I just got back from my annual vacation in Cuba. I bought a few cigars while I was there and most of them had either beetle holes (which don't bother me unless they are going into my humidor) or they had mold. I bought from two different locations and was buying mainly R&J and Punch tubos. I had to open quite a few tubes before I could find sticks without a trace of mold. It may have just been bad luck this year. I haven't had this experience before but It seemed strange to me. Of course the retailer didn't care. It seemed to me that they see this all the time.
cigar quality in Cuba is not great
- Thread starter Bruce T.
- Start date
My friend went down for a day on a cruise line in January. He said the stock looked fine in the stores he stopped in, but that there was next to zero availability on most boxes.
ChuckMejia
The General
Buddy from Virginia also just got back from a cruise and he even came back with fundadores. He’s well educated in CCs and said stuff was good but still no behikes anywhere
Fundies at Cuba pricing is a hell of a nice pickup.
Glassman
Glass Gars Guns Garden
Just curious, if you go there regularly, wouldnt it be better to go to farms and "factories" and get custom rolls, / unbranded instead of picking through poor stock of stuff that can be ordered?
You can order cigars online, but you can't pick up many items for anywhere near the pricing you can get in Cuba. I dont know if you've ever been to any store or duty free overseas, but its a very different experience to go through box codes and crack open boxes and only pick up the good stuff.
As far as custom rolls go, there is a limit of taking 50 off the island at a time. This is because they don't come with a factura (receipt) to show the Cuban customs agents that you paid for the goods. Some folks smuggle more through (or bribe the right people, have the right connections etc) but if you get popped with more than is allowed they will generally confiscate the cigars.
You may be right but I go there for the sun and a good time. I don't want to spend my time hunting out cigar bargains. I'm too busy drinking scotch and smoking in the bar (yes, you can smoke in the bars!)
Glassman
Glass Gars Guns Garden
Hell, I can do that here!
And lots of great Island beaches out there.. If I make it to Cuba, it's gonna be 90% + cigar focused. 
I've never been impressed with the cost of CC's in Cuba. They are about half the price of what we can get them for here in Canada but that still makes them expensive in my books. Cigar prices are insane in my part of Canada due to taxation.
The Punch tubo that I bought in Cuba was about 7 cuc per stick. That converts to $9.10 US. The price at some off-shore suppliers for the same stick is $11 US per stick and that is before shipping so the savings are not that great.
ChuckMejia
The General
Tennesse has a lot of bars you can smoke at? excluding cigar lounges*Hell, I can do that here!And lots of great Island beaches out there.. If I make it to Cuba, it's gonna be 90% + cigar focused.
Glassman
Glass Gars Guns Garden
Eh, It's gotten a lot more limited in the last few years unfortunately. But there still are quite a few. I'm sure it's a cluster f of looholes and idiosyncrasies.
Something about being a primarily a bar rather than a restaurant or workarounds like it being a "private" club, or some such bs. And of course backwoods places just DGAF.
Honestly I usually prefer to smoke outside personally, but requirements like that piss me off.
Freaking great bit about smoking in bars at 6.15. Great part about being offended back at the 4 minute mark.
Last edited:
ChuckMejia
The General
I have no idea
Glassman
Glass Gars Guns Garden
lancero vitola of trinidad I think.
It depends on the sticks you're looking to buy. Trinidad fundies are 260 CUC compared to $400+ from grey market vendors, the Trinidad marca in general is a huge savings in Cuba. LCDH sticks are the same story. HURR 70 vs 100, HdM Elegantes 70 vs 150, Punch 48 83 vs 150, etc etc. Lots of other stuff is a 10%+ discount vs the best yearly sales and you get to pick the boxes you want. If I was heading to Cuba, I'd be buying boxes for sure and the savings adds up quickly if I'm buying certain items.
Nacho Daddy
Irrepressibly Irreverent Inveterate Ignominy
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
- Messages
- 3,496
tubos are THE most likely sticks to mold.
Cuban cigar quality has ALWAYS been sketchy,and is not likely to change.
If saving half the cost of a box of cigars doesn't appeal to you, why not take your own with you and save all that time shopping for a good cigar?
Cuban cigar quality has ALWAYS been sketchy,and is not likely to change.
If saving half the cost of a box of cigars doesn't appeal to you, why not take your own with you and save all that time shopping for a good cigar?
Nacho Daddy
Irrepressibly Irreverent Inveterate Ignominy
- Joined
- Jul 17, 2009
- Messages
- 3,496
"The Punch tubo that I bought in Cuba was about 7 cuc per stick. That converts to $9.10 US. The price at some off-shore suppliers for the same stick is $11 US per stick and that is before shipping so the savings are not that great."
A CUC is about 1.10 US, so your cigar was 7.70.
But you converted Canadian $$,so there should have been a better rate.
Cubans aren't sold here. Forget the tube and get them around 8.00 US,and shipping is included.
A CUC is about 1.10 US, so your cigar was 7.70.
But you converted Canadian $$,so there should have been a better rate.
Cubans aren't sold here. Forget the tube and get them around 8.00 US,and shipping is included.
They don't sell many Behike's on the island, if you find boxes these days you can consider yourself extremely lucky. Even when boxes are in production and Cuban shops do manage to get their hands on some they'll often get held back for VIP clientele. In general, Cuba exports a lot of the in demand boxes like Behike off to in demand markets such as Asia.
Last edited: