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Emergency! Leaving for Cuba tomorrow

A

absinthoman

New Member
Joined
Feb 3, 2007
Messages
3
Hi,

First of all I'm from Canada and I'm new to this forum but I've been reading about cigars for a while. My friend is leaving for Cuba tomorrow and I asked her if she could bring me back some bolivar royal coronas or Juan Lopez selection no.1. My question is how does it work with the said "duty free" in Canada. I don't get it. Sometimes they say :
A special duty will apply to cigarettes, tobacco sticks or manufactured tobacco unless they are marked "CANADA - DUTY PAID ? DROIT ACQUITTÉ." Canadian-made products sold at duty-free shops are marked this way.

And sometimes they don't say this. So how does it work? Do you always have to pay a duty when you buy cigar during a trip???Thanks for your help.
 
HI and welcome to the community. Most (almost 99%) of us are Americans and we cannot even THINK about cuban cigars without trembling in fear about what our Government will do..

Sorry; try Googling "duty free requirements" or " duty free regulations" you might have some luck that way.
 
absinthoman said:
A special duty will apply to cigarettes, tobacco sticks or manufactured tobacco unless they are marked "CANADA - DUTY PAID ? DROIT ACQUITTÉ."
Click to expand...

That's just for cigarettes (for all practical purposes) and is meant to apply to folks who buy smokes at the Duty-Free on the way OUT of Canada or on a flight. You can't bring in such items without showing that they originally had the duty paid.

As far as cigars : your friend can bring back 50 cigars (ex. 2 boxes of 25) as part of their "duty-free" allowance. Technically any additional cigars would be taxed and dutied at normal rates for your province. Most CBSA folk will allow a few cigars over the limit but I wouldn't ask someone to run that risk for me.

All the usual warnings about buying only at stores and not from the street apply of course.

Commander Bob
Pushing my own duty-free allowance on most trips. :rolleyes:
 
With the 50 cigar limit, is their a dollar value limit as well? I thought there was something around $400.
 
Make sure that you pick up some Cohibas with a glass top box.
 
Thank you guys.

Finally I asked her the Bolivar Royal coronas as choice number 1. Hoyo Epicure No.1 as a second choice and finally Juan Lopez Selection no.1 for my last choice. Let me know what you think about these cigars.
 
Well not to be a pain,

but you can give your selection to your friend, and she might not be able to find them at all.

Not all Casa Del Habano have the same selection, also too often they tend to have not much, except the big sellers or tourist catchers.
That is why, when I go to Cuba or someone goes there, I do a nice list of what I want, last time, I put down 25 candidates and it was some Bolivar Tubos no 2 that were found, they were like my 25th selection LOL.
 
I'm betting you can probably find them cheaper online. I've also been told there are a lot fakes in cuba, so make sure your friend knows the real thing when she sees it.
 
Nice selections (love the Royal Coronas and Epicures)! :thumbs: And good luck to your friend in finding them.

If you haven't already, pound it into her head, "ONLY BUY IN GOV-APPROVED SHOPS! DO NOT BUY FROM STREET VENDORS!" :laugh:

Better yet, if she's going to be in Havana, many of the factories have their own shops offering rare and limited goodies. Maybe should could get you some cool collectable stuff. :thumbs:
 
Bolivar Royal Coronas are a nice grab. Be aware that the Cuban govt has recently changed the way they let cigars out.....IF you get checked that is. I have not been but several people I have spoken to about this have said that the Cuban customs are only allowing thier cigars to leave the country when purchased from a Governement apporved store, with an official receipt. If you lose the receipt during your travel, you may be out of luck if they check the person bringing them out. (info received from a Habanos rep)
From what I understand it is because of pressure fro Habanos to combat counterfeiters. There are a ton of counterfeits out there. Cohiba and Montecristo seem to be the ones they like to counterfeit, so you are relitively safe with getting Bolivars. Happy Hunting. Let us know how you made out or any obstacles you may run into if any.

PS do a google search on Cohiba Glass Top cigars.....it shows the infamous and most counterfeited type of Cohiba. As "purdy" as they are Cohiba doesnt make a glass top in any of its lines....lolol
 
@ Windigo

I think that's a very good idea! Is it not estimated that 90% of the cigars worldwide sold as Cuban are counterfeit?
 
absinthoman said:
Thank you guys.

Finally I asked her the Bolivar Royal coronas as choice number 1. Hoyo Epicure No.1 as a second choice and finally Juan Lopez Selection no.1 for my last choice. Let me know what you think about these cigars.
Click to expand...

Boli RCs are easy to find. Most cigar stores will have them.

Hoyo Epi 1 are not so easy to find. Havana shops may have them but stores in resort areas, even Varadero will often be lacking.

Juan Lopez, in general are not common in most stores. Some of the better Havana stores will have some sizes but the resorts usually won't.

As suggested in another post, make them the first thre items on a short list of about 10-12 cigars that you would be happy to smoke. Your mule will then have a selection to chose from when shopping.

My only real caveat other than my previous caution about buying from touts is that you really can't expect a person who is unfamiliar with Cuban cigars to chose and buy for you.

Commander Bob
Regular shopper in Cuba.
 
Black Plague said:
@ Windigo

Is it not estimated that 90% of the cigars worldwide sold as Cuban are counterfeit?
Click to expand...

:D :D :D

90% ???

Where did you dig that up?

Most of the fake Cuban cigars are sold to tourists in Caribbean and Mexican resorts and to trusting customers of online vendors.
Many counterfeits are certainly available in Cuba, as long as you buy from the guys on the beach, the bartenders and waiters and the guys on the street who have relatives working in the Partagas factory. :cool:
There are government controlled stores all over Cuba where you will find only authentic Habanos at standard prices. Good vendors are not hard to find.

I've actually never seen counterfeits in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, or Japan. I have seen fakes in Canada and the USA and of course in Cuba. Mind you, I'm normally only buying from legit sorces but I'd have to say that I find the 90% figure to be a figment of someone's imagination.

Commander Bob
But the box of "Cohiba Esplendidos" featured on the intro page of the Shopping section of the latest Moon Handbook of Havana is A FAKE.
 
cbob said:
Black Plague said:
@ Windigo

Is it not estimated that 90% of the cigars worldwide sold as Cuban are counterfeit?
Click to expand...

:D :D :D

90% ???

Where did you dig that up?

Most of the fake Cuban cigars are sold to tourists in Caribbean and Mexican resorts and to trusting customers of online vendors.
Many counterfeits are certainly available in Cuba, as long as you buy from the guys on the beach, the bartenders and waiters and the guys on the street who have relatives working in the Partagas factory. :cool:
There are government controlled stores all over Cuba where you will find only authentic Habanos at standard prices. Good vendors are not hard to find.

I've actually never seen counterfeits in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, or Japan. I have seen fakes in Canada and the USA and of course in Cuba. Mind you, I'm normally only buying from legit sorces but I'd have to say that I find the 90% figure to be a figment of someone's imagination.

Commander Bob
But the box of "Cohiba Esplendidos" featured on the intro page of the Shopping section of the latest Moon Handbook of Havana is A FAKE.
Click to expand...


I've heard 90% as well. Not sure if that is entirely accurate or not, but I've personally seen fakes that came out of England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, and Japan - as well as a number of other "legitimate" locations...

It never ceases to amaze me, though, that many who have been duped honestly do not believe they've been duped. I've seen pretty extensive collections of cigars that were 90% fake - and there is NO WAY you would convince the person they'd been taken. Probably the motivation behind the underreporting of people being swindled...

Fake Cuban cigars is definitely an extensive and global problem. :D
 
cbob said:
Black Plague said:
@ Windigo

Is it not estimated that 90% of the cigars worldwide sold as Cuban are counterfeit?
Click to expand...

:D :D :D

90% ???

Where did you dig that up?

Most of the fake Cuban cigars are sold to tourists in Caribbean and Mexican resorts and to trusting customers of online vendors.
Many counterfeits are certainly available in Cuba, as long as you buy from the guys on the beach, the bartenders and waiters and the guys on the street who have relatives working in the Partagas factory. :cool:
There are government controlled stores all over Cuba where you will find only authentic Habanos at standard prices. Good vendors are not hard to find.

I've actually never seen counterfeits in England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, or Japan. I have seen fakes in Canada and the USA and of course in Cuba. Mind you, I'm normally only buying from legit sorces but I'd have to say that I find the 90% figure to be a figment of someone's imagination.

Commander Bob
But the box of "Cohiba Esplendidos" featured on the intro page of the Shopping section of the latest Moon Handbook of Havana is A FAKE.
Click to expand...

Actually, I was wrong...it was 90% of alleged "Cuban" cigars brought into the US are bogus :laugh:

I can't find the worldwide %, but it was high if I remember correctly.
 
ggiese said:
Not sure if that is entirely accurate or not, but I've personally seen fakes that came out of England, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Scotland, Dubai, Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, and Japan - as well as a number of other "legitimate" locations...
Click to expand...
:rolleyes:

Yeah, sure you have.

But heed your own advice. It's good for young, inexperienced cigar fans to be cautious of fakes until they have smoked a few.

Commander Bob
Who actually shopped in the places he listed, not merely copied and pasted them to make an argument. :D
 
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