Guatemala City LCDH Report

[rabidraccoon]

I couldn’t find much info online about the Guatemala City LCDH so I figured I’d do a little report on it here. The LCDH was located in a nice shopping mall in a fancy looking part of town about 12 minutes away from the airport so I made a quick stop there. They had a great selection of pretty hard to find stuff... QDO 54, 50, Cohiba Lanceros, Talisman, Trinidad La Trova, old EL’s (Partagas 2012, Bolivar 2014). I picked up a nice assortment of stuff I can’t find in other places. The prices were a bit on the high side (prices on the list below are in Quetzales - divide by 7.7 for USD) but overall I would highly recommend visiting this LCDH if you’re looking for hard to find Habanos and are in the area. 

[ImTripN2]

I was there about a year ago, and had the same experience. Not a huge selection, but some nice finds and a clean and pleasant shop.Unfortunately Guatemala has high tobacco taxes, but I was able to negotiate a little break on the posted prices. I grabbed a box of 2013 Party 898s and a box of 2012 JL#2 to take home, a few singles to smoke on the road, and split a box of Cohiba Piramides with my companions. Like you said, easy access to or from the airport, definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in GC.

[El Presidente]

ahhhh Guatemala. 

In the past, the country held a special place in HSA ignomimity (not the store but the country distribution). 

 

[ImTripN2]

3 hours ago, El Presidente said:

ahhhh Guatemala. 

In the past, the country held a special place in HSA ignomimity (not the store but the country distribution). 

 

ahhhh Guatemala indeed. A spectacularly beautiful country full of mostly wonderful people who are governed by greedy and malicious 5th graders.

Some years ago I heard a story from the guy who owned the Honduran LCDH that the Guatemalan HSA distributor was selling quite a few more cigars than could be supported by the local populace. Perhaps some of us have unknowingly smoked them in the past. ???

[rabidraccoon]

12 hours ago, ImTripN2 said:

I was there about a year ago, and had the same experience. Not a huge selection, but some nice finds and a clean and pleasant shop.Unfortunately Guatemala has high tobacco taxes, but I was able to negotiate a little break on the posted prices. I grabbed a box of 2013 Party 898s and a box of 2012 JL#2 to take home, a few singles to smoke on the road, and split a box of Cohiba Piramides with my companions. Like you said, easy access to or from the airport, definitely worth a stop if you find yourself in GC.

Good tip. It didn’t occur to me that negotiating was possible but I will have to try next time. The lady at the shop was very nice.

[ImTripN2]

12 hours ago, rabidraccoon said:

Good tip. It didn’t occur to me that negotiating was possible but I will have to try next time. The lady at the shop was very nice.

LOL, in Central America negotiations over any purchase is not only possible, but damm near mandatory. Mostly they think us gringos are fools for paying full price without even batting an eye. All told, we did buy about 7 or 8 boxes that day so there was quite a bit of leverage there.