Embargo still blocks sales of Cuban cigars

“Got any Cuban cigars yet?”

Customers have been asking the question at tobacco shops around Northern Colorado and the Boulder Valley this week ever since President Obama announced Tuesday that the United States would restore diplomatic relations with Cuba and ease the travel and trade restrictions that have been in place against the communist-controlled island nation 90 miles off Florida.

“Any other time before today, it was a joke,” said Pam Orzell, manager of Al’s Newsstand and Tobacco Shop, 177 N. College Ave. in Fort Collins. “People would say, ‘Where are your Cubans? You’re hiding them somewhere, aren’t you! Back of the…