Post #184751 by Rum Numb Davey on Tue, Sep 6, 2005 12:45 PM

Reply for the one and only SugarCaddyDaddy:

What I mean in flavor is the length of complexity and finish in the rum. To me, fine aged rum should possess the similar warmth in the mouth that fine Cognac, Single Malt whisky, or a Bourbon sipping session provides. Not a hot mouth feel like cheap swill mixto Tequila of economy rum gives.

Avelino Lara created Cohiba as a branded cigar, in 1968. This cigar became the Rolls Royce of Cuban Cigars. Fidel presented boxes of these fine cigars to visiting diplomats, and they acquired mythic status. The tobacco used for these amazing cigars comes from the heart of the Vuelta Abajo, about 100 miles southwest of Havana. This region produces the richest tobacco in the world and is a “terrior” statement like Bordeaux, Burgundy, and Roquefort cheese is for wine and fine cheese. It cannot be replicated anywhere in the world.

A new Dominican company, Diaz y Cia created a “Cohiba” in l978. The Dominican Cohiba cigar, which was reformulated in the 1990s, is the only Cohiba cigar that can be purchased legally in the United States. They are the company that licensed the Cohiba rum, not the Cuban-run Cohiba brand of the El Laguito Firm.

The American consumer love affair with “Name Brands” sparked a rage for fake Cohibas of Mexican and other nefarious origins. Many a gullible frat boy or businessman got duped into spending $20.00 a stick on grossly inferior Te Amos with fake bands on them. I can attest to this illicit trade, as I was Nogales this last holiday weekend. I am a known and despised nemesis of the “cigar” mafia of fraudsters, as I call bullshit on their dodgy trade and advise caution to prospective buyers that I see being conned on the streets of Border town barrios. The shrewd buyers beware in Mexico, as these fake authorized merchants fake government stamps and packaging to entice their gringo marks. Don’t get me wrong; I LOVE Mexico, Mexican people, Mexican culture, and I grew up a stone’s throw from the Mexican border in New Mexico. My fiancé, Kim Silva, is a Chicana Paseno from Tejas so our future children will be mixed heritage. I just hate scam artists and evildoers everywhere. ¿Usted me entiende, Vato?

Check out this website to learn about fakes.
http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Gallery/0,3390,,00.html

The Cohiba Rum is Dominican rum packaged by Brugal & Cía, and licensed by the Dominican Cohiba firm, and has frankly nothing to do with REAL Cohiba in Cuba. The Importer that I met (name unremembered) at WSWA in Vegas last year seemed to be a charlatan bent on that fake Cohiba pitch that the Mexican Tobacco merchants apply. The Cohiba rum by Brugal is fine rum, and a sound product, but rather than selling it on it’s merits it is being marketed as a legitimate Cohiba produced rum, which it is not. All name brands are not bad, and I am not the Ralph Nader of the liquor trade, but don’t fall for the hype. Speaking of name brand items, on my way back from Nogales, yesterday, I stopped at Kon Tiki in Tucson. I kept my NEW Kon Tiki mug from Tiki Farm. Now that is a swell quality Name Brand product worth every penny. ¡Reglas De la Granja De Tiki!