Did a search and didn't come up with anything on this location. A friend of mine is going to visit the store in a couple months, just wondered if any of you guys have any info on the store. Thanks

There are acutally 2 ( 1 official and 1 unofficial). Both are owned by Edgar Esch. The official LCDH is located downtown in the Centro area of the city. It is about a 15-20 minute cab ride from Copacabana; add another 5-10 minutes from Ipanema.

The "unofficial" one, as I refer to it, is Esch Cafe and is in the posh section of town known as Leblon (check out the review on CigarFriendly.com). The reason why it is unofficial is because Edgar does not sell Cuban Cigars exclusively at this location--he offers a couple of local Brazilian brands for his clientele. Nevertheless, Esch Cafe is a great place to chill and hang out. They have a bar, serve excellent food, and often have live bands on weekends. They don't have the most extensive selection of Cubans, but they do have the usual staples. Odds are your friend will frequent this location as it is a lot closer to where he will be staying (either Leblon, Ipanema or Copacabana). The Cafe stays open late and there are numerous other restaurants and bars to frequent in the immediate area (and it is a very, very safe upscale neighborhood).

Forgot to add the address and phone number for the one downtown:

Address : Rua do Rosario, 107 Centro Cep 22041-004
Phone : 55 21 507 5866


For Esch Cafe, they have a web site which is:
http://www.eschcafe.com.br

Thanks Roy, its good to know the neighborhood for the one location is also safe. He was planning on buying a box or two and shipping them back home.

De nada....Esch Cafe will be my 'office' in 3 weeks and 1 day from today......if your friend wants to buy boxes he can get them from either location (if there's a box he wants that is not carried at Esch Cafe but at the Centro LCDH, I am certain they can arrange to have the box transported). If your friend decides to go to the one in Centro, I would suggest going during the day.

I am going to learn what I can about his itinernary to help advise him on the what to do. Its not an everyday kind of thing to make a trip like this, so your information will be very helpful indeed. He is not knowledgeable about cigars, and he is wanting to make a buy for his dad. That is why I am making sure he gets a worry free product source. I like the idea of setting up the purchase ahead of time too so he won't have to make any decisions on the spot.

I guess we could call ahead of time, but do you know if they have staff that speak english?

Edgar, the owner, speaks English and was in the shop a couple of times when I last visited, but not all the staff does--at least not at Esch Cafe. I have not had any experience with the LCDH Centro; however, I am certain a concierge at your friend's hotel would be able to communicate for him if he was provided with specific and exact information (i.e. Partagas 898 Varnished, Bolivar Belicos Fino).