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  • BOTL UPCOMING MAINTENANCE

    Hi Everyone, as mentioned in my introduction post, BOTL needs quite a bit of updating, patching and whatever else I might come across. Over the next few weekends BOTL may be unreachable on occasion as I do migrations or updates, etc. Just be patient - we'll be back! I'll generally try to keep these maintenances until later in the evenings.

back from mexico

GuyMcBeerdrinker

poonsmith
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
1,542
Location
u s and a
and have some nice things to report, as well as update info on cigar shops.

but I'm pretty tired so I'll fill in later.
 

GuyMcBeerdrinker

poonsmith
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
1,542
Location
u s and a
so yeah, I can't fall asleep.

playa was awesome. as soon as the cab dropped me off and I threw my bags in my hotel room I set off to find lcdh. it's funny that nobody is town knew where it was, but I had a general idea so off I went.

after walking past it a few times I realized why everyone goes to casa partagas or habana cigar, the lcdh is pretty fuckin' inconspicous from 5 ave (everything is pretty much on this avenida in playa).

walked in and talked to the lady that works there, deborah. place was tiny, empty and she loved having me there. we talked about cigars, of course, cuba (she's from cuba), politics, everyday life in cuba, habanos s.a., robaina, just about anything you could think a cigar guy could ask her. including how they bought their cigars, counterfeits, which local shops they supplied and which sold fakes.

her husband, fran, is the store manager and does everything. he was in cuba for a week to place some orders. he knows a lot about cigars.

I arrived around 4pm and left around 9pm that first day. with an invitation to you know where in tow.

over the course of my stay I checked out some shops that had legit stock: casa partagas (there are two locations on 5 ave.) -- btw, enrique mons does not own it, habana cigar, excellent cigars and lola. I would rank as follows as far as confidence:

1. lcdh
2. casa partagas



5. habana cigar

10. lola

as you get closer to the dock you see a lot of neon signs for habana cigars and vendors offering them. I never took up one of their offers, but some of the shops near where they cruise ships dock had some crazy looking cigars.

oh and there's this upscaleish open air mall that has a la bodeguita del medio, they have a few cubans there and some cool t-shirts. almost bought one, but the backs were stamped with some pretty obnoxious la bodeguita del medio slogans. no, I did not have a daiquiri there. the purist in me wouldn't allow it. it was way too "hollywood", unlike the original.

as an aside the very best mojitos in pdc are made at babe's noodles and bar. at 35 pesos they were a bargain. hotel deseo has some good ones. the rest were decent. the ones at la palapa hemingway were just embarrassing.
 
Joined
Oct 12, 2006
Messages
154
Location
Austin TX
Well it sounds like you had a good time Jorge. So welcome back and hope to see you around sometime soon.

J
 
Joined
Jan 14, 2005
Messages
710
Location
TX
Who all I have ever heard from both the owners of the cozumel lcdh and my buddie danny was that C.P was Mons' place? Either way it sounds like you had a great time man!

welcome back
 

GuyMcBeerdrinker

poonsmith
Joined
Dec 24, 2004
Messages
1,542
Location
u s and a
mike,

we talked about cozumel and she mentioned something about the shops there. she couldn't remember the name of the owner of habana club, so I reminder her it was mimi. her reaction was that she pretty much lost interest after her husband died, so she mothballed the shop.
 
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