Share your Cuban haul

[oliverdst]

37 minutes ago, garagedragon said:

Just returned after spending 4 days in Havana. Pretty much made the rounds to all of the LCDH stores, and a visit to Alex. All of the cigars here were carried though customs in mine, and my sons backpacks. We had absolutely zero problems with Cuban, or US customs. We had a blast!

If you don't mind where did you get those Saint Luis Reys? Just curious. Not in my radar.

I saw them just at the airport.

[garagedragon]

We found them at Terminal 3 at the airport. You have to have eagle eyes, because they won't let you into the humidor.

[Derboesekoenig]

21 minutes ago, garagedragon said:

We found them at Terminal 3 at the airport. You have to have eagle eyes, because they won't let you into the humidor.

I had the same experience. I said over and over and over again and started getting loud....but those women refused to let me in. I thought I was being singled out. I didn't understand why I could not go in and I explained to them in both english and spanish. She just refused to let me

[garagedragon]

I guess all of the traffic inside the humidor would be chaos, lol. Think about it, most people are maxed out on their cigar limit, when the get there. They may have to pass on some goodies.

[Cayman17]

On 8/2/2018 at 8:26 PM, n0s4atu said:

Just unpacked. Will write a full report on the trip but here's what we picked up.

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Are those Lusitanias with a red LCDH sticker on the corner?  Is that a special run or something?  Sorry if this is a stupid question. 

[n0s4atu]

1 minute ago, Cayman17 said:

Are those Lusitanias with a red LCDH sticker on the corner?  Is that a special run or something?  Sorry if this is a stupid question. 

The Partagas are Culebras, if you're talking about the ones in the lower left hand corner.  And there are no stupid questions. lol I literally just did the same thing a couple hours ago to someone else. 

[Cayman17]

19 minutes ago, n0s4atu said:

The Partagas are Culebras, if you're talking about the ones in the lower left hand corner.  And there are no stupid questions. lol I literally just did the same thing a couple hours ago to someone else. 

Yes, that was the box I was referring to. Thanks for the information. Amazing haul! Looks like a successful trip ??

[stogieluver]

@garagedragonwhere did you find the SW’s?  There were none to be found early June damnit. 

[Derboesekoenig]

8 minutes ago, stogieluver said:

@garagedragonwhere did you find the SW’s?  There were none to be found early June damnit. 

I was there in July and don't remember seeing any full boxes. Couple singles I think and that's it

[garagedragon]

@stogieluver

I found those at the Partagas store. They had 14 boxes. What a beautiful sight!

[Derboesekoenig]

The partagas store will be the first one I hit next time. I ran out of money when I walked in there last time. They had some really great boxes that I couldn't find anywhere else. 

[Derboesekoenig]

I'm curious where you got the Partagas EL17. I found plenty of Punch EL 17. 

[n0s4atu]

That’s what I call a successful Cuba trip! Do you recall which store(s) you found those EL 2017s and Connie Bs? Those were no where to be found while I was there this past June. Neither were the ashtrays unfortunately

Reynaldo ar the Conde Villanueva had the Connie B and the Partagas ELs were at the LCDH Partagas.

 

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[n0s4atu]

Damn it, Partagas was the only store I skipped while I was there. Their selection has always been mediocre during my past visits. Were these hidden in their “VIP” humidor? 

No they were in the regular one. Sadly I didnt even know about the VIP until I got home. Lol it's on the list for my next trip

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[Derboesekoenig]

Ahhh Partagas. Makes sense. Sadly, I ran out of money before I got there. Looks like I need to plan another trip

[oliverdst]

15 minutes ago, mtapia3 said:

Looks like Partagas will be my first stop on the next trip. Also, I’m not sure who they allow into the VIP area, but I will definatley attempt to get in there. 

 

29 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

Ahhh Partagas. Makes sense. Sadly, I ran out of money before I got there. Looks like I need to plan another trip

usually these "specials" sell out fast in any store.

there is no reason to believe that an specific store will have them in the future.

as a matter of fact partagas is a very crowded store. If I had to choose just one store to visit Partagas wouldnt be in my top 5.

[Derboesekoenig]

3 minutes ago, mtapia3 said:

 

A short walk away I came across a much smaller store selling cigars. A Torreon jar behind the counter caught my eye.  I was curious about this jar, but there were no workers in sight.  After a few minutes of waiting around, another noticeably frustrated customer pointed to a man standing outside of the store, talking on his cell phone. She said he was the clerk and she had been waiting for over 10 minutes for him to finish his personal phone call and assist her.  After hearing that I walked away from that store.  Also, the storage conditions at this place appeared worse than the other store. 

So beware when buying cigars from the airport and be sure to bring extra patience if you do plan to do shopping here.  I do not question the authenticity of cigars sold here, but I do question the conditions they are kept in. 

Dude. No way hahaha deja vu. The Torreon jar was the FIRST thing that I saw....but no one wanted to help me. So I just said screw it, I'll go wait for my flight

[Derboesekoenig]

1 minute ago, mtapia3 said:

Very frustrating, but this level of customer service is to be expected in Cuba.  I guess this is what happens when you get paid $20 a month regardless if you sell cigars or not.   

I think I've been to 15-20 countries by now, and Cuba was by FAR the worst overall service. Just terrible. I don't know if it was because it was in July and super hot or what. 

[stogieluver]

19 hours ago, Derboesekoenig said:

I think I've been to 15-20 countries by now, and Cuba was by FAR the worst overall service. Just terrible. I don't know if it was because it was in July and super hot or what. 

That’s what you get with government owned businesses.  

[bpm32]

17 hours ago, stogieluver said:

That’s what you get with government owned businesses.  

Or a government owned anything. Nothing I encountered in Cuba could compare to literally every DMV or government office I’ve been in. When you go there with that mindset, Cuba isn’t that bad.

[Kwenk]

As I look through this thread with extreme jealousy, I noticed that there have been no pictures of humidors. I guess I assumed that, between Habanos’ special editions they issue every year, all the other accessories I see people purchasing, and all the Cuban artisans I have read about, that there would have been humidors purchased. I know the special edition humidors are expensive and limited, so maybe that is the reason there are none of those, but I would have thought Habanos would be generating unique humidors that would be sought after as well, similar to the ashtrays (even though I know many of them pictured have come from the Nacional). Are there humidors available for purchase? Or are the quality questionable? The first reasonable answer that came to mind is that all the money was spent on cigars and nobody had any money left for a humidor.

[oliverdst]

2 hours ago, Kwenk said:

As I look through this thread with extreme jealousy, I noticed that there have been no pictures of humidors. I guess I assumed that, between Habanos’ special editions they issue every year, all the other accessories I see people purchasing, and all the Cuban artisans I have read about, that there would have been humidors purchased. I know the special edition humidors are expensive and limited, so maybe that is the reason there are none of those, but I would have thought Habanos would be generating unique humidors that would be sought after as well, similar to the ashtrays (even though I know many of them pictured have come from the Nacional). Are there humidors available for purchase? Or are the quality questionable? The first reasonable answer that came to mind is that all the money was spent on cigars and nobody had any money left for a humidor.

I will answer your question based just in my own reasons. I am sure others will have different answers.

Humidors are big and not easy to fit in any kind of luggage. Usually not cheap.

There are some special editions from hotels than are not so big but usually filled with special cigars (limitadas LCDH, Cuba regionals) and even if there are just 10-20 sticks in it they are made in 20-50-100 units. They can get expensive too.

So if I can bring 5 boxes (~ 100 cigars) or a humidor I will always choose the boxes.

If I had the space and the money, yes, I would bring humidors but this is not my case.

Of course this does not apply if you are a flipper.

[n0s4atu]

59 minutes ago, Kwenk said:

As I look through this thread with extreme jealousy, I noticed that there have been no pictures of humidors. I guess I assumed that, between Habanos’ special editions they issue every year, all the other accessories I see people purchasing, and all the Cuban artisans I have read about, that there would have been humidors purchased. I know the special edition humidors are expensive and limited, so maybe that is the reason there are none of those, but I would have thought Habanos would be generating unique humidors that would be sought after as well, similar to the ashtrays (even though I know many of them pictured have come from the Nacional). Are there humidors available for purchase? Or are the quality questionable? The first reasonable answer that came to mind is that all the money was spent on cigars and nobody had any money left for a humidor.

There are beautiful humidors for sale, but I started with a desk top and have moved on to a cabinet. I don't need or want another desk top, especially for a premium price. I'd rather just buy boxes.   But if someone wanted them and had the coin, they are certainly available. 

[Derboesekoenig]

Limited space vs. what you get. If I bought a special edition humidor, I would never smoke the cigars. I'd rather buy 6-8 boxes of regular production in place of the humidor. I guess if you are a flipper, that may be a different story...especially if you go to Cuba several times a month

[JGD]

1 hour ago, oliverdst said:

I will answer your question based just in my own reasons. I am sure others will have different answers.

Humidors are big and not easy to fit in any kind of luggage. Usually not ship.

There are some special editions from hotels than are not so big but usually filled with special cigars (limitadas LCDH, Cuba regionals) and even if there are just 10-20 sticks in it they are made in 20-50-100 units. They can get expensive too.

So if I can bring 5 boxes (~ 100 cigars) or a humidor I will always choose the boxes.

If I had the space and the money, yes, I would bring humidors but this is not my case.

Of course this does not apply if you are a flipper.

To piggyback on this post, check out the following link to get an idea of size for a relatively small humidor (50 cigars):

As far as price goes, I’m not sure how much they have gone for on the island, but according to halfwheel.com, they detailed at European LCDHs for $3,500-$5,000 — you can buy a lot of regular production for that amount.

Another thing to keep in mind is availability. Just because you are in Cuba doesn’t mean that they have everything in stock at every store. Much of the special edition stock is never put on the shelves, and instead is held for particular customers.