Just finished up a cruise in the Carib., in December, and had a great time. First stop was in Grand Cayman to pick up some smokes at the LCDH. The store is not open on Sundays so I headed over to Churchill's, as they have had a decent rep. Picked up a box of Monte #2, but was told I could not open the box on the island due to the duty free status. So, I bought a couple of smaller cigars to smoke on the island. The Bolivar coronas was excellent. After dinner on the boat I opened the box of Monte #2's. I could tell just from the look of the smokes, I had been had. But, I tried one anyway. The English language has no word for the level of nasty that came from that cigar. I reported the problem to the cruise line and Onboard Media was able to get my money refunded as the store was a recommended shop. Churchill's seems(?) to have legit smaller cigars, but sells boxes & larger cigars that are fake. Buyer beware.............

No way!

Nothing new... It's been brought up a bunch of times already. Sorry to hear about the bad experience, anyway.

The Caribbean is rife with fakes. NEVER EVER EVER buy any smokes in the Caribbean basin unless it is at an authorized LCDH. In fact brand it on every cigar smokers forehead and those of their well-meaning friends and family.

Much better to deal with a legit source on a regular basis than to worry about purchasing fakes while travelling.

Thanks for the replies. I usually visit Wallace, but was unable to on this trip. Basicly just wanted to let the group know, and also inform cruisers that there is a recourse.

M

quote:

Originally posted by DrMichael:
Thanks for the replies. I usually visit Wallace, but was unable to on this trip. Basicly just wanted to let the group know, and also inform cruisers that there is a recourse.

M

Wallace is the man! He may be known by more people than Brad Pitt

I had a chance to visit with him 2 weeks ago. The lady that had been there forever is gone. He now has a lady working the store that used to work in the Partagas factory.