CIGAR STORES IN
For some of the cigar shops in
YOU
CAN NOT USE US$ TO BUY GOODS IN
Everything must be purchased in
Convertible Pesos (CP). You will be able to get CPs at exchange offices and
hotels through-out
HAVANA
Partagas Factory
Behind the
Romeo y Julieta Factory
852
Belascoain:: You can go into a walk in humidor, and though they chaperone you,
you can look at as many boxes as you like, and drool as long as you like
without the staff getting impatient. They also have a great roller called Hamlet,
make sure to buy a few smokes from him also.
La
Zulueta between Refugio and
VARADERO
LCDH:
If you are facing the tip of the peninsula, you need to turn
left off of
LCDH:
This store
is upstairs to the left (with the coffee and rum stores below). The store is
worth a look, as long as you are not looking for singles. The selection here is
somewhat limited. The walk-in humidor is off-limits and you have to lean over
the counter to peer into the stand up humidors! If you want to check box codes,
the staff will have to get the boxes for you.
LCDH:
This store has one of the best selection of singles and boxes in
Varadero, HOWEVER the staff OVERCHARGES 1 or 2CP per single! They pocket the
extra dollars for themselves and will not give you a receipt either! They are
also very protective of there walk-in humidor. The closest you can get is with
your nose pressed up against the glass of the 7 or 8 stand up humidors.
If you can go elsewhere, you should, but if you are there, try not to get
overcharged!
LCDT: Plaza
It turns out
that this store has some hard to find smokes that might be hard to find
elsewhere in Varadero. If you are going there and they don't seem to have what
you are looking for, I would recommend you ask them. They seem to have an
off-limits humidor in the back that has more cigars. They have almost anything,
but they don't sell many singles. They also tend to overcharge for singles, so
be careful.
LCDT: Barcelo Solymar Hotel
Next door to
the Caracol store, they have a
small walk-in humidor that was well stocked. The cigar shop has a reasonable
selection of the popular brands but no EL's. The Girls at the store do tend to
overcharge on singles so be careful. They do deal with the reservation website,
which is a safer bet.
Club Amigo Hotel
Small cigar store that only sells
singles. No boxes and a very limited single selection. Mostly 5 packs with good
storage contiditions.
Paradisus Hotel
This store
has a pretty good selection of singles and do not over-charge. They have every
cigars barcode in a book so you should be getting the government prices. They
do deal with the reservation website so you can have your boxes delivered there
too.
Breezes Jibacoa Hotel
Good
selection of boxes or singles but the singles are not kept in a humidor. Buy
the popular cigars
as the older ones might be dried out.
A few places
here have some good cigars, just be careful as some stores are heavily air
conditioned and some of the boxes are dried out!
CAYO COCO & GUILLERMO
LCDH: Melia Cayo
Guillermo
The Casa Del
Habanos is the best cigar store in the Cayos, they have a walk-in humidor with
a large selection. You might even run into a roller there too! I did find their
humidor a little dry but you should check the cigars when you buy them to make
sure they aren't too dry or wet. I was expecting to find some Limited Edition
cigars but no such luck.
LCDT: Iberostar Daiquiri
New LCDH
that just opened a few months ago in Cayo Guillermo. They seem to overcharge on
singles, so be careful. They are also very protective of their walk-in humidor
unless you know someone ;)
LCDT: Club Tryp/Blau Colonial Cayo Coco
There's a
Casa Del Tabaco here but I wasn't impressed. The store was so humid that some
of the cigars had mold on them. Plus, plus the clerks don't know much and might
overcharge you. The resort also has another store that sells cigars that had
their tower humidor at 90% (instead of 65/70%)!
Sol Club Cayo
A sweet
bunch of ladies worked at this store. Good selection of singles (not many full
boxes) but as is typical, the cigars are on shelves.
Melia Cayo
The biggest
shocker of my trip was when I went to a store at the Melia Cayo
El Senador
The tuxedo
shop is well stocked with decent variety and lockers for patrons to use for
storage. They do not allow customers into the walk in though and are only
opened during the peak season. The lounge has the basics; mostly Cohibas,
Montecristos and Partagas with a few Bolivars, Vegas Robinas, Sancho Panzas and
some Hoyo De Monterreys. A custom roller is also there sometimes though the
cigars aren't very good. The tobbaco/gift shop should be avoided, they don't
really humidify the smokes there!!!
CAYO
It's not
even worth mentioning the Sol Club, the store has like 4 kinds of cigars... and
they are all the tourist trap ones. The Melia has a small walk-in humidor that
boast a pretty good selection (2nd to the Melia CG store in the Cayos). They
have all the Cohiba line (but was overcharging $1 a cigar) and the whole
Montecristo line. I also saw lots of the Vegas Robinas and some of the Cuaba
line. They also had some Mag46s and PSD4s. One tip is to talk to the manager
(tall skinny guy). He seems to be the only one authorized to open boxes to buy
singles. I also noticed that the VR Famosos 5packs had a pricing error...
$10US/CP instead of $20US/CP! At the
HOGUIN
The primary area to find cigars here is
in the city of
Cigar Factory in Hoguin
There is a
cigar factory in
La Cohiba Caracol Store: Plaza De La Marketa in Hoguin
Located on
Callejon del Mercado 2, you might have a hard time finding this place so you
might have to ask around. Good selection, with a walk-in humidor and singles
for sale.
GUARDALAVACA
Club
Guardalavaca Hotel; Caracol Store
The Caracol cigar shop is located directly across the street
from Club Guardalavaca Hotel. (Where you can pick up Placido’s reserved
cigars). This is a new store and the selection was a little limited.
Atlantico Hotel; Il
Cuje
This store
which is right in front of the hotel always has an adequate selection of
cigars. This store also takes good care of their boxed cigars and have a good
selection of singles as well. Unfortunately the singles are victims of open-air
storage. They also have a cozy air-conditioned smoking room with leather chairs
that provides a nice, quiet place to enjoy a cigar indoors. Note, they also
sell beer, soft drinks, coffee and rum.
Las Brisas Villas Hotel
There are
many hotel that all have there little cigar stores, but this one seems to be
the best. Unfortunately the store (like many others) has open-aired displays
which tends to dry out the cigars.
Climex at Los
Flamboyanes Shopping Complex
This complex is right next door to the Caracol store. The store
has a better selection than any of the hotel shops. They have well preserved
boxes and singles too. This is a good spot to sit “al fresco”, have a drink,
take-in
Cigar Store
at Internacional Complex
Next to the outdoor market, is a 2-story building which houses
Cuban department stores. With-in this complex is a small cigar shop. This used
to be a decent cigar shop but the selection there has been deteriorating the
last few years. I’d rate this store better than the hotel shops but, not as
good as Los Flamboyanes.
Airport Store
There seems
to be a good selection of boxes here, but again, the storage conditions in a
highly air conditioned store aren’t the best.
If you want to email me: