美國一位雪茄愛好者的古巴尋寶之旅2

Such lyricism inspired the Padilla 1968 Golden Bear cigar, an earthy-flavored tribute to the poet. It’s called the 1968 Series because that’s the year Mr. Padilla published the anthology “Fuera del Juego” (“Out of the Game”), which ultimately got him locked up for “having plotted against the powers of the state.” Cigar novices might mistake this hard-to-find cigar band’s red and gold illustration for a crown, but aficionados know it’s actually the nib of the poet’s fountain pen.

這首詩促成了“帕迪亞1968年金熊”(Padilla 1968 Golden Bear)雪茄的誕生，以其樸實的香味向這位詩人致敬。之所以被命名爲“1968系列”(1968 Series)，是因爲帕迪亞在這一年出版了詩集《遊戲之外》(Fuera del Juego)（英譯“Out of the Game”），而這本詩集最終成了他因“陰謀反對國家政權”被捕的導火索。雪茄新手可能會以爲這少見的紅金相間的標箍圖案是一個王冠，但懂行的人就知道，這其實是帕迪亞所用鋼筆的筆尖。

Cigar nostalgia abounds in Cuba, and I encountered few more eager to share it than Michael Phillips, a Briton who moved to Havana some 25 years ago to teach English. He is a devoted member of the city’s Cigar Aficionado Club, whose members — foreign diplomats and businessmen — meet monthly for dinner, cigars and conversation. Sitting in the spacious living room of his apartment in the upscale Miramar neighborhood, where most of the city’s top government officials reside, Mr. Phillips poured Cognac and held out a tray of unbanded cigars, from short coronas to lengthier Churchills, tan Habanos to darker Maduros. He grinned at my selection, pyramid-shaped and walnut in color.

雪茄懷舊情緒也瀰漫着整個古巴。我沒見過比邁克爾·菲利普斯(Michael Phillips)更渴望分享這種情緒的人了，這位英國人在大約25年前移居到哈瓦那，教授英語。他是哈瓦那《雪茄愛好者》雜誌讀者會(Cigar Aficionado Club)的忠實會員。這些會員多是外交官和商人，他們每月聚會一次，一起吃晚餐、抽雪茄、聊天。菲利普斯的公寓位於高檔的米拉馬爾區(Miramar)，大部分古巴政要也住在那裏。菲利普斯先生坐在寬敞的起居室，倒了一杯干邑白蘭地，拿出一碟不帶標箍的雪茄，裏面有短皇冠(short corona)，也有長一些的丘吉爾(Churchill)，有黃褐色的哈伯納斯，也有深褐色的馬杜羅(Maduro)。我選了一支金字塔形狀的栗色雪茄，對於我的選擇，他樂了起來。

“Don’t ask me where it came from,” he said mischievously, “because I cannot tell you.”

“別問我這是從哪兒來的，”他調皮地說，“因爲我不能告訴你。”

After some prodding, Mr. Phillips explained his suspiciously bandless cigar menu: “The rollers in the factory have a quota, but many of the women find a way to sneak a few extras out. So they roll for eight hours in the factory, and then come home and roll for another two hours.”

幾番軟磨硬泡之下，菲利普斯先生終於透露了他這些可疑的無煙標雪茄的來歷：“捲菸廠工人的配額是固定的，但很多女工都有辦法偷拿一些出來。所以她們每天在工廠裏卷八小時，下班回家再卷兩小時。”

He lit up, drew from his cigar, and watched the plume rise. “There was one girl who worked at the Romeo y Julieta factory; she was pregnant for three years!” He chuckled at such clever smuggling. “But yes, these are as good as the ones from the factory.”

他點上雪茄，吸了一口，望着升起的煙霧。“有個女孩在羅密歐與朱麗葉(Romeo y Julieta)工廠工作；她都懷孕三年了！”他對這絕妙的走私招數暗自竊喜。“但是當然了，這些雪茄和工廠裏的一樣好。”

Cigar enthusiasts are a discriminating bunch, yet most agree that Cuba is blessed with a unique combination of sun, soil and moisture — coupled with a rich history of hand-rolling — that makes for the world’s most flavorful cigars, Mr. Phillips said. If there was a dark period, it occurred during the Communist revolution as some of Cuba’s most talented growers fled and set up operations in countries such as the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras and Nicaragua. While an infusion of Soviet cash helped to prop up Cuba’s cigar industry, competition over the next several decades from its new foreign rivals — along with some bad crop years and a dismal foray into tobacco hybridization — diminished its product. The complaints, ranging from poor flavor to shoddy construction, dragged Cuban cigars down in Cigar Aficionado magazine’s vaunted annual rankings. From 1998 to 2005, Cuban cigars never scored above an average 88 on a 100-point scale, compared with its typical 90-plus average in years beforehand.

雪茄愛好者是一羣挑剔鬼，但大多數人都會同意這個說法：古巴有着得天獨厚的陽光、土壤及溼度——再加上手卷煙的悠久歷史，造就了世界上最可口的雪茄，菲利普斯先生說道。唯有一段黑暗的時期，是在共產主義革命期間，最好的菸草種植者都逃離了古巴，把生意搬到了多米尼加共和國、厄瓜多爾、洪都拉斯和尼加拉瓜等地。雖然蘇聯的資金支持了古巴雪茄行業的發展，但是之後的幾十年裏，新的外國競爭者出現，再加上一些年份收成不好、菸草雜交成果慘淡，古巴雪茄的質量由此下降，被頻頻投訴味道差、做工低劣，在《雪茄愛好者》雜誌上一度風光的年度排名也開始下滑。1998年到2005年，古巴雪茄的平均得分沒有一年超過88分（滿分100分），而在此之前一直是90多分。

Such history is always surfacing here, a collision of old glory and modern reality that infuses even its architecture. On Tenerife Street in central Havana, for instance, is a former factory that was once a major production house and storage facility for cigars. Decades ago, the owners fled and passed the building down to remaining family members. A few years ago, though, city officials took note that there was, once again, a family living in the factory, and have since taken over the rest of it and renovated it with apartments. Former factory workers, who once lived in poor conditions, now reside free of charge in modern living quarters.

這段歷史一直呈現在明處，而這一舊時輝煌與當代現實的碰撞甚至也融入了古巴的建築中。比如，在哈瓦那中心地帶的特納裏夫大街(Tenerife Street)有一棟房子，前身是一間工廠，作爲雪茄的主要生產和存儲的地點。幾十年前，老闆逃離了這裏，把這棟建築留給了家人。但是幾年前，哈瓦那的市政府官員發現又有一個家庭住在這間工廠裏，於是就接管了工廠的其餘部分，並把它改造成了公寓樓。如今，那些曾經居住條件惡劣的前工廠工人們可以免費住在現代化住宅裏了。

In Cuba, those smoking the finest cigars tend to be visitors like me, expats like Mr. Phillips, senior government officials and international business people. Most Cubans living on a state salary of less than $20 a month can’t afford hand-rolled cigars of export quality. Cubans do smoke local cigars, but they are not good quality and cost about a nickel in American currency and can be fodder for swindling undiscerning tourists.

在古巴，能抽最好的雪茄的人一般都是像我這樣的遊客、菲利普斯先生這樣的僑民、政府高官，或是國際商務人士。大多數靠着每月不到20美元的國家工資的古巴人買不起出口品質的手卷雪茄。古巴人抽本地雪茄，但本地雪茄的質量不好，價格約合5美分一支，還可以拿來騙不識貨的遊客。