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CUBA
NEWS
Yahoo!
Cuban Rolls World's Biggest Cigar
By Andrea Rodriguez, Associated
Press Writer.
HAVANA - A Cuban cigar maker has shattered his
own record for the world's longest cigar by rolling
a 45-foot-long stogie, the Guinness Book of World
Records said.
It took Jose Castelar Cairo five days to manufacture
the cigar - a feat that far surpassed his 35-foot
cigar that set the record in 2000.
The latest and greatest cigar was rolled in November,
but only recently certified by Guinness. Castelar
proudly displayed both Guinness certificates on
Thursday.
Castelar's first milestone was a 9-foot cigar
he and his buddies rolled in 1999 as a way to
attract passing tourists.
"We never thought the cigars we were making
would be for Guinness," said Castelar, who
has been weaving together Cuban tobacco leaves
for 43 years.
Castelar is a cigar maker for La Triada, a shop
located in a historic colonial fort that once
protected Havana from enemy invasions and pirate
attacks.
His recognition by Guinness was announced on
the same day that officials shut down an illegal
cigar factory - one of 100 dismantled since the
beginning of the year for trying to pass off mediocre
smokes as authentic Cuban brand-name cigars.
Cuba has a thriving black market in cigars.
Some illegal factories manufacture mediocre cigars,
then attach the labels of authentic, more expensive
makers and distribute them in tourist areas.
A box of 25 Esplendidos that costs $25 on the
street sells for $300 in the official state-run
stores.
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