had to work hard, just like my parents and grandparents did when we emmigrated from Russia, to build from scratch and become who we are today. The type of Cubans coming now are the same as the larger portion of the Russian emmigres is this past decade, they are coming here with unreasonable expectations and to be served on a silver platter. I realize this has nothing to do w/ the embargo, just thought it was interesting that a country that is so poor in every aspect and a people that are so persecuted and oppressed are that unreasonable upon arriving to the land of the free. It would make more sense that they had NO expectations and built a life for themselves like our families did.

Another off-topic note... she mentioned that if ever in Cuba, possibly the BEST beach in the world to visit is "VARADERO BEACH".

Super cool lady, so glad I had a chance to meet her. I offered her a cigar, but she smiled, laughed, and said that her father would've liked one, but she'll graciously decline.