Think that the only place in the United States where good cigar tobacco can be grown is Connecticut?

If so, you are mistaken.

Deep in the Bluegrass State, in an area more known for thoroughbred horses and fine bourbon, something unusual is happening. Some fine cigar wrapper tobacco is being grown because of the vision and efforts of Mark Barrow, a man who decided to try something no one else had tried.

“I think Kentucky’s heritage is tobacco, bourbon and fast horses, and I want to keep all three of them going,” said Barrow.

Mark Barrow is not just a visionary. He is a visionary who has succeeded.

The story continues after the jump.

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Bert Shapiro, of Pheasant’s Eye Productions, is a very talented independent filmaker. He makes short films about real people, doing real things.

And he concentrates on ways of life that are vanishing.

Ways of life like rolling cigars by hand in New York City.

Here, courtesy of Pheasant’s Eye, is a look at how a torcedor — a cigar roller — turns a pile of leaves into a work of art in the award winning short film Hand Rolled on 29th Street.

The film takes less than three minutes to view. If you have never had a chance to see how a cigar is rolled, you should find this especially fascinating.

More on Bert Shapiro, the filmaker, below the fold.

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Related Link: new york hotels make up the great New York skyline

In a statement that has further raised speculation over the fate of dictator Fidel Castro, Cuba’s Communist Party on Thursday stressed it would stay in control no matter what happened to the convalescent leader. The statement again failed to clear up questions over whether Castro is dead or alive, and doubts over who is in actually charge of the island nation now.

Cuban Communist Party statement fuels speculation that Castro is dead

In a typically cryptic message analysts said was designed to dispel fears of a disorderly transition of power, the main Communist newspaper Granma printed part of an old speech by Cuba’s temporary leader, Castro’s brother Raul.

In the speech, delivered on June 14 to army officers and first printed in Granma the following day, Raul Castro said, “Only the Communist Party …. can be the worthy heir of the trust Cubans have placed in their leader.”

The question of who will actually succeed Fidel Castro is not simple to answer. The story continues below the fold.

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Two days after the unprecedented handover of power in Cuba from dictator Fidel Castro to his brother, Raul, neither man has made a public appearance or been show in media reports. The questions being asked by many is, where are Fidel and Raul, what is happening out of sight, behind the scenes, and — most important of all — is Fidel Castro dead?

Demonstrator in Miami’s Little Havana with sign Is Castro Dead?”

A slight but perceptible mobilization of police in Havana’s streets was accompanied by a tightening of security at the country’s exit points, along with a mobilization of Communist Party activists and rapid response brigades. Cubans are pondering the fate of their leader of nearly five decades after he reportedly underwent gastrointestinal surgery.

A top official said Wednesday that Fidel Castro, 79, remained “very alert” following his operation, and continued to closely follow domestic and international affairs. However, no pictures have been shown of the island nation’s leader, and he has not been seen since last week.

As the hours have lengthened into days since the announcement of Fidel Castro’s health crisis, neither he nor his brother Raul, named as temporary replacement to Fidel on Monday, have appeared in public or made any direct statements to the media. Their continuing absence, along with the increasing security measures in Cuba, are stoking concerns over the country’s future.

National Assembly Speaker Ricardo Alarcon told US-based Pacifica Radio’s “Democracy Now” show that he had spoken Monday and Tuesday with Fidel.

“Of course, he is forced to have a period of rest. He underwent complicated surgery,” said Alarcon. “But he is very alive and very alert as always, very interested in what’s going on around him and around the world,” he said.

Despite Alarcon’s claim to have spoken with with Castro, the ailing dictator’s absence from public view has continued to fule speculation that he might be comatose, more gravely ill than reported…or worse.

Details of Castro’s health have been declared an official state secret because of, Cuban government sources state, the continuing threat posed by the United States. Rather than bringing reassurance, the move has prompted questions of what health details could be dangerous to the state — except confirmation of Castro’s death.

“They should have appeared,'’ said Rolando Anderson, a vendor in Havana’s historic center. “There are many people asking questions.'’

More news from Cuba and Florida below the fold.

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British actor, comedian and director Mel Smith, set to portray Sir Winston Churchill at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, has raised two fingers firmly against Scotland’s ban of smoking onstage in dramatic performances.

As reported last month, Scotland’s draconian anti-smoking legislation makes it the only nation in the Western world where creativity and art must take a back-seat to political correctness and junk science. Sir Winston Churchill, so associated with cigar smoking that a size and shape of cigar was named after him, cannot be portrayed onstage in Scotland with a cigar in his hand.

Personally, I’d like to know which way Smith’s hand was facing at the time he made that gesture, and whether he was signalling victory or the Vicky.

I’m betting on the latter.

More from Anna Millar in Scotland after the jump.

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The fifth and final installment of this series brings us some cigars that you may not be familiar with.

If you have never tried today’s selections — or perhaps never even heard of them before — then you have been missing out on some true smoking pleasure. Both are quite worthy of being listed not only among the best USA-made cigars, but among the best cigars in the world.

In contrast to the heady prices of some of the earlier cigars in this series, the final two today are also rather modestly priced. Both brands would have to be considered “best buys” and true bargains.

For those coming late to this series, please take note of the fine print: The order in which cigars are presented in this series does not indicate relative quality or rating. It is not a top-to-bottom or bottom-to-top list. All cigars in this list are quite good, all are quite different, and each one is a #1 cigar in its own way.

Another thing that needs to be said in this look at some of the best cigars made in the United States currently is that it was not easy coming up with only ten. There are a lot of very fine cigars still being rolled in the U.S. of all strengths and bodies in some intriguing blends.

That was a pleasant surprise, since more and more brands are moving their manufacturing exclusively to Latin America. Old Powder Keg cigars, for example, from Connecticut Valley Tobacconist would have certainly been in this list…but they are now made in the Dominican Republic instead of in Connecticut.

In order to help me trim the list, I also arbitrarily eliminated a number of cigars that are made in the U.S.A., but in extremely limited numbers and/or do not have national distribution. I’m going to be highlighting some of these “micro-boutique” cigar lines in features over the next few weeks.

As I prepared the articles and ratings, I’ve had the pleasure of becoming reacquainted with some old favorites I haven’t sampled in a number of years, as well as finding some new favorites. None of the manufacturers listed here have paid or compensated me in any way in order to be included in this list — in fact, none of them even knew that their cigars were going to appear before they showed up in this Cigar Envy feature.

Now, on to today’s cigars. The reviews and ratings begin below the fold.

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