Denver Cigar Expert: Cuban Mystique May Fade

DENVER (CBS4) - Smoke from legal Cuban cigars may soon be filling the air at smoke shops like Cigars on 6th in Denver.

Cigars from Cuba have been considered the best in the world for years. An estimated 5 to 6 million Cuban cigars are smuggled into the United States each year.

But the new hopes for a lifting of a trade embargo between the U.S. and Cuba now that the two countries have formalized relations could mean major changes in the cigar industry.

It also might mean an end to the mystique of the Cuban cigar, according to Cigars on 6th owner Dan Dunne.

"The Cubans are still making them, they are just making better cigars -- we think -- in Nicaragua, Honduras, Dominican Republic," Dunne said. "But it's kind of the forbidden fruit. Everyone wants what they can't have."

Dunne says about half of his customers bring Cuban cigars into his store to smoke.

"I can't carry them, but hopefully soon -- sooner rather than later -- we'll be able to carry them," he said.

Americans may also soon have a new Caribbean vacation spot with the new agreement.

"I think the cruise lines are salivating in being able to stop in Havana," Robert Polk at Corporate Travel Management told CBS4.