Friend going to Cuba,

[Bad-Yeti]

Hey all, So a friend of mine is going to Havana on Tuesday the best bit is that her and her friend don't smoke .......and they'll let me have their allowance......so my question to you guys is this:

What store should I send them to?

Anything unusual I should suggest they get me? (Do they do regionnals there?)

How much cheaper is it than here for instance?

Jars....where can they get Jarzzzzz

Thanks guys.

[nicwing]

Get some of the Piramidas from the Melia Havana rolled by Jolanda, awesome cigars and only 4.5 cuc each. Come in bundles of 25. Age beautifully.

[Zigatoh]

There is one Cuban regional I think, and a site somewhere with all the current prices, can't find it tho, anyone?

[Zigatoh]

Score! The cuban RE is in a JAR too!! - (from CA) -
"The cigar is called the La Gloria Cubana Delicioso, and is designed to be sold only in Cuba. The Delicioso is 5 inches long by 48 ring gauge—a standard Hermoso No. 4 size in Cuban factories—and comes in handsome white ceramic jars of 25 with tiny humidification units in the lids. Only 2,000 jars (50,000 cigars) have been produced."

Think it was a 2010 so may not be around any more?

[Zigatoh]

No idea when this was last updated but looks feasible -

http://marty.514crew.com/cigarprices.html

[Sligub]

I would try and check their itinerary and find a shop close to where they will be. Also u have to seriously nail them to ONLY! Buying from a LCDH!!

Yes there has been 1 Cuba RE
http://www.halfwheel.com/?p=24366 but don't think you will find any.

As for prices here is a rough list

http://yulcigars.blogspot.co.uk/2011/07/buying-cuban-cigars-in-cuba-cigar-price.html?m=1

Prices in CUC

I would recommend using your allowance on any high value purchases your thinking about as you save more.

Jars are just luck, might be worth giving them a wish list in order of preference incase the shop is out of what you want

[ACMCC]

The Partagas factory shop in the middle of town next to the parliament building would be a good choice.

Again.... only buy from LCDH shops!


Best to stock up on LE's, H. Upmann and Partagas Jars are in most shops, Behike are a good bet too, price would be around 50+% less than UK.

They don't zip lock bag them in Cuba (paper bags) so taking some bags or a roll of clingfilm would be good, and if they get the shop to open the boxes for a look as I noticed the odd box over humidified in some of the smaller shops (small amounts of white mould - too close to the electric humidifier outlet) they will have the LCDH special release cigars too which are worth a look too, both the 2010 are very good.


Check out this site to make your list: http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/index.htm

[PoohBore]

I couldnt find the lgc jar last October.
I would go for the melia habana hotel and the custom rolled "behike" and robusto's


Or the hotel Conde la Villanueva which is a 2 minute walk from the rum museum. The custom rolls are behind a picture in the lounge area. Ask for reynaldo's custom rolled


Both are on google maps for Havana. If they want a taxi ride then Enrique mons's in miramar and his Lonsdales are superb.

[PoohBore]

Just found this tucked away as a note in the phone. The rollers name and location where they can be bought:


Reynaldo (Villa conde de villnueva)
La China (Partagas Factory)
Yolanda (melia cohiba/habana)
Santos (Commodoro)
Jorge Lopez (Club Habana Enrique Mons's place)
Cueto (Morra Fortress)
Where are they staying ?

[Smallclub]

I couldnt find the lgc jar last October.

A friend of mine was there last month, he managed to find one LGC jar, and one only, and for that he had to go and ask in EVERY lcdh in Havana and Varadero?

I agree that the custom rolls from Reynaldo, Mons, La China, etc. are the way to go.
And again : don't buy singles, inspect carefully the 2 layers of the boxes if you purchase standard production like RASS, for instance, which is very cheap in Cuba (about ?75 the box).

[Dherm]

My Sister is in Cuba this July. What is the cigar entitlement per person that can be brought back without being molested by customs or before having to sell a kidney to pay any duty?

[ACMCC]

It's 50 per person, and they don't mind a few loose ones, although I did not need to test that as I was not searched, I had about 9 loose over that I'd purchased to smoke in Cuba but not got around to smoking...

[Dherm]

Good to know. Ill have to get smoking to see what I like so she can bring me a box or two back......its a hard life......

[RogMcDodge]

Esplendidos in a glass top box are apparently quite good

[Simon Bolivar]

My tip would be keep it simple, they are on holiday & if they don't find what you want the first place they go, they may end up bringing something you didn't really want. Can't emphasis enough, tell them not to buy from touts, relations of someone working in facotories ect, they won't be able to tell the difference but you probably will.
If you have a few unbanded smokes or other singles best to delcare them & pay the minmal duty on them. I declared 9 unbanded that were made for me in the field, I was told the Belgian duty was 40cts per stick but was waved through. The Customs agents were searching a lot of people including nice familes & not just your middle aged males with holdalls.