Le Casa Del Habano - Hi Chi Minh City

[Lucifer Morningstar]

I went to Vietnam for 10 days and while in Ho Chi Minh City (aka Saigon) I took a trip to the Le Casa Del Habano. I went via Grab and he turned up outside the hotel with a guard with a rather intimidating rifle. Naturally, I was taken aback; upon further investigation I'm 99% sure he's part of the service there. The Grab had one stop before me which happened to be the Le Casa Del Habano.

Anyway, before arriving the guard stopped the traffic so I could cross the road (crossing roads in Vietnam is an experience in and of itself).
Arriving at the aforementioned place, he again stopped traffic. In I walked:

  

(This isn't the exact entrance, it's a little waiting room). The exact entrance is a bit of a hall way which is a bit dull. I had to change my shoes, I was wearing thongs (flip flops). I wasn't aware this was a rule, but looking back I should've realised. I had a browse of their humidor:

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These are from the cigar room. I didn't think to take pictures from the ground floor. You can tell the scale of the selection.

I bought a lot of boxes. They sell Bovedas too, which is nice. I also bought a few single sticks. They ran out of ziploc bags so they put it in an empty box for me. I brought Bovedas with me, just not enough for the boxes I bought so I ended up spending money not just on cigars, but Boveda as well.

I tried a Bolivar Royal Corona while there.

Unfortunately, the first one was plugged and was like sucking a golf ball through a garden hose (as they say, I've never tried it myself). They tried to unplug it with a draw enhancer (looked like a Perfec Draw) and that failed. So the lovely lady got me a new one, lit it up for me and it was perfect!

I also enjoyed a very overpriced Piña Colada, which was very nice and came in a Coconut shell. I can't complain at the price now, because when I was in Phú Quốc the resort charges Đ230,000 (Vietnamese Dong) which is about $13.

They served me some peanuts, consisting of Cashews and my favourite Pistachios.

I asked to take pictures, because sometimes places in Vietnam don't appreciate it. So I did:

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They have private humidors

The cigar room is easily entered by a lift, which honestly looked like is was gilded in gold. They have 2 wine coolers with wine. They can also pair cigars with assorted alcoholic beverages. I didn't think to take pictures of the menu.

While I was there, there was one other person talking on his phone with an Apple Mac laptop. I didn't think to talk to him because he was very dapper in his suit.

Before I left, two people ended up coming, dressed similar to me in shorts and thongs. They has a quick look in the humidor, but I entered the lift to leave at that point.

One thing to add is the cigar room did not smell of cigars. They have some powerful air purifiers. Also, their air conditioning is excellent. Vietnam is very humid, and gets easily into the 30's°c.

When my Taxi arrived, a security guard (armed) out the front stopped both lanes of traffic, got me by the hand and opened the back taxi door, off I went and he went back to sit at the front of the store.

Overall, 10/10. I came back with a large haul of cigars and customs weren't the wiser when I got back to Australia.

I must admit, having armed guard going there, and then stopping traffic before I left was an experience I will never forget. It was amazing, and surreal.

[Lucas Buck]

Thanks for the photographic tour! Curious what the cigar pricing was like. Nice that the service was top notch!

[Lucifer Morningstar]

6 hours ago, Lucas Buck said:

Thanks for the photographic tour! Curious what the cigar pricing was like. Nice that the service was top notch!

I didn't take much notice of the prices. But from memory:

• Cohiba Behike 56. Box for about US$3,590 (I think). In Australia the same box would cost close to US$5,000+
• Cohiba Siglo I. Box for 25 for about US$950.

Not cheap, but also not stupidly expensive. Some countries have a huge tax, I'm only going off memory because I didn't take pictures in the humidor.
Mostly didn't take notice because I didn't want to know how much money I spent 😅. Their prices were in VND. They said verbally how much in USD approximately if you were interested,

They have more pictures on their website https://lacasadelhabano.vn/en/. No prices for cigars, unfortunately.

One thing I forgot to mention is the service was impeccable. Was asked where I was from, staff literally standing nearby as soon as I finished my drink I was asked if I wanted another. Peanuts were taken and a new tray given. Because I was alone I was chatting with the staff.

[Lucas Buck]

Great info. Thank you!