I thought back to the last time I'd seen her: tan cheeks still unlined, clear blue eyes, deep tobacco-coarsened drawl and earthy sense of humor.
"Let them come here and they can help us with their money; they can mend this road," says Claribel, who owns a picturesque home in the popular tourist destination of Vinales, about two hours west of here in deep tobacco-growing country.
David Friedman, whose Marijuana Investor News co-sponsored the summit, told me, "Now is the time to get into the space, because as soon as pot is federally legal, and can be transported across state lines, the big companies with deep pockets — tobacco and alcohol — will take over.
The First Lady is working so hard to get kids to put down the Cool Ranch deep-fried tobacco dogs, or whatever it is they concoct with that meat substance pet food companies rejected that got sold to public schools.
Meanwhile, deep in the tobacco fields of North Carolina, R.J. Reynolds and other tobacco companies had spent many millions of dollars on nicotine research.
Trump's health appointments also have deep links to tobacco companies.
Or are the flaws so deep that the tobacco money -- and any that follows -- is effectively being thrown down a black hole?
"Tobacco is tobacco is tobacco.
Taking the first dip from a fresh can is harder than any other time, but you must simply work your fingers deep into the tobacco and pull out a pinch.
"Many of his appointees have deep commitments to the tobacco industry," he said.
Even better is Contino's quite gorgeous reserva, which is seamlessly silky and deep with brothy umami, tobacco and the purest brambly fruit.
