www.CostaRicaTicas.com

...If you have to have Cuban (this has been debated fiercely on the Board). Seriously, their selection of all cigars right now is much weaker than before--you can well believe that's an area that Boyd and Mgmt. will address shortly.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Cuban cigars and tobacco are very expensive to import into Costa Rica, so they aren't imported legally here much. If they are, the cost generally is $12 -$15 stick.

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Gremlin, no resemblance to the AMC product

HLH can have an Ok selection, but I would not call their prices "good" - anytime you are looking at $15 - 20++ per cigar (and no assurance of being real) that's way too much for me to pay.

Real Cuban cigars are not cheap, and as I smoke 2 a day, not possible to do Cubans - also, I find them inconsistant as well as expensive - yup, even the real ones.

There was a "Habanos" store - I thought near San Pedro - not sure if its there now; I bring my own when I visit SJ so I'm not shopping for them there -

I did find the following - they should be able to tell you who is real (and just a guess, I don't think any of the street sellers of Cuban cigars will make the list

"EDIT: 1/10/11 - Please note that the Habanos distributor for Costa Rica & Nicaragua has officially changed. The new distributor is Cruz Canela & Trust.

Here is Cruz Canela's contact info:

Cruz Canela & Trust G B Sociedad Anonima
President: Mr. Diego Barrero Canela.
General Manager: Mr. Luis García Cruz.
Address: Escazú, La Galvia nº 2, San José, Costa Rica.
Phone: +506 22893286
Fax: +506 22893286
Email: lugarcruz@cruzcanelahabanos.com
Website: www.cruzcanelahabanos.com"

Also - while I prefer a fuller cigar, the cigar maker/place listed as A CRT sponsor is also an option - in Escazu, I think - again, living in Miami (the fake Cuban cigar capital of the world!), I've seen cigars rolled 100's of times (although its cool to see even if you don't smoke - the skill is really amazing - so if you are looking for something to do, its worth a trip to their factory) and as mentioned, bring my own, so I have never been to this factory.

I've had a few cubans from HLH, and having been a cigar smoker for almost a decade, I was curious. Are they real cubans? I have had real Cubans before sworn by from those who smoke nothing but Cubans and get them from a La Casa Del Habano in Germany. I got mine from the same place. But I haven't smoked a lot of Cubans so it is hard for me to tell.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

If they are purchased from a "Casa de Habanos" (and there are "Habanos" locations throughout the world, except in the USA due to the embargo) - excellent chance that they are "real"

Only you can tell if you enjoy them - the best and worst cigars I have ever smoked have been cubans - Unless you purchase from an authorized source, you are taking a chance - it sucks:

To spend $20++ and get a fake cuban cigar
To spend $20++ and get a poorly made cigar - just my opinion, but there are quality control issues (construction, poor tobacco, etc) more so with cubans than other cigars.

Again, just my dos colonies, but you stand a better chance of quality with cigars made elsewhere - plus, if I spend $6 or $7 on a cigar that for whatever reason I don't like, its not a huge deal - I would not make that same statement if I spent $25.

For what brand and what size(s)

Last time I was at HLH, anything larger, and with w bigger ring was $18 or $20 - not saying the price is out of market, just curious what cubans are available for $8.50.

Cigars are a hobby as well as a passion for me - looking at the "offical" box prices in Havana, they range from mostly $250 - $750 (for Cohiba Esplenditos) - so I'm assuming $8.50 is for either a cuban machine made or something small and thin. I would love to be wrong, however!

Well, I have a really good source overseas where I can get Cubans shipped to me. I've used them before, so maybe I'll keep using them after I move to Costa Rica. Unless I can find a very trustworthy source in CR that is.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

I haven't been since it was ZB but to just check them out, but a few years ago the price were triple what I pay for real Cubans online, Plus I tried four and none were real. Sorry hopefully that is different now and I learned early to just bring my own by a brother in CR.

Sound like the place is picking up the right way again, Cool!

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LOL I would Love to never hear the word game used again ever again! :)

My favorite is Cusano robusto aged 18 years about 4.10 per pc delivered. HLH is way expensive. Cubans are like Coors beer in Michigan 25 years ago . You could not get it so you thought you had to have it. I have lots of cigars better than cubans

That was exactly the point made in the last "Cubans" discussion. Some plumped strongly for the better Nicaraguan; others for Dom. Reps. better. Frankly for me at that price/quality level, there's not enough difference to these jaded taste buds to justify these prices--though the Torano Exodus 1959 the other day was good.

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

Habanos SA has the website that will help determine if the cigar is legitimate.

http://www.habanos.com/Sellos/Info/VerificaSelloCajon

This shows every stamp, hologram, verification number and how to verify. I have yet to see the cigars at Little Havana but Ursulo said he was getting the retailers permit.

I recommend saving a bunch of bucks and smoking the cigars from the legit Costa Rica manufacturers. The Costa Rica Cigar Store (me) recommends you compare the quality and taste of the local stuff to the Cubanos. I think you will be surprised how over rated Cuban cigars are.

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http://www.costaricacigarstore.com

Also this:

http://www.habanos.com/sellos?lang=en

Most of the local knock offs do not match the packaging of the real Habanos. Print this up and walk into any of the cigar shops in San Jose and see how they compare.

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http://www.costaricacigarstore.com

in CR boyd set me up with russ and i purchased a couple boxes of palmas which have smoked nicely. i loved the vegas also. after handing out and smoking nearly 40 cigars (palmas) i found that 1 in 10 did not draw evenly. these were robostos and ive found that living near miami 1 in 4 cigars do not draw well or burn evenly. i was very pleased with the cigars boyd and russ set me on and will visit HLH now for the selection. im not crazy about cuban this or cuban that. in little havana i make three stops: padron, perdomo, and padilla. thanks to the intel brothers.

Wasn't there something posted here a while ago that the quality of Cuban cigars has deteriorated because a lot of the prime tobacco farms or land has been bulldozed over for other purposes, and that the cigars are no longer what they used to be?

I look forward to it as I said it was several years ago and didn't say anything then as I was to new and just didn't want the hassle.

I do have a very large collection nearly 5000 cigars of all Countries. I like many Cubans as well as or more than some from other countries but also like some from Nicaragua and The Dominicans better than many Cubans I do however always travel with my own cigars always.

Sound like the place is rocking good Job guy's!

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LOL I would Love to never hear the word game used again ever again! :)