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>if I were a Customs agent and I saw a bunch of labelless cigars
Just to put on my snooty ....... hat for a minute, they're not 'labels' (those are on the box) and they're not 'wrappers' (those are tobacco leaves). They're cigar "bands" :) ...and lots of non-Cuban cigars come without bands. In fact, I'm taking a handful of non-banded Hondurans to Vegas tonight :) |
When I was in Costa Rica I purchased some cigars for my Texan mate. It was Cuban tobacco but rolled in Costa Rica and my Texan mate said they as good as a real Texan cigar.
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While very rare (and VERY expensive) pre-embargo Cuban cigars are legal and available from some dealers in the U.S.
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Originally Posted by osxanalyst
(Post 7413660)
While very rare (and VERY expensive) pre-embargo Cuban cigars are legal and available from some dealers in the U.S.
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since cubans are supposedly the finest, there is a huge market in fake ones, even in cuba. It is more and more difficult to tell if you are buying the originals. Dominicans are from cuba seed stock, many say they are now better than cubans. YMMV.
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Originally Posted by hondsps
(Post 7413987)
since cubans are supposedly the finest, there is a huge market in fake ones, even in cuba. It is more and more difficult to tell if you are buying the originals. Dominicans are from cuba seed stock, many say they are now better than cubans. YMMV.
By the way, big, big difference between Cuban and Dominican cigars, and nothing to do with forbidden fruits, etc. Where I hang out, neither is forbidden. |
Originally Posted by hondsps
(Post 7413987)
Dominicans are from cuba seed stock, many say they are now better than cubans. YMMV.
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When I was living outside the US about 10 yrs ago I almost had the opportunity to do some work in Cuba. Since I had a US passport, I had to do all sorts of checking the the embassy about this.
What I learned is that US travel and commerce is not necessarily prohibited, but the exchange of US dollars for goods and services. Since I was paid in foriegn currency at the time, this was not really an issue. Further, if I did bring any items from Cuba into the country for personal use in the future (cigars), and could prove that they were paid out of non-US funds, there would be nothing that Customs could do about it. Of course I had this all documented at the time, but then the work never came through. Hope to get there someday when we have a more lenient policy toward that country...maybe like we have with China. |
Originally Posted by pinniped
(Post 7408373)
I've heard this before, but just to play devil's advocate...if I were a Customs agent and I saw a bunch of labelless cigars, I'm immediately going to know what they are and why someone removed the labels. I mean, it's not like I immediately sit down and peel off the labels after I buy a box of Dominicans.
And since Customs agents can pretty well do what they please when it comes to confiscating questionable products, it seems like they'd still toss your labelless stogies in the trash and tell you to pound sand. Want to file a protest? OK, let's go over to this windowless back room and have a more detailed chat about these cigars. I could see Customs taking the stance that since you peeled off the labels, you knew they were contraband - in other words, they might toss the cigars and assess a fine. |
Coming back from the USVI
We took the bands off and put them in my wallet, meanwhile but the cigars wrapped up well in our carry on. Not even a second glance. If anyone asked, we could've gotten the cigars anywhere on our trip. Unless you're bringing back large quantities or get extremely unlucky, I think the idea of keeping the band separate from the cigar itself will work just fine.
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ok so here's what happened.
Whilst at the duty free I purchased a nice little box of cubans, totally unaware that I was unable to bring them into the country. I then arrived at IAD, and as soon as I cleared customs I decided to transfer them into my checked luggage instead of putting them through my x-rayed hand luggage, purely as a weight saving measure you understand. However, when I arrived at my destination my suitcase hadn't. Into the lost luggage offce, I was told that my luggage had been detained at IAD. Cue anal winking. After establishing that it wasn't anything to do with contents and was just an airline screw up I relaxed and started spending the insurance money. The next day the suitcase arrived, contents intact. |
Originally Posted by aceman
(Post 7497941)
ok so here's what happened.
Whilst at the duty free I purchased a nice little box of cubans, totally unaware that I was unable to bring them into the country. I then arrived at IAD, and as soon as I cleared customs I decided to transfer them into my checked luggage instead of putting them through my x-rayed hand luggage, purely as a weight saving measure you understand. However, when I arrived at my destination my suitcase hadn't. Into the lost luggage offce, I was told that my luggage had been detained at IAD. Cue anal winking. After establishing that it wasn't anything to do with contents and was just an airline screw up I relaxed and started spending the insurance money. The next day the suitcase arrived, contents intact. |
Originally Posted by pinniped
(Post 7408373)
I've heard this before, but just to play devil's advocate...if I were a Customs agent and I saw a bunch of labelless cigars, I'm immediately going to know what they are and why someone removed the labels. I mean, it's not like I immediately sit down and peel off the labels after I buy a box of Dominicans.
And since Customs agents can pretty well do what they please when it comes to confiscating questionable products, it seems like they'd still toss your labelless stogies in the trash and tell you to pound sand. Want to file a protest? OK, let's go over to this windowless back room and have a more detailed chat about these cigars. I could see Customs taking the stance that since you peeled off the labels, you knew they were contraband - in other words, they might toss the cigars and assess a fine. I've brought back Cubans before - I used to fly back and forth between LHR and ORD quite a bit right after college - I just tossed a few in my luggage and figured if I got busted I'd just shrug and give up the cigars. That never happened. |
Cuban tobacco
It is not the seeds or the rollers or the growers that make the cigar so smooth. It is the soil. Cuba has the some of the richest deposits of lithium in their soil in the world. Being volcanic islands, constant ancient eruptions brought this material up from deep in the earths crust. Good stuff :)
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Originally Posted by goalie
(Post 7498243)
just a thought based on what i have done in the past.....once you have cleared customs, "you're safe" so even with u.s. security for your connecting domesticc flght, they can't touch your cubans as, imho, it's not against the law to have them-only to try and bring them into the country so i keep them in my carry on. this way, in your situation, you would have arrived with your cubans and just had to worry about a mis-connected bag. just a thought and wondering if anyone can share some light on my thinking....
Also, about.com says that it is illegal to be in possession of Cubans: http://cigars.about.com/od/cubantrad...t/0062002a.htm |
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