Ordering Cuban Cigars Online

northernneil · Oct 7, 2013

This is a shoot in the dark as I know this is a pipe smoking website, but have any Canadian's had any experience with ordering Cuban Cigars online and receiving them through the mail? Are there any websites / companies you would recommend?

Thanks

papipeguy · Oct 7, 2013

I don't know if there are any Canadian etailers but there are plenty in Europe. Of course the prices are insane. Cuban cigars are still forbidden in the USA. Hopefully, one day, we'll get our head out of our ass and normalize relations with Cuba.

brdavidson · Oct 7, 2013

Our tobacco laws prevent cross-province shipping of tobacco over the internet, so if you want to order you have to find a mail order business that operates out of your home province. There are a couple in Ontario and several in Alberta if I recall correctly.

JimInks · Oct 7, 2013

Being an American, I was unaware of the cross-province tobacco laws in Canada. I'm interested to know why there's such a restriction.

northernneil · Oct 7, 2013

I have found an Alberta retailer, but I was hoping to purchase from EU as there prices are much better than the prices in Canada. I'm trying to figure out what my costs from customs will be. For example, following all declaration laws, I can order 200g of pipe tobacco from the US and customs will let it pass with no duties. Will they act the same with Cuban Cigar's? Or, because it is coming from another continent, will they charge full duties?

Again, I am not trying to beat customs, just trying to keep my costs down. Has anyone had experience with this?

piperl12 · Oct 7, 2013

NorthernNeil,
There is no cheaper way to get Cuban cigars than find the cheapest all inclusive vacation you can get. My wife and I went to Cuba a few years ago for $600.00 taxes in. Three star but it was very nice and great beach. Loved Havana and between the two of us picked up four boxes of Cohibas and two bottles of Cuban Rum and a bunch of coffee. Had a vacation and came home with four boxes of cigars worth $3700.00 in the stores here in Canada. 100 cigars x 37.00 per cigar in the store here. I also found a "person" that will give me 60% retail value on the next trip that will pay for our trip. It's worth crunching the numbers.

peckinpahhombre · Oct 7, 2013

You are correct Roth - the 200g mail exemption was repealed a year or two back. Now the exemption only applies if you are physically crossing the border. My experience is they generally leave you alone if you order 200g or less, but I have also been hit with duty about 11 times (still, a tiny fraction of my orders) so far on 200g orders - the last time was just last week when I got nailed for $60 on an order of four 50g tins from smokingpipes. I have heard from a friend (whose vocation I will not name) that customs will probably start becoming more strict very soon and stop letting the 200g or less orders slip by, as he now admits they tend to do.

Perique · Oct 7, 2013

@jim: Being an American, I was unaware of the cross-province tobacco laws in Canada. I'm interested to know why there's such a restriction.
I would guess it's about tax revenue.

yazamitaz · Oct 7, 2013

I also can't help friend. I lucky enough to have relatives in Spain and I stock up every 3 yrs when there. I have NEVER had issues with customs

wyfbane · Oct 7, 2013

There is a shop in Vancouver BC that is pretty reasonable on Cuban cigar prices in general. Not sure if you live in BC or not. I have a buddy who gets them when he vacations up there. He smokes them ALL up there OF COURSE, as any other course of action would be illegal.

wyfbane · Oct 7, 2013

Bah. Double post. I will use it to say that Cuban Cigars are pretty tasty.

northernneil · Oct 7, 2013

Well, I have a great tobacconist with tremendous knowledge, so I have access to Cubans. And I love supporting them. That being said, I'm looking to try and save a little money and try and develop a little stock of stogies to go with my pipe tobac. Nonetheless, I think I'll try a small order to start, maybe a dozen and see what happens with customs. At that size, customs charges cannot be anymore then $95, and I can afford that.
On another note, to Canadian's with large cellars, while I was looking into import laws for Alberta, I found a note concerning maximum allowable weight of tobacco for an individual who does not have a retailer's licence. Apparently in Alberta, a person is only allowed a maximum of 1000 grams without special licences. I would post the link, but I'm on my phone and just can't do it. It was a simple goole search for Alberta tobacco taxes. This law / rule has been around for a while, but now I'm concerned about some of these online cellars that are open to the public.

skapunk1 · Oct 8, 2013

I have somebody....pm if interested....

peckinpahhombre · Oct 8, 2013

Neil, that is not an Alberta issue it is a federal issue. You cannot import 1000g or more of tobacco in a shipment without a retailer license - you need a retailer license and the tobacco has to be stamped with federal warnings (which it won't be) and have all duties paid. So if you order 1000g and you are found out, they will seize it - ie you can't just pay the duty. So never order 1000g (2.2 lbs) or more.

kcghost · Oct 8, 2013

I used to order Havanas on-line several times a year. There are several overseas vendors who had good prices and wouldn't bill you unless you received the goods. The latter is pretty important if you live in the states. I new a bunch of guys who really followed the on-line Havana cigar business. That way I new who the reputable vendors. The problems was that after a period of time a one-time good vendor would become untrustworthy.
Haven't ordered in years so I wouldn't recommend any vendor to anyone.

docrx · Oct 8, 2013

So many counterfeit cubans...buyer beware even in places where cubans are legal.Besides even though I ve smoked cigars for years I highly doubt I could tell the difference between a cuban from a non cuban cigar.There is supposedly a list of some type of serial numbers to verify authentic cubans,but I don't know where such a list is available.I recommend to just enjoy cuban seed seed cigars from Nicaragua,Honduras,or the Dominican Republic.

peckinpahhombre · Oct 9, 2013

My apologies to Neil - I thought he was referring to the 1000g federal import limitation for tobacco. Much to my surprise, it turns out the province of Alberta does in fact have its own law that prohibits anyone from possessing more than 1000g of loose tobacco, and the law doesn't seem to turn on whether the tobacco is for resale or not. This is crazy.

northernneil · Oct 9, 2013

No need for apologies Peck. I cannot imagine them inforcing this "law" unless I'm trying to sell it or something of the sort. Nonetheless, no massive cellars for me :crying:

northernneil · Oct 9, 2013

Roth, you are correct!

I'm not going to lie, I have not been very active politically until the past 2 or 3 years. Today, I do my research and try to place educated votes. However, this anti-smoking thing has gotten so far out of reach, all I can do at this point is try and fight for what few rights I have left. They claim all these laws are for health, but there is no question in my mind that it has turned into a money grab. Someone's making money off these taxes, and it is not the suppliers, manufacturer's, distributor's, retailer's or health care for matter.

Ordering Cuban Cigars Online

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