American cigars part one

Most of the fine handmade cigars currently sold in the United Kingdom are Cuban, together with a small but select number of fine cigars from the Dominican Republic, Honduras and Nicaragua. The reverse is true in the USA – America has the widest selection of non-Cuban cigars in the world. UK retailers who would like to include a wider range of non-Cuban cigars are disinclined to do so due to the British Government's exorbitant taxation on tobacco. If a customer is given the choice between a fine Havana or an equally fine non-Cuban cigar, especially if there isn't much difference in price, he or she will usually opt for the former – the image of the Havana cigar still reigns supreme in Britain. Nevertheless, in recent years some fine American cigar brands – many of them actually rolled in the USA – have been vying with the finest Havanas, and deservedly winning over new British fans.