[valarauca1]

As a larger cigar smoker. This is largely marketing from non-Cuban companies. While a lot of Caribbean tobacco is very very good, Cubans are the best without question. And this isn't so much like wine where experts fail to recognize quality in double blinds. A proper cuban cigar has a very distinct veining pattern, and far more almost oily texture. You can tell by touch alone with little training.

Seasoned critics can name the nationality of a cigar just by touch its actually very cool to see (I'm nowhere near that good lol a few different countries are too similar for me).

And the "golden age" of Cuban cigars is often cited as before WW2 so either way its long pasted.

[scardine]

Brazilian tobacco tastes good, but leaves are not spotless like in Cuba, so Brazilian cigar makers have to import them just for the "capa" layer (the external layer in cigars). Many countries do the same.