Must Pick Up Cuban Cigars in Cuba

[Ryan]

If it's not too late, have your friend bring a photocopy of the picture page of their passport with them.

That will do for getting a factura. As Nino correctly says, they are only given for regular production cigars.

The passport is only required to fill in the required details on the Factura. Name as on the passport, Nationality and Passport Number. It is not needed for I.D. as such, so a photocopy will do.

It's safer than carrying around the actual passport on your person in Cuba.

They may ask for ID when using a credit card (usually not), in that case the photocopy will suffice as well.

If I was sending somebody to Cuba to find cigars for me, I'd ask for La Casa del Habano Exclusives. There is a series of them, easy to tell by the extra red band on the box as shown.

 

Most shops will have a selection.

Hoyo Elegantes $70 box of 10

H Upmann Royal Robustos $69 box of 10

H Upmann Noellas Jar (if lucky) $122 jar of 25

Ramon Allones Superiores $57 box of 10

Trinidad La Trova (if lucky) $150 box of 12

Etc.

You can get a factura for any of these boxes. The cigars are generally very good. The LCDH exlusives are the best deal in Cuba for regular production, that is they are a better deal in Cuba than any other market in the world, compared to other regular production cigars. Most shops will have a selection. Easy to spot with that red band and less daunting to buy for a novice than custom rolls.

The H Upmann Royal Robusto is in my top 5 all time cigars.

 

Edit. Regarding Facturas. Nino is correct. They are not for custom rolls. They are for boxes of Habanos cigars. It doesn't matter who you are.

I have never had a problem getting one when I have asked, though staff members in shops know me now. You will usually have to ask for one.

I have seen enough people complain on forums about not being able to get one, that I know there must be something to it.

It is most likely that is simply too much effort for the sales-assistant to fill out the form. It takes less than 5 minutes but since they are not legally required to do so, they don't want to do it. If your friend is with a tour group off a bus, the sales assistants will be busy on the cash register with 30 people wanting to buy 2 Guantanameras each.

For some less reputable shops in the tourist resorts, it is possibly in their interest to have more blank facturas left over at the end of the week/month than they have in actual stock of cigar boxes, so maybe if they don't have to give one out, they don't. I don't know and I have no evidence of this. Facturas have serialized numbers printed on them and I know there is government audit of stock in the shops.

As I have said before, simply being pleasant to a sales assistant in Cuba goes a long way, it makes it easier to get a factura or whatever. It's safer and (this might sound strange but it's true) usually more appreciated than "tips" or attempted bribes.

[BDSpiritual1]

Thanks so much @Ryan for that response. That is some great information! I've shared that with them. Hopefully they see it!!

Love the support here!! 

[Nino]

9 hours ago, Ryan said:

If it's not too late, have your friend bring a photocopy of the picture page of their passport with them.

That will do for getting a factura. As Nino correctly says, they are only given for regular production cigars.

The passport is only required to fill in the required details on the Factura. Name as on the passport, Nationality and Passport Number. It is not needed for I.D. as such, so a photocopy will do.

It's safer than carrying around the actual passport on your person in Cuba.

They may ask for ID when using a credit card (usually not), in that case the photocopy will suffice as well.

If I was sending somebody to Cuba to find cigars for me, I'd ask for La Casa del Habano Exclusives. There is a series of them, easy to tell by the extra red band on the box as shown.

 

Most shops will have a selection.

Hoyo Elegantes $70 box of 10

H Upmann Royal Robustos $69 box of 10

H Upmann Noellas Jar (if lucky) $122 jar of 25

Ramon Allones Superiores $57 box of 10

Trinidad La Trova (if lucky) $150 box of 12

Etc.

You can get a factura for any of these boxes. The cigars are generally very good. The LCDH exlusives are the best deal in Cuba for regular production, that is they are a better deal in Cuba than any other market in the world, compared to other regular production cigars. Most shops will have a selection. Easy to spot with that red band and less daunting to buy for a novice than custom rolls.

The H Upmann Royal Robusto is in my top 5 all time cigars.

 

Edit. Regarding Facturas. Nino is correct. They are not for custom rolls. They are for boxes of Habanos cigars. It doesn't matter who you are.

I have never had a problem getting one when I have asked, though staff members in shops know me now. You will usually have to ask for one.

I have seen enough people complain on forums about not being able to get one, that I know there must be something to it.

It is most likely that is simply too much effort for the sales-assistant to fill out the form. It takes less than 5 minutes but since they are not legally required to do so, they don't want to do it. If your friend is with a tour group off a bus, the sales assistants will be busy on the cash register with 30 people wanting to buy 2 Guantanameras each.

For some less reputable shops in the tourist resorts, it is possibly in their interest to have more blank facturas left over at the end of the week/month than they have in actual stock of cigar boxes, so maybe if they don't have to give one out, they don't. I don't know and I have no evidence of this. Facturas have serialized numbers printed on them and I know there is government audit of stock in the shops.

As I have said before, simply being pleasant to a sales assistant in Cuba goes a long way, it makes it easier to get a factura or whatever. It's safer and (this might sound strange but it's true) usually more appreciated than "tips" or attempted bribes.

@Ryan - Thank you for putting ALL information so precisely into a post Andy - much appreciated as are your common sense advices.

Looking forward to have some Havana fun again ...

[stogieluver]

Ryan’s advice about being friendly going a long way is good advice. Each shop I’ve been in I’ve asked for photos to be taken with the staff and the roller and have given many “I love Cuba and the friendly Cuban people” accolades.  And meant every word of it. 

I’ve never been denied a factura. In fact, I’ve never had to ask for one. 

[Lomey]

I will tell you my experience from August. I only visted Reynaldo. My buddy and I each purchased 40 each of custom rolls and split 4 boxes. Reynaldo said we wouldn't need any paperwork for any of the cigars. Being a first timer, I took his word for it. My buddy walked right through Cuban customs with his 40 custom rolled cigars and 2 boxes with no problem. They stopped me with the same amount and took all my cigars out and 3 guys looked at them, talked and decided to let me through. Like it was said above, I was very friendly when they went through my bag. Btw, my custom rolled cigars were smaller rg than his and took up less space in my bag. He likes much larger rg cigars. US customs didn't even bother at all.

 

That being said. Next time it will 100% custom rolled cigars for me.

 

 

[ErikB72]

I once went to Cuba and bought a box of Monte Open. There. I said it.

[Derboesekoenig]

3 minutes ago, ErikB72 said:

I once went to Cuba and bought a box of Monte Open. There. I said it.

Lol is there more to this story? Do you have a secret love for Monte Opens? Haha

[ErikB72]

5 minutes ago, Derboesekoenig said:

Lol is there more to this story? Do you have a secret love for Monte Opens? Haha

Haha they’re not that awful. And James Suckling had been handing them out during the Habanos Festival so I was easily misled. And I was young and needed the money ?

[Lomey]

10 hours ago, ErikB72 said:

I once went to Cuba and bought a box of Monte Open. There. I said it.

I did too!  And Reynaldo recommended the box to my buddy and I.  I didn't know any better and they sure were pretty. ?

[Markspring1978]

On 10/2/2018 at 5:53 AM, Jequan_sparxxx said:

Thanks so much @Ryan for that response. That is some great information! I've shared that with them. Hopefully they see it!!

Love the support here!! 

So, @Jequan_sparxxx, how did this work out? What did you end up getting? I have a “friend” going to Cuba soon, and I’m trying to decide if it’s even worth the hassle trying to have him bring stuff back without getting scammed. Considering how hard it is to find legitimate Behike’s, seems like it would be worth trying have someone go to a legitimate dealer and bring some of those back. I need to read more, I’m such a noob to CC world. 

[BDSpiritual1]

15 minutes ago, Markspring1978 said:

So, @Jequan_sparxxx, how did this work out? What did you end up getting? I have a “friend” going to Cuba soon, and I’m trying to decide if it’s even worth the hassle trying to have him bring stuff back without getting scammed. Considering how hard it is to find legitimate Behike’s, seems like it would be worth trying have someone go to a legitimate dealer and bring some of those back. I need to read more, I’m such a noob to CC world. 

I'm none the wiser as I am also a noob not only the  CCs but cigars in general lol.

I created summary of what everyone provided in this thread but it turned out that they stayed on the resort for most of their time and didn't do much venturing into the city. Also, I think some of the spots were not that close to their resort so on one of the days, they went to an LCDH and picked me up some 3 / 5 packs. I didn't get any custom rolls or a box of LCDH exclusives unfortunately but I appreciated what was brought back nonetheless. Ill save my agenda for when I go down!

All I can do is hope they are legitimate lol but the cigar shop looked authenticate based on the pics I saw. 

 

[Markspring1978]

2 minutes ago, Jequan_sparxxx said:

I'm none the wiser as I am also a noob not only the  CCs but cigars in general lol.

I created summary of what everyone provided in this thread but it turned out that they stayed on the resort for most of their time and didn't do much venturing into the city. Also, I think some of the spots were not that close to their resort so on one of the days, they went to an LCDH and picked me up some 3 / 5 packs. I didn't get any custom rolls or a box of LCDH exclusives unfortunately but I appreciated what was brought back nonetheless. Ill save my agenda for when I go down!

All I can do is hope they are legitimate lol but the cigar shop looked authenticate based on the pics I saw. 

 

Interesting. This is a great thread, and I saw the summary you put together. Good stuff and good luck when you make it down there. I’ll look forward to an after action report. 

[stogieluver]

43 minutes ago, Markspring1978 said:

 Considering how hard it is to find legitimate Behike’s, seems like it would be worth trying have someone go to a legitimate dealer and bring some of those back. 

Good luck with that. 

[Markspring1978]

1 minute ago, stogieluver said:

Good luck with that. 

Lol. That settles it. Thanks for saving me the misguided fantasy. 

[Chucko8]

Some very great information in this thread and very interesting. Can't wait to get to visit Cuba one day and utilise some of this great info. Thanks all