Mickymoose wrote:
The vast majority of "Cuban" cigars sold in Costa Rica are not Cuban. They are made in Costa Rica and Nicaragua. I have seen the fake box factories and the torcedors rolling cigars and putting fake labels on the cigars. If you want a real Cuban cigar, Costa Rica is the last place you should look. Costa Rica foreign tobacco taxes, cigar consumption tax and import duties would make a real Cuban cigar cost more here than in London or Montreal. The only real Cubans here are the ones someone has purchased in a duty free store and brought in with them. (Many claim they are doing so, but few actually are). Habanos, S.A. does not export to Costa Rica.
There are companies here that claim to sell you "Cuban" cigars in the cigar stores and over the internet. The internet companies claim they are taking the bands off and sending them to you in a separate envelope. They are selling cheap Costa Rican cigars and they are ripping you off. You have been warned.
Your best bet for a decent cigar down here is to try the local manufacturers. Some are very good.
Man thanks for that. Everybody on this board knows this
That is why I asked where to find them
NYG