LCDH Playa del Carmen July 2023

[Lunettesman]

Hi guys,

 

Hope everyone is fine. So I was yesterday at LCDH at playa del Carmen. They don't have many boxes but lots of openend boxes. The selection is pretty surprising. 

 

I bought one box of Punch Duke, one Ramon Allones Perfectos and one box of New Gold Medal. Unfortunately, I did every begginer s mistake. 

 

Long story short, I was in a rush. I saw those 3 boxes open on display. They had an extra box of each but sealed. Somehow I ended up buying the three sealed boxes and didn't open them before leaving. I know I know, never do that. I'm a seasoned cigar smoker but we all have those days were we are just brainless. 

 

I wasn't expecting to see such a selection, my driver was waiting for me outside and I was in a rush with my wife and baby being annoyed. So... I grabbed those three sealed box and left. 

 

When I arrived at my hotel, I open them. The Perfectos looked great. The new gold medal well, three big cracked foot. But the worst was the Punch Duke... It was a zoo. Beetles everywhere, walking around and enjoying a feast. 

 

So I went back today to complain with a smile. I had the receipt and felt half confident as I had no idea how they would deal with my issue. I was looking for a swap with the openend boxes I had seen on the shelves. 

 

Angel the guy was very friendly and gave a new box that we inspected. He also accepted to replace the 3 gold medal that were cracked as he had a spare box. He was very helpful and we then had a long chat. I smoked a Allones No 3 that was splendid and a new gold medal that was lighter than expected. Long story short, great welcome, nice place to have a smoke and first and foremost realcuban cigars. 

[Hammer Smokin']

wonder how a box at a LCDH had beetle damage? 

I would have assumed the cigars would have been frozen prior to leaving the island. 

guess not. 

[Corylax18]

1 minute ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

wonder how a box at a LCDH had beetle damage? 

I would have assumed the cigars would have been frozen prior to leaving the island. 

guess not. 

They should be. Should being the operative word. Maybe the freezer was broken that day/week. Haha. Its not a bad idea to freeze everything you get. I haven't been to this shop in 6 or 7 years, but I remember the humidor being quite warm and Humid. The climate is very similar to Cuba, so its possible they have a beetle infestation there, not likely, but its possible.  

13 minutes ago, Lunettesman said:

Angel the guy was very friendly and gave a new box that we inspected. He also accepted to replace the 3 gold medal that were cracked as he had a spare box. He was very helpful and we then had a long chat. I smoked a Allones No 3 that was splendid and a new gold medal that was lighter than expected. Long story short, great welcome, nice place to have a smoke and first and foremost realcuban cigars. 

Its great that they did right by you. I haven't been there in a long time, but I always had good luck in the past. Between those Ugly stickers and Mexico's insane tobacco tax they really make the buying process a bummer. Who knew cigars caused breast cancer? Haha

[Lunettesman]

51 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

wonder how a box at a LCDH had beetle damage? 

I would have assumed the cigars would have been frozen prior to leaving the island. 

guess not. 

Well... That's why I freeze everything that is not from Intertabak the swiss importator. Otherwise I can't trust what I haven't purchased in Switzerland. Let's not forget nothing s working properly in Cuba especially at the moment. Let's also not forget that everything that is entering Switzerland is once again frozen. They wouldn't bother if there were zero risk. Last but not least it was my mistake not opening the box first. 

 

44 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

They should be. Should being the operative word. Maybe the freezer was broken that day/week. Haha. Its not a bad idea to freeze everything you get. I haven't been to this shop in 6 or 7 years, but I remember the humidor being quite warm and Humid. The climate is very similar to Cuba, so its possible they have a beetle infestation there, not likely, but its possible.  

Its great that they did right by you. I haven't been there in a long time, but I always had good luck in the past. Between those Ugly stickers and Mexico's insane tobacco tax they really make the buying process a bummer. Who knew cigars caused breast cancer? Haha

He really did his thing right. He didn't bother with the beetle box and swap it directly. I was more reluctant to swap the full box of Boli so I told him just the damaged sticks which he accepted. 

 

Inside the humidor it showed 71%. Temperature was quite high so not surprised to see a beetle in a box. But for the rest they all looked in good condition. 

[El Presidente]

11 minutes ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

wonder how a box at a LCDH had beetle damage? 

I would have assumed the cigars would have been frozen prior to leaving the island. 

guess not. 

I would guess they were introduced externally via non Habanos boxes or a house roller. 

Honestly, I haven't seen a live beetle in a  Habanos box since 2005. For boxes inspected, that is near enough  5 million cigars ago. 

[Fireball]

I expected this story to have a negative ending. Glad to hear it all worked out.

[Lunettesman]

7 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

I would guess they were introduced externally via non Habanos boxes or a house roller. 

Honestly, I haven't seen a live beetle in a  Habanos box since 2005. For boxes inspected, that is near enough  5 million cigars ago. 

The box of horror had the "importator seal" on the right side. A similar one like that. 

[Hammer Smokin']

41 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

I would guess they were introduced externally via non Habanos boxes or a house roller. 

Honestly, I haven't seen a live beetle in a  Habanos box since 2005. For boxes inspected, that is near enough  5 million cigars ago. 

I would agree with that, but the OP said the box was sealed.  Introducing beetles from an external source, unless that external source was after freezing, but before sealing, seems strange. can you introduce something foreign on a sealed box? 

I dunno. 

glad the store exchanged the box! 

[La_Tigre]

Were there photos of the cigars bought somewhere?

[Lunettesman]

2 hours ago, La_Tigre said:

Were there photos of the cigars bought somewhere?

You are asking if I took picute of the cigars? No I have not. I was disgusting by the sight of the beetles and closed the box as soon as I openend it. 

It was that exact box. 

[La_Tigre]

14 hours ago, Lunettesman said:

You are asking if I took picute of the cigars? No I have not. I was disgusting by the sight of the beetles and closed the box as soon as I openend it. 

It was that exact box.

Yes, would’ve been interesting to see the critters and destruction. 

[Lunettesman]

It was so gross I just closed the box and put it on the balcony. 

[Fugu]

19 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

I would agree with that, but the OP said the box was sealed.

How would the importer be able to attach the horror stickers to the inner lid w/o opening boxes? Original Cuba seals would / should have been broken.

[Hammer Smokin']

3 hours ago, Fugu said:

How would the importer be able to attach the horror stickers to the inner lid w/o opening boxes? Original Cuba seals would / should have been broken.

yep, that makes sense. didn't think of that. 

[Fugu]

2 hours ago, Hammer Smokin' said:

yep, that makes sense. didn't think of that. 

In fact, to immediately destroy my reasoning, just noticed that the Habanos chevron on the ER box in the pic still is intact.... So, either those boxes do come without internal warning stickers, or the stickers aren't applied by the distributor, but only by retail for open boxes on display. Or - if warranty seal or/and the chevron seals (Habanos + RE Mexico) came unbroken but with warning stickers inside, then,... well then there's perhaps another possibility how the bugs could infest that box...

[Lunettesman]

15 hours ago, Fugu said:

How would the importer be able to attach the horror stickers to the inner lid w/o opening boxes? Original Cuba seals would / should have been broken.

Could you please it differently please. I don't understand what you do mean. Thanks. 

 

10 hours ago, Fugu said:

In fact, to immediately destroy my reasoning, just noticed that the Habanos chevron on the ER box in the pic still is intact.... So, either those boxes do come without internal warning stickers, or the stickers aren't applied by the distributor, but only by retail for open boxes on display. Or - if warranty seal or/and the chevron seals (Habanos + RE Mexico) came unbroken but with warning stickers inside, then,... well then there's perhaps another possibility how the bugs could infest that box...

Maybe now I understand what you meant. Did you mean there is a sticker inside the box that s is a health warning? If you do, I can tell you that inside the box no warning stickers were present. The inside looked like every other boxes I ever purchases. There were the cedar sheet, the soft white paper, the small soft paper and the info on the RE. When I openend the box everything was sealed: the serial, the imoortator seal and the two bands on the top right. There were a warning stickers on the outside bottom that I asked to be remove. 

 

10 hours ago, Fugu said:

In fact, to immediately destroy my reasoning, just noticed that the Habanos chevron on the ER box in the pic still is intact.... So, either those boxes do come without internal warning stickers, or the stickers aren't applied by the distributor, but only by retail for open boxes on display. Or - if warranty seal or/and the chevron seals (Habanos + RE Mexico) came unbroken but with warning stickers inside, then,... well then there's perhaps another possibility how the bugs could infest that box...

I think I understand now. Every/most box on display had the warning sticker on the inside of the lid. The boxes that were sealed didn't have a warning sticker inside the box after I openend them. 

[Lunettesman]

Little update on the LCDH at Cancun. What a surprised! Well stocked, tons of RE from every where (only singles to buy), limitadas from different years (even a 520), and the new stuff (BNGM, Nevedosos, ect). The shop looks amazing. However the welcome by the host isn't very warm and I didn't feel a positive energy in there. However, cigar-wise it's top notch.