Try a cruise for the first trip... i suggest august/sept/oct and don't book too far out... no more than a month out because they often run specials that time of the year.

It's possible to find prices as good, maybe better, online if you look around. Just as an example, I just had a box of Hoyo Epi #2 arrive today that cost me $169. They're only a year old but at that price this box is for smoking, not aging.

So what if he was bragging? It's his money to spend and as far as I'm concerned MONEY WELL SPENT!!!! I spent over a $1000 just last week on a couple boxes from my cigar shop (2 boxes of Arturo fuente Destino al Siglo and 5 sticks of Fuente FFOX BBMF) What I would like to see is your list !

brag away mate, people want to act like a grand is a lot when they spend that every year on cable television or other consumables easy

No need to justify your spending, my friend. Your hard work earned it, you spend it as you wish! Great haul there, enjoy in good health!

@@Vortigan07 Exactly

nice stuff sir hope u are enjoying so how ita that box of Romeo& Julieta example is this exactly habanos de cuba

Did u go?

I would have spent my kid’s college money 🤣😂😅

Thanks for the info very helpful

Hey Victor, me and my wife are you going in March too. Arrive March 24th leave on the 30th. First two nights in Vinales then 4 in Havana. What dates are going?

Team Brown I believe it’s the same dates as you folks . Hope we run into y’all.🤙🏽

@@victorhernandez2629 if the dates are the same shoot me an email so we can link up. Tripas72@gmail.com

Team Brown Eye absolutely 🤙🏽

Just don't buy any fake cigars, there are no cheap deals in Cuba. if it isn't an official government owned store, especially a La Casa Del Habano, chances are very high you will buy fake cigars

Yes, the rules are the same now. Except you cannot go on group people to people visa. Now the best way to go is through support of the cuban people visa. Google it to see what qualifies... I bought a used army dufflebag (top loading with shoulder straps) and that is what i carried the cigars and rum in... It was handy for carrying through the streets of Havana and a suitcase would NOT be so handy... If you only plan to buy a few boxes then just carry a backpack.

prices have skyrocketed for cubans. If they had any sense at all they would allow tourists in cuba to buy at a good discount to get tourists to come to cuba and spend money on lodging and meals and taxis etc.

Yeah man i’ve been twice for two weeks the last 6months. Its card only in havana. Also card only at a lot of government hotels.

You may want to google Cubans in the DR. Not saying they are fakes for certain, but the Cuban govt sets the pricing on Cuban cigars and it is the same across the board. It is tough to believe they would be cheaper than in Cuba with the added shipping cost from Cuba.

Cubans cheaper in Dominican?didn't think any country could beat Cuba's paid 33bucks for a cigar in Canada they're ridiculously high

and you got fakes. guaranteed

Maybe you can google it, but i can tell you from my personal experience i would go to the state run store. I paid $7.50 per stick for R&J wide church at the La casa del habano official store and my buddy paid about a dollar more per stick by going to another place. There are several official La casa del habano stores in Havana.

I have just had my 4th RASS from this box and they are aging quite nicely. Really smoothed out from the first one of the box back in 2018. They are on my list to buy more next time.

They did not require me to pay the duty on the extra. However, i was fully prepared to do so. It's only 4%, so not a big deal.

Same in Finland man. Max 50 cigars from abroad, from another EU country. Can't order cigars online at all either. Nanny state

In the United States the only requirement is "for personal use"... that is a tricky thing to pin down... if you don't go to cuba but once every 5 or 10 years then you might bring back a big haul like i did. Personal use also includes gifts for friends. The cuban government also has requirements that you must meet, which is only 20 loose cigars OR if you take out more than that then you need original store receipt and the boxes MUST be sealed.... so no opening boxes to check them before you buy! That being said the cuban officials didn't even check my bags.

You would think Canada being so tight with Cuba ,people could bring 200

At least 25% of them will be unsmokable because of a shitty roll! Cuban cigars are well over hyped and over priced!

big yan 100% agree! And the quantity of fakes is just crazy!

Cuban cigars are not available in the US. So, i assume you mean would cigars in the US of similar quality and size to those in Cuba be more expensive... the answer is yes. They are more expensive in the US for similar size and quality.

Cuban customs requires you to declare all cigars (verbally) when leaving the country. They have 3 levels... the first level is you can take out up to 20 loose or in unsealed boxes of cigars without a receipt. Second level is up to 50 cigars, but they have to be sealed in original boxes and you still do not need to show a receipt. Third level is that you can take out over 50 cigars, but they have to all be in original sealed boxes with the state seal intact AND you have to be able to produce the receipt on demand that corresponds with every box. There is a limit of no more than $5,000 CUC (pegged to the dollar), but few people would exceed that in one trip anyway, so not a big deal. Now, the way i read the cuban customs page is that you can not bring back 20 loose cigars PLUS the larger amounts.... maybe i am wrong, but to be safe, i was going to declare the 20 singles i bought as my wife's cigars and the larger amounts in sealed boxes as mine. I brought back boxes of 3, 5, 10 and 25, but i made sure the seals were intact and i had all the receipts from the official La Casa Del Habano stores. I also brought back several bags of coffee and 4 bottles of rum. Kept receipts for all of them to take through customs. I declared everything to cuban customs and they didn't even look at me... just motioned me on through the line....but the US customs had a talk with me about bringing back so many because i had a large duffle bag full of cigars. Bottom line is they are for personal use and they just said it looked like it could be for commercial sale due to the numbers but they let me go on through. All are for personal use and i plan to age a lot of cigars for the future.

Bama Biologist thank you so much for your reply and taking your time. Greatly appreciated!

@@Israel-xi7zb hey one more thing i forgot... technically, on the US side of things you can import as many cigars as you want for personal use, however, the duty free limit is 100 cigars for up to $800 in value... anything over that will be subject to federal duty tax at 4%, but that is a small amount and it didn't cause me any heartburn to have to pay that... i did disclose my cigars and showed invoices to US customs and tried to pay the tax, but was just told i was pushing the limit of personal use and they let me go on through without paying anything. I was certainly ready to pay the 4% but they moved me on through the line!

I will get a video posted on exchange rate and tips soon...

Not if you don't get caught by cuban authorities... if you do they will confiscate. Over 50 has to be in sealed box and you have to keep the receipt of the purchase.

No limit from the standpoint of the Cuban customs. However if you buy a lot then you must have full boxes and KEEP the official receipts from the state store

Right on. My favorite sticks

There is one that is only a few blocks, an easy walk. It is the La Casa del Habano in the Hotel Conde de Villanueva. I didn't visit that one because i had planned to go to it last because it was so close to the cruise terminal. I ran out of time and found most of what i wanted at other locations. The Hotel Nacional and Hotel Habana Libre both have really nice La Casa del Habanos. Good selection of boxes and single sticks at both. They are very close together (less than a half mile apart). If you have a list of cigars to buy and have time, i would encourage you to visit them. They are about 5 km from the cruise terminal. If you are a good negotiator, it should cost you around $5 or $6 CUC for a cab from the terminal to either of those hotels, otherwise it will be around $10. (If you have more than one person, be sure to negotiate cab fare based on everyone. In other words, you may agree to $10 and you have 2 people and then it is common for the cab driver to then insist the price was per person... so be sure to clarify that up front before you get in the cab).

@@bamabiologist2945 I was told that there are shops in the same area where you go through customs. Is that true?

@@iceburg04 while you can get cigars almost anywhere in Havana, but only buying from the official state run shops will ensure 1) authentic cigars and 2) correct pricing. Hotel conde de villanueva La casa del habano is only about 2 blocks from the cruise terminal and i would go there.

you have to exchange your usd for the cuc - it's exchanged one to one, but there is a 13% conversion fee. so really 1 usd actually equals .87cuc.

You can sometimes use dollars for things like catching a cab, but you can't use them at the official La Casa Del Habano cigar shops and many other places. Even if you do use them for cab fare, they will use it as an excuse to upcharge you, so better to exchange some dollars for CUC. I have a video posted now on exchanging money in cuba.

No taxes. No discounts for buying a full box vs a single! A box of 25 that cost $10 cuc each will be exactly $250 cuc

@@bamabiologist2945 great. Thanks bama.

@@bamabiologist2945 hey bama: did you freeze your cigars when you get back?

first and foremost, due to the recent changes implemented by the trump administration before they departed office, it is no longer legal to import cigars from cuba to the us. Now, i do believe that the new administration will be more favorable toward us travel to cuba and those limitations will be lifted but that is just a guess on my part. Prior to these changes, the us customs officers would treat a husband and wife as 2 individuals and no matter who's suitcase had the cigars, the limit was split between the two.

@@bamabiologist2945 Still waiting on Biden to open up Cuba 😒

The customs rules have changed. No longer legal for anyone to bring cuban cigars into the US in any amount. That will likely change under Biden, but it may take some time.

When he went it was legal to do all of that. Trump changed the laws in October 2020 so cuban alcohol and tobacco are prohibited in US

no longer legal to bring back for personal use to usa. maybe it will change back at some point. but prices have skyrocketed.

Is it dangerous in cuba for an American? I could pass as Spaniard so maybe I would just blend in unnoticed? Until I make verbal contact of course 😄

FRIENDLY JEW Act like you’re deaf 😂

jeypeepsv1 Correct no such thing as a cheap cigar in UK. Have you checked Mike Choi Boutique smokes? UK site selling a limited selection of NW cigars at a reasonable price.

crazy high

I don't drink coffee, it was a gift. I was told it was good.

That’s what I would love to try I’m pretty sure it’s Goooooood😎With a Cohiba and a cruse down the river on a warm day Solo🌊

ABSOLUTELY freeze any cigars you bring back from cuba for at least 72 hours!!!!

Fridge for 1-2 days, freezer for 3 days, back in fridge for 2 days. Slow acclimation keeps them in good shape.

@@metalguyn yep, i should have gone into more detail. That's exactly what i did.

@@bamabiologist2945 as long as you keep them in a temperature below 80 degrees, preferably around 70 with around 72 percent humidity, the bettles are practically a non-issue.

Gerrid If he sells them I don’t think it would be considered personal use anymore

It will be a gift no money exchange who will know😉

Ha! No, i am trying one of each and then aging them for 3 years then trying a few more of each and then gonna age for 2 more years... i say that because the Montecristo open regatta had plume on it... the result of natural aging and it was the MOST UNBELIEVABLE CIGAR of my life! Strong notes of coffee and chocolate and then dark chocolate towards the end... burned my fingers nubbing it! Never got bitter even at the end. If i can get the others to be half that good, it will be worth the wait. I gave a friend a box of 3 open master tubos and he said the same thing... they had been aged and were awesome....

@@bamabiologist2945 imho montecristo is a far superior cigar to cohiba. i think the ramon allones specially selected is probably the best, most consistent cigar that comes out of cuba. i'm actually having a monte leyenda right now - i bought it 365 days ago exactly and this is a superb cigar. great video and review - you did well for yourself! i'll tell you it makes me a little sad knowing what i've been buying many of these cigars for - i should probably book a cruise!

After buying them, i immediately put them in large ziplock bags. You could also buy the Boveda or other type of humidity packs, but i didn't do that...

yes, many of the jobs that rely on tourism make far more than $30 a month. But average across the island is $30. Taxi drivers often attempt to charge US prices because many foreigners don't understand the expectation of haggling over cab fare.

They cannot afford them and they do not buy them. The smoke what are called peso cigars. Not the quality but they are affordable to locals.

@@bamabiologist2945 Thank you! One day I hope to visit there.

Not the same.

The government owns most if not all cigar factories. As for that $30 a month, it's kinda complicated. Cuba has 2 currencies, the Cuban Peso, and the Cuban Convertible Peso which was made post-embargo to match the American Dollar. One CUC (the Cuban Convertible Peso) is equal to 25 Cuban Pesos, and the average salary for people is around 500 Cuban Pesos a month with opportunities for bonuses in most cases. The CUC is used in all Resorts and most government owned stores, and is the main if not only currency tourists and other foreigners will use for purchases. When I was down there on vacation I would generally tip 5-10 CUC, sometimes 20 if people were really exceptional. Given how many resorts there are and how many staff they all take, not to mention the people who run and work the off-resort excursions, a good portion of people do make much more than just salary.

I am fairly certain the cigar rollers, especially the good ones, are paid more than that. $30 a month is a rough average. However, you are correct that the govt gets the majority of the profits.

which ones? i haven't looked at this video in a while. i have some non cubans too.

Yep i caught a little bit of hell and questions about personal use... but i told them who knows how long it will be legal to bring them into the usa. Really rings true now they cannot be brought in any more.

Yes, but the money spent on tips, cabs, tour guides and meals in small privately owned restaurants and rooming houses is beneficial to those struggling to survive. Holier than thou statements by citizens of a country that supports Saudi dictators and many other dubious regimes are wearing thin. American arms sales seem to smooth over many human rights abuses but if there's no monetary gain, then crush the little guys trying to survive in the name of 'liberty".

Don’t worry about those, worry about the ones in your backyard, the Pelosi, the Mueller, The Comey and all the other scumbags.

Keep smoking your non Cubans, more for us

maybe so but give them some age in your humidor and they are quite good.

I have quite a few boxed of Cubans in my vault...pre-price hike. I'm not saying they are shit...it's that they don't have variety, part of the price of poor Government@@bamabiologist2945

Rome wasn’t built overnight.

MemoryLaneCinema what a sh*tty comment. Do you feel better about yourself now?