Are Cuban cigars available in the Dominican Republic?

[Tenor CS]

My wife's family is pondering doing a big "let's rent a beach house for a week and get all of us together" vacation in the Dominican Republic. Of course, I immediately think, "Ooh, cigar field trip!"

So, are Cuban cigars available in the DR?

If not, why? Does DR have an embargo on Cuba like the USA does?

Or might it just be a business sense thing of "we make cigars, too, and we don't want to let in outside competition?"

[krisko]

Originally Posted by Tenor CS

Or might it just be a business sense thing of "we make cigars, too, and we don't want to let in outside competition?"

I don't know if CCs are available there but it would be for this reason if they weren't. Fuente probably exerts a lot of power over there. Not to mention, if you did find CCs over there they probably aren't genuine.

The embargo is a US thing...no other country is that stupid as far as I know.

[68TriShield]

Theres a 99% chance that if you do find CC's in the D.R.,they will be fake.Thats being generous with the 99%.

[CigarmanTim]

Originally Posted by krisko

The embargo is a US thing...no other country is that stupid as far as I know.

lol Yep. That square peg is going to fit in that round hole damnit

[MNWanger]

Was in the DR a couple years ago (Punta Cana). You will see "cuban" cigars there. Basically all of the ones I saw were fakes. Plenty of them on the beach, in glass-top boxes. If you can talk them down to a good price, it may be worth the novelty of having a glasstop box of Cohibas. I had a ~7yr old one (Fauxhiba) a few weeks back, and it was actually pretty good.

As it is, the price of cigars at the resort was pretty high (and they were only Dominicans). If you do an upgraded service at a resort, you may be able to get cigars for free. I brought my own to smoke there, anyways.

As for Fuente having influence...not any more than any other manufacturer. Makers there get a tax break for exporting their goods. To sell them in the country, they have to re-import them to the DR (odd, but that's what I remember reading) to sell them, which drives up the price. And be aware of fake Fuentes there, too.

Hope that helped.

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by 68TriShield

Theres a 99% chance that if you do find CC's in the D.R.,they will be fake.Thats being generous with the 99%.

Conservative figure indeed.
Might be more like 99.9%.
Or, better yet, like in the tv shows, "I am 150% sure that child is not mine". How the heck does one pass 100%?

I might add, same stat goes for Dominican cigars sold on that island.

[thebiglebowski]

Originally Posted by Blueface

Conservative figure indeed.
Might be more like 99.9%.
Or, better yet, like in the tv shows, "I am 150% sure that child is not mine". How the heck does one pass 100%?

I might add, same stat goes for Dominican cigars sold on that island.

i'm probably wrong, but didn't the DR place an embargo on Cuba as well? more for the shenanigans that castro and che tried to pull over there? viva la revolucion?

like i said, i'm probably wrong...

[mikeyj23]

Someone correct me if I'm in left field, but I think there was a recent thread about this and someone pointed out that since cigars are a fairly large part of DR's export, there's no reason why they would voluntarily sell real Cuban cigars there. Just like when I lived in Kansas there was so much Kansas beef and everyone wanted to preserve that market, so you just never saw Japanese beef on the shelves.

[Scimmia]

Except I do remember reading that it's tough to find a genuine Fuente, etc in the DR also, as they're made for export.

[ellisb]

Originally Posted by MNWanger

And be aware of fake Fuentes there, too.

A friend of mine vacationed there and brought be back a box of Fuentes, in a glass top box.... As fake as fake could be, complete with beetles... I could not break the news to him.

Buyer Beware,
-EB

[Blueface]

Originally Posted by mikeyj23

Someone correct me if I'm in left field, but I think there was a recent thread about this and someone pointed out that since cigars are a fairly large part of DR's export, there's no reason why they would voluntarily sell real Cuban cigars there. Just like when I lived in Kansas there was so much Kansas beef and everyone wanted to preserve that market, so you just never saw Japanese beef on the shelves.

Originally Posted by Scimmia

Except I do remember reading that it's tough to find a genuine Fuente, etc in the DR also, as they're made for export.

Originally Posted by ellisb

A friend of mine vacationed there and brought be back a box of Fuentes, in a glass top box.... As fake as fake could be, complete with beetles... I could not break the news to him.

Buyer Beware,
-EB

Yup.
There is everything on Earth to be found there but all fakes.
They peddle glass top Cohibas like they are going out of style.
They sell both Dominican and Cuban.
None real.
Best to just bring your own sticks there.

[krisko]

Isn't there an Opus X that you can only buy in the DR? Do you buy it in a duty free zone or something? And what about tours...does anybody arrange a tobacco tour and can you get some tasty samples?

[Padron42]

An idea for you if you're renting a house down there for a week. My cousin had a wedding in the dominican and wanted to give all the men in it some cubans but knew the cubans were fake there so she had them shipped to the house they were staying at a few days before she left home and they got there alright.

[Tenor CS]

Originally Posted by Padron42

An idea for you if you're renting a house down there for a week. My cousin had a wedding in the dominican and wanted to give all the men in it some cubans but knew the cubans were fake there so she had them shipped to the house they were staying at a few days before she left home and they got there alright.

Now THERE's an idea! Thanks, Padron42! I might just do that.

[MNWanger]

I just remembered that the duty free shops in the airports might be a good place to look for real Cubans. The one in Punta Cana was very good.