my buddy just came back from Cuba last night .. He just called me to tell me that he has fulfilled my stogi order ....

1 box of Monte Edmundo (although I wanted the petit edmundo, but he could not find it in Varadero, so he settled for the Edmundo)
And 1 box of Siglo IV

Ah... now I can't wait to get home tonight and smoke one of those babies..... I'm thinking I'll probably light the edmundo ......



Now I'm happy.... my day is made... if everything else today goes wrong, I couldn't care less... I have 50 sticks to add to my collection....

Let's hope he knew enough not to buy them off the street. "Hey, buddy...I was on my way into the LCDH but this guy stopped me and said his cousin works in the factory and can get me Sigs and Eddies for $25 a box! How's that for a steal?" Just kidding...was he staying at the Melia Varadero? I hear they used to have really great prices at the little cigar shop there.

not to worry.... my buddy has been with me to cuba on 4 of my 7 trips.. he knows where to go, and what to buy... he knows very well, that if fidel castro himself gave him cigars on the street, they'd probably be fakes..... I know cuba like my back-yard, and I make sure to educate anyone going on the island about the "stories" everyone tells you there...

and besides, the new law in Cuba is that any purchase of more than 24 cigars HAS to be accompagnied by an official receipt (which includes your passport # and the store name) when leaving the country, otherwise, they just confiscate it.... and I have seen them confiscate stuff in front of me from some travelers who most likely were carrying fakes...

good business practice.

Excellent! The edmundos are great. But I think to get cigars out of Cuba, you can only take 23, not 24, without a receipt and that has been true for years. Nothing new.

23 it is. Hmmmm that number keeps coming back, very strange. Just ask Jim Carrey!

I hear that they did that because of the Trinidad Fundadores come 24 to a box, and they wanted to limit people to 1 cigar less than a box. Just ask Michael Jordan.

<<I know cuba like my back-yard>> Guess you'll need to go outside again because if you know Cuba that good, you would know that is nothing new and that the limit is 23.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: hot wire anemometer,

quote:

Guess you'll need to go outside again because if you know Cuba that good, you would know that is nothing new and that the limit is 23.

23.. 24.. who cares... my whole point is that if you have more than a box (minus 1 or 2.. whichever makes you happy) you need a receipt...

and maybe this is not a new law.. but I've been going going to Cuba since 1997, and I've only had to produce receipts the last 2 or 3 years... the law might've existed before, but it was not enforced as it is now.. and trust me, I know about getting searched at the airport, and being asked to produce all sorts of receipts.. I"m from a middle-easter descent...

Like I say WAKE UP. New but not really new, 23, 24 it don't matter, real fake who cares. If you have been going so long you would know about this and so does every single other person who goes. They tell you at the store when you buy a box and they have always done it that way. Before you could bring back 50 but not any more for a few years now.

I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal out of "more than 23 cigars = receipt" law. Who gives a shit how many you can take without a receipt. Just get a receipt when you buy a box. Big deal.

Everbody doesn't buy boxes and get a few here, a few there, and next thing you know you have 30 singles. Some people buy from the hotel manager or taxi driver. That's why it's still important to know that you are limited to 23, not 24, not 25, not 50.

If details are so unimportant then why even discuss cigars at all. The little things are important like ring gauge and length and what you can take out of the country.

quote:

Originally posted by hot wire anemometer:
Everbody doesn't buy boxes and get a few here, a few there, and next thing you know you have 30 singles. Some people buy from the hotel manager or taxi driver. That's why it's still important to know that you are limited to 23, not 24, not 25, not 50.

If details are so unimportant then why even discuss cigars at all. The little things are important like ring gauge and length and what you can take out of the country.

Well part of the problem is that you apparently shouldn't be buying anything from a hotel manager or taxi driver.

Absolutely! Keep your receipt, and screw worrying about numbers. A smart fella once told me, " Don't sweat the small stuff ".

Details are VERY important. Come on guys, this isn't rocket science. You can take out singles up to 23 without a receipt, anything more than that, IF they see it on the x-ray or you get searched, will be confiscated, end of story.

Full boxes purchased at the stores, you need the receipt, obviously.

Of course, if you are a licensed US traveler it doesn't matter because the $100 exemption is gone, long gone. But if you decide to take e chance, if you read the regs, it is still up to the discretion of the US Customs Duty Officer whether to allow you to bring the cigars into the US, assuming you declare them.

Come on...you want to fudge numbers, that's your prerogative. But don't preach how it's no big deal, because it is to those who travel there. Guy comes on "knowing" things about Cuba like his own back-yard, and he finds it novel and new that there's this "new" law in Cuba...one that's been in effect for several years?

If you're going to post guidelines, warnings, and caveats, at least get your facts straight. Otherwise, the details don't matter. What was it someone said about a dalia not being much different from a lonsdale, but not much different from a churchill, either, so a churchill is like a lonsdale? If B = C, and B = A, then A = C. Right.

Details do matter to some people. I say, just smoke your cigars. But if you want to know if you're smoking a cervantez or a dalia or a churchill, then a millimeter matters; if you want to know how many cigars you can legally bring out of Cuba without a receipt, then 1 or 2 does matter.

quote:

.... But if you decide to take e chance, if you read the regs, it is still up to the discretion of the US Customs Duty Officer whether to allow you to bring the cigars into the US, assuming you declare them.

Huh?? This is NOT the case. The current US Treasury information reads as follows:

"There is now an across the board ban on the imporation into the United states of Cuban-origin cigars and other Cuban-origin tobacco products, as well as most other products of Cuban origin......."

The policy clearly states that they are prohibited if bought in Cuba (even on a licensed trip), bought in a third country, "given to the importer as a gift" or via internet or catalog purchase. It is clearly illegal for any US citizen to purchase and/or acquire Cuban cigars anywhere by any means possible. US Citizens are forbidden in purchasing or engaging in ANY transactions. No way Jose...nada chance...never going to happen.

Read the following:
http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/cuba/ccigar2.pdf

My, oh, my, how eloquent.

Clearly, he's saying that, the regulations notwithstanding, even if you're stopped and cigars are found, it's ultimately up to the agent whether he's going to confiscate them. Almost always, they will, because they get noticed for their diligence, and if they do, and you lied about having contraband, you have not only committed perjury for signing your customs declaration without declaring that you have Cuban cigars, you are violating the Trading with the Enemy Act (TWEA) for having engaged in a financial transaction involving goods of Cuba origin, and you're attempting to smuggle contraband. It is against the law, no doubt, but some people have been given a pass.

man.. I don't know what all this rambling is about.. all i wanted to do was tell you guys avout the 2 boxes coming my way...

now 23, 24 , 10000000... this is NOT THE POINT..

new law... old law or even older law.. what do you define as a new law ???? something passed in the past 2 months ?? 6 months ??? 2 years ???? please enlighten us !!!!!!

I've been going to Cuba almost every year since 1998... I have never been asked to provide any sort of receipts untill the last couple of years... and trust me, i get searched EVERY SINGLE TIME going through customs.. (call it racial profiling, ar simply very bad luck).. so maybe the law is not new (as per some people's definitions of new), or maybe it is ??? whatever is teh case, it sure has only been inforced for the last couple of years.. now for me, that makes it a "new" law... forgive me if I'm not technical enough for you..

Racial profiling when going through customs or getting on an airplane is a bad thing?

bad or not.. it happens every single time... mind you I've gotten used to it, but if I stop and think about it, it gets annoying after a while... ah well.. what can you do.. I guess that's what happens when you're a 30 year from a middle-eastern descent...