在古巴淘雪茄

古巴是雪茄客的天堂，至今仍出產全世界最好的煙葉和最著名的雪茄。有機會踏上古巴土地的人都不愿意錯過在當地淘雪茄的機會，“胖子”孫炎也不例外，但是久居哈瓦那的他漸漸找到一條與眾不同的雪茄之路。

As the paradise for cigar lovers， Cuba still produces the world’s best tobacco and cigars. Anyone who has the opportunity to set foot on the land would not miss the opportunity to look for cigars. “Fleshy” Sun Yan is no exception. A long time resident in Havana， he has discovered a unique road in the pursuit of cigars.

雪茄掮客Raul

炎熱的正午時分，空曠的哈瓦那街頭，孫炎獨自漫步在老城的城區里，穿過幾條彎彎曲曲的小巷，輕車熟路地來到一家雪茄店門口。推開大門，和里面的員工揮手示意后就徑直上了二樓，老朋友Raul早早地就在這里等著他的到來。

孫炎接過Raul遞過來的水杯，大口地喝了兩口，顧不得擦干額頭上的汗就讓Raul趕緊拿出他這次來最想見到的東西——一個印著中國和古巴國旗的白色壇子。打開壇子，一股屬于玻利瓦爾雪茄的獨特濃郁香味飄散出來，白色壇身上印著一行英文小字“50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relationship”，無需Raul介紹，這正是孫炎夢寐以求的玻利瓦爾雪茄中古建交50周年的特別紀念款。孫炎擦了擦已經出汗的手，小心翼翼地從壇子中抽出一支雪茄，仔細觀察整支雪茄的做工，又將雪茄放在鼻子下面深深地嗅了一下，臉上才露出滿意的笑容和Raul說：“我要了”。

一直站在旁邊微笑不語的Raul這時才張口和孫炎說這款50周年紀念雪茄的報價，孫炎毫不猶豫地支付了這筆不菲的費用，然后又塞給了Raul 20古巴比索的小費，告訴他“下次有貨記得早點通知我”。又順利地完成了一筆交易，Raul也顯得比孫炎剛剛上樓時放松，一邊數著手里的美元和比索，一邊示意孫炎下次有新貨一定會最先通知他。

一場看似普通的雪茄交易，其實并不像表面看來的那么簡單。孫炎購買的這款玻利瓦爾雪茄中古建交50周年特別紀念款自從2010年推出就十分搶手，現在市面上在售的已經寥寥無幾了。收藏這款雪茄一直是孫炎的心愿，這次得以實現，全靠他的古巴老朋友Raul的幫忙。Raul是一家雪茄店的店主，私下里又是一名雪茄掮客。在古巴，人民革命政府會把一些高檔雪茄當作福利分發給黨政干部供他們享用，但在人均月薪也不高的古巴，即使是黨政干部收入也不過幾千古巴比索，于是很多人會私下里把雪茄交易出去，換錢貼補家用，于是就衍生出了Raul這樣的雪茄掮客。對于紀念款雪茄的主人，孫炎猜測他可能是古巴革命委員會的委員，也可能是古巴外交部的工作人員，但只要是真正的好雪茄，它的背景、來源對孫炎來說都不重要。

賽門·玻利瓦爾是19世紀偉大的浪漫主義人物之一，鼓吹南美國家脫離西班牙的統治，在1901年，玻利瓦爾死后的71年，哈瓦那的 Rocha 公司制作雪茄來紀念他，玻利瓦爾特別的肖像及特殊的身份地位，也就自然出現在雪茄標簽及木盒上。這些雪茄結構豐富、濃郁并保有一致的高品質，在風味及口感上，茄衣顏色較深味道強烈，非常不建議初學者享用，除了口感較為順暢溫和的皇家可樂娜 （Royal Corona） 。

Cohiba 雪茄創立于1966年，當時只作為哈瓦那首相外交上的禮品。 直至1982年，Cohiba 雪茄才提供3種雪茄尺寸可售賣予大眾，分別是 Lanceros、Coronas Especiales 和 Panatelas；Cohiba 雪茄擁有非常豐富及順暢的口感，在哈瓦那雪茄中，高希霸系列被歸類為中等濃郁到濃郁口感的雪茄。

“胖子”的秘密

一起玩雪茄的朋友都喜歡叫孫炎“胖子”，雖然他本人已經在古巴悶熱的氣候下變得又黑又瘦。每次從古巴回來，大伙口中的“胖子”都會帶回來一些正宗的古巴雪茄，其中還常有一些市面上并不多見的頂級雪茄。但是不管朋友們怎么問孫炎如何找到這些雪茄的，孫炎總是笑著不肯回答，因為他一直想在朋友面前保留一些神秘色彩。

在古巴買雪茄有兩種渠道：一種是正規渠道，即在正規的國營雪茄店和機場的雪茄店里買，購買的雪茄都配有正規的發票，那樣的話，一盒25支精裝高希霸雪茄就要花600美金；另一種渠道就是黑市。在黑市上賣雪茄的人一般是當地雪茄廠的工人或者工人家屬，他們通過特殊渠道從雪茄廠里偷出來一些雪茄，或者出售自己加工的雪茄。黑市上的雪茄出售價格極便宜，一盒25支精裝高希霸雪茄可能才要25～40美元。而“胖子”孫炎的秘密，是他在這兩種渠道之外還通過熟識的雪茄掮客搜羅心儀的雪茄。

有人覺得從Raul這樣的人手里買雪茄和在黑市上買雪茄沒什么區別，但在孫炎眼中，這和黑市上買雪茄根本不是一回事。“黑市上的雪茄絕大部分都沒有正規的發票或者干脆就沒有發票，雪茄雖然便宜，但質量和做工也沒什么保證。黑市上的雪茄好的少，差的多，買的時候全憑買家的辨別力。而Raul他們出售的雪茄有些是政府官員放在這里代賣的；有些是大買家從古巴帶不走，放在這里二次出售的；有些則是配有正規發票的。除了質量更有保障外，買家還可以從中淘出一些精品”，孫炎解釋說。不可以講價是掮客雪茄和黑市雪茄的另一個差別。如果在黑市上買雪茄，覺得做工和質量一般，可以和賣家砍價。而掮客們手里的雪茄，絕對不接受砍價。

購買的難度上，黑市雪茄更容易入手。孫炎開玩笑說：“住在酒店，只要問起去哪買雪茄，幾乎每個酒店服務員都會告訴他有個朋友在雪茄廠工作，偷出了一批非常不錯的雪茄，價格很便宜。”而雪茄掮客出售的雪茄并不會隨便賣給一個陌生買家，出于對自己的保護他們會選擇一些比較熟識、值得信任的老客人，就像孫炎。

實際上，孫炎在知道Raul是雪茄掮客前已經在這家雪茄店里消費兩年了。回憶起第一次從Raul手里買來4盒帕塔加斯雪茄的時候，孫炎坦誠自己“還挺緊張，又怕高價買了假貨，又怕出海關的時候會被扣下”。孫炎并不是Raul唯一的客人，為了確保能買到自己心儀的雪茄，每次交易之后孫炎都會給Raul幾十比索當作小費。即使這樣，孫炎也不能保證自己每次都捷足先登，Raul手里曾經有一批非常值得收藏的雪茄盒，但等孫炎接到消息趕來時，這些雪茄盒都已經被一位新加坡買家全部買走了。

小心古巴雪茄

“雪茄店在古巴也不是隨處可見，但是雪茄倒真的是任何地方都有”，這是孫炎對雪茄在古巴現狀的評價。在雪茄最著名的產地古巴，偽造雪茄的行為從來都沒有停止過。行走在哈瓦那街頭，總有古巴人神神秘秘地對外國游客推薦手里的雪茄，而這里面幾乎絕大部分都不是正規廠制出的雪茄。孫炎認為“如果就是想嘗下雪茄的味道，雪茄價格又合適，其實買這種雪茄也無所謂，有時或許還有驚喜。但如果想買好一點的雪茄帶走，最好的方法就是去國營店里買帶有正式發票和出關報關單的雪茄。”看外包裝，檢查品牌商標和火印印刷等辨識雪茄的方式，在孫炎看來都是針對真正雪茄客的，對于初學者和游客，最簡單的區分方式就是看賣家能否提供正式發票。

據孫炎介紹，外國人從古巴帶出有發票的品牌雪茄不受限制，帶出那種黑市上的無發票雪茄則不能超過50根。雪茄黑市在古巴是公開的秘密，很多游客去古巴買雪茄都不免從黑市上買一些。因為黑市貿易的猖獗給古巴造成了巨大的外匯損失，所以出海關時，機場工作人員查得特別嚴。孫炎提醒每個到古巴購買雪茄的買家，“千萬不要相信網上那些所謂運氣好的游客，古巴海關人員當面會一根一根地清點每個人行李里的雪茄，所以不要抱著僥幸心理夾帶更多雪茄出去。”

Cigar Broker Raul

In the heat of noon day， Sun Yan rambled alone on the deserted streets of Havana. He zigzagged through several alleys and arrived at the doorstep of a cigar shop. He pushed the door open， waved casually at the staff， and went straight upstairs where his old friend Raul was waiting for him.

He took the cup from Raul， downed two mouthful of water， and urged Raul to show what he had came for before he had time to clean the sweat on his forehead. Raul produced a white jar painted with the national flags of both China and Cuba and a line of words —“50th Anniversary of Diplomatic Relationship”. Once opened， a unique aroma of Bolivar cigar came out of the jar. Without introduction， Sun Yan knew this was what he had been craving for—the special release in celebration of 50 years diplomatic ties between China and Cuba. He gingerly draw one cigar out with sweaty hands to observe the make， sniffed at the cigar deeply， and smiled to Raul， “I will take this”.

Waiting patiently beside him， Raul told him the price. Without hesitation， Sun Yan handed Raul the payment and a 20 peso tip. “Next time you have something good， inform me earlier.” Satisfied with the deal， Raul counted the dollars and pesos， and signaled to Sun Yan that he got the message.

This seemingly common deal is not as simple as it seems. The cigars he bought has been very sought-after since 2010， with very few still on the market. It had been his wish to collect these special release. Thanks to his old Cuban friend， his dream had came true. Raul is the owner of a cigar shop and privately a cigar broker. In Cuba， the People’s Government often distribute top quality cigars to party cadres. But with their meager income， usually several thousand pesos a month， most cadres would choose to sell the cigars for money， which is how Raul got his source of cigars. Sun Yan guessed that the original owner of the cigars may be a member of the Cuban Revolutionary Committee， or a staff in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs， but as long as he had the cigars， the background or source does not matter much.

The secret of “fleshy”

Fellow cigar lovers like to call Sun Yan “fleshy”， though he has turned black and slim in the hot and humid Cuban climate. Every time he is back from Cuba， “Fleshy” would bring some authentic cigars for his friends， sometimes very rare top quality cigars. But no matter how his friends probe about how he get those cigars， he would reply with a enigmatic smile.

There are two ways to acquire cigars in Cuba： legally from state-owned cigar shops or airport shops where cigars come with official receipts， or illegally from the underground market， where cigar factory workers or their families steal or make their own cigars to sell at very low prices， i.e. a box of 25 well-packed Cohiba cigars ranges from 25 to 40 US dollars. The secret of “Fleshy” is that he has discovered a third channel， cigar brokers.

You may think there is no difference between buying from Raul and buying from the illegal market， but Sun Yan sees it differently. “Cigars on the illegal market has no official receipt. Although cheap， there is no guarantee for its quality and make. It takes discernment to tell the very few good cigars. On the contrary， the cigars sold by Raul are either placed there by government officials， or other bulk buyers who could not bring them out of the country， therefore often come with receipts. Quality aside， buyers could sometimes get some really nice cigars，” Sun Yan explains. Bargaining is another difference telling brokers apart from the illegal market. You can bargain in the illegal market if you think the cigar is not so good in quality or make， but brokers do not accept bargaining.

But illegal market cigars are easier to acquire. Sun Yan said jokingly. “In any hotel， if you ask the staff where you can buy some cigar， nearly everyone would tell you that he or she has a friend who works in a cigar factory and who has stolen some very nice cigars and would sell them at very low prices.” Out of self protection， cigar brokers would not sell to any random buyer， but only to frequent and trusted buyers like Sun Yan.

In fact， Sun Yan had been purchasing cigars in Raul’s shop for over 2 years before he was aware of Raul’s secret identity. The first time he bought 4 packs of Partagas from Raul， he was very nervous， worrying that he “may have paid too much for fakes， or the cigars would be confiscated by the Customs.” As he is not the only customer of Raul， Sun Yan would give Raul tips during every transaction to ensure he could be informed of the cigars he want ahead of others. Even so， he is not always the first one to get the news. Once， Raul had a batch of very collectible cigar boxes， but when Sun Yan got to him， the boxes had already been sold to a Singapore buyer.

Beware of fakes

“In Cuba， you may not see cigar shops everywhere， but you can buy cigars anywhere”， commented Sun Yan. Counterfeit has never ceased to exist in Cuba. On the streets of Havana， there are always Cubans who would secretly market their cigars to foreign visitors， although most of these cigars are not made by official cigar brands. “If you just want to have a taste of cigar and the price seems OK for you， you could as well buy this kind of cigars， which sometimes may bring you surprises. But if you want to bring home some proper cigars， the best way is to go to a state-owned cigar shop to buy cigars with receipts and customs declaration forms.” Cigar aficionados would tell cigars by looking at the pack， the brand， and print. For starters， the easiest way is to check if the seller could provide authentic receipt.

According to Sun Yan， there is no restriction for foreigners to bring cigars with receipts out of the country， but the number of cigars purchased on the illegal market could not exceed 50. The illegal cigar market is an open secret in Cuban where many tourists would go to. But because it has caused huge foreign exchange loss， the Customs are very strict in examination. He reminds buyers of cigars “never believe those so-called lucky tourists， because the Customs would count the number of cigars in your baggage one by one. Don’t purchase more than you can bring with the hope of getting away without being caught.”