What are Cuban cigars made of?

Cuban cigars are not, currently, actually considered "the best".

While Cuban cigars were once considered among the best in the world, the industry was decimated during Castro's revolution.

Large sectors of the economy, including the profitable cigar manufacture sector, were nationalized (i.e., seized and taken over) by the Cuban government under Castro.

This led to two things:

1) The majority of the successful and wealthy cigar manufacturers, farmers and owners left Cuba entirely, taking their decades of experience with them.

2) The new government-run companies and farms became staffed and run by generally inexperienced newcomers.

Today, the vast majority of cigar afficionados consider Cuban cigars to be of relatively inferior quality, bolstered only by "name recognition" and the general, if incorrect, assumption that "Cubans" are the best.

The original, experienced families and farmers that made the Cuban industry famous have long since relocated to places like Honduras and the Dominican Republic, where the vast majority of the "best" cigars now originate.

Almost all major brands such as Punch, Five Vegas, Macanudo, Ashton, Arturo Fuente, Romeo y Julieta and even Cohiba (which originally was Cuban and is still sold there by the government) originate from the above countries, and not from Cuba.

The concept of a "Cuban Cigar" as being the best is an outdated, and in most cigar-fan's opinion, completely eroneous concept.

With that said, some Cuban cigars that are closely associated to the pride of the Cuban cigar industry are still top notch, i.e. R&J Churhills, Cohiba etc.