Rolling for the elite

Reuters Published September 28, 2013
Yaremi Rodriguez tests the draw on cigars.
Yaremi Rodriguez tests the draw on cigars.
Cigar rollers work at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana.
Cigar rollers work at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana.
Maricela Castillo places a cigar she rolled on a stack at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Maricela Castillo places a cigar she rolled on a stack at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Niurka Perez affixes a band on a cigar at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida.
Niurka Perez affixes a band on a cigar at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida.
Maria Sierra, 64, operates a jack to compress rolled cigars in molds.
Maria Sierra, 64, operates a jack to compress rolled cigars in molds.
Maria Sierra rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Maria Sierra rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Maria Sierra, at age 18, was one of 30 Cuban women selected from thousands to learn the craft from Fidel Castro’s personal cigar roller Eduardo Rivera.
Maria Sierra, at age 18, was one of 30 Cuban women selected from thousands to learn the craft from Fidel Castro’s personal cigar roller Eduardo Rivera.
Yamil Becker stacks cigars he has rolled.
Yamil Becker stacks cigars he has rolled.
Maria Sierra selects tobacco as she rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Maria Sierra selects tobacco as she rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Yanela Salabarria rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store. In Miami, a niche industry is growing, centered on a few dozen elite Cuban rollers who make special edition cigars that sell for as much as $700 per box in Europe.
Yanela Salabarria rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store. In Miami, a niche industry is growing, centered on a few dozen elite Cuban rollers who make special edition cigars that sell for as much as $700 per box in Europe.
Owner Sandy Cobas holds cigars in the humidor.
Owner Sandy Cobas holds cigars in the humidor.
Ivan Miguel Diaz (Left) and Orlando Puitpalat smoke cigars as they work on rolling them.
Ivan Miguel Diaz (Left) and Orlando Puitpalat smoke cigars as they work on rolling them.
More than five decades after a trade embargo banned imports of cigars from Communist-ruled Cuba, the majority of US cigar imports come from other Caribbean countries as well as Central America.
More than five decades after a trade embargo banned imports of cigars from Communist-ruled Cuba, the majority of US cigar imports come from other Caribbean countries as well as Central America.
Maricela Castillo (Left) and Jose Ramon Sanquiesteban roll cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida.
Maricela Castillo (Left) and Jose Ramon Sanquiesteban roll cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store in the Little Havana neighborhood of Miami, Florida.
Yamil Becker rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Yamil Becker rolls cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Maria Sierra selects tobacco before she starts rolling a cigar.
Maria Sierra selects tobacco before she starts rolling a cigar.
Niurka Perez packs a box of cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.
Niurka Perez packs a box of cigars at the El Titan de Bronze cigar factory and store.

More than five decades after a trade embargo banned imports of cigars from Communist-ruled Cuba, the majority of US cigar imports come from other Caribbean countries as well as Central America.

Yet in Miami a niche industry is growing, centered on a few dozen elite Cuban rollers who make special edition cigars that sell for as much as $700 per box in Europe.

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