My first Mexico cruise taken in 2003 we were warned about buying name brand cigars including Cubans and Cohibas. Prices were not to bad if htey were real but it was obviouse in some shops that the boxes were used over and over and if you wanted to buy a box they were alwasys opened. Prices were about $20 a stick.

My last Mexico cruise, January of 2010, the prices were $40 a stick for a yellow band Cohiba and the same with boxes. Nobody had a unopened box, not that I was going to buy one, but all the premium cigars I saw were way over priced from what I can buy here online. I am glad I take my own stash with me.

The warning we got on our fitst cruise was most all Cohibas we would see were fakes. Printers are cheap so reproducing a Cohiba band is easy and can turn a nice $2 cigar into a nice $20-$40 cigar just waiting for a tourist to buy. After looking closely ar packaging it even looked like some places were wrapping their own boxes as well as bands. Last years cruise I found most of teh Mexican made cigars to as much or more then name brands. Needless to say, I didn't buy any cigars on those cruises and I couldn't even find much in teh way of a humidor or cigar ashtrays ofered for sale.
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as someone was saying earlier these yellow band Dominican Cohibas arent fake cubans or knock offs. they say made in the dominican republic right on the box, they just have the right to use the cohiba name but they cant sell cigars in the u.s. from the research ive done the name of the company that makes them is monti cristi located in the dr. just to add the ones my friend bought in the dr were real cheap. $10 for 10 cigars, 32 ring. i wish there was a way i can get a 500 cigar box of these
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I see you asked all these questions in November and mid-December at a site I used to be a moderator on, John. I saw you got several answers and some suggestions there.
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Your best bet I would imagine would be to stick with the Dominican's if you're searching for a similar profile. Fuente's might come close, same with the Dominican Monte's. Try Macanudo, La Aurora and Vegafina as well, especially if you're relatively new to cigars. Most of the cigars you listed are either Honduran or Nicaraguan I believe :-)
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thanks alot ismith!, what kind of monte's do you recommend? i thought the whites were absolutely horrible. that made me want to never buy a monte again. i got about 30 more types of cigars im gonna buy after i get a humidor. im gonna list them in a few just so you guys know. ive got them all bookmarked in my browser. hopefully after spending $500-$600 on cigars il find something i like to permanently smoke
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Montecristo Original Habanitos
CAO Gold Karats
La Aurora Finos 5/10 Cigars
Macanudo Classic Claybourne Cafe
Gispert Classic Cortos
Romeo y Julieta Habana Reserve Amores
Romeo y Julieta 1875 Romeos
Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Minutos Petites
Illusione Cuchillos Cubanos 32 Cigarillo
La Aroma De Cuba Classic Interlude
Cuesta Rey Centenario Coleccion Cameo
Onyx Reserve Impulse
Graycliff Chateau Grand Cru Scooter (if i can find them cheap on cbid)
Davidoff Classic Primeros
Macanudo Maduro Ascot 10/10 Cigars - Maduro Pack of 100
La Gloria Cubana Serie R Pequenos
perdomo Habanitos Maduro
Drew Estate Natural Jucy Lucy
5 Vegas Classic Panatela
Cohiba Black Pequenos
Cohiba Red Dot Pequenos
Vega Fina Classic No. 5


this is my next order so far guys. if anyone has any more recommendations feel free to mention them. i wanted to try to let this be my last order so i dont have to do a bunch more small orders every time i find out about something new. as you can see im serious about finding a good cigar
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I love cigars because I can smoke a different cigar every day for months and not repeat the same one. Yes, I have pared it down and knocked many off the radar...but why would you want to find ONE cigar to smoke for the rest of your life when there are so many wonderful ones out there? :-)
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yes sir! im huntin down cigars untill i find what im lookin for. i dont smoke cigars that often so its gonna take a little while
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If you are looking for one cigar that will be close to or identical to another, I am afraid you are doomed to fail. One of the joys and pleasures of this hobby/obsession is the variety it offers us.
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im just hoping i find at least 1. the more types the better, im just a picky person. if i end up finding 5-10 types of cigars i like il get a big box of each to keep in the humidor and sit on them and smoke them for years
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Fair enough. :-)
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im gonna try anyway. worst case scenario is i find something else i like
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I hope you do.
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thanks, im tryin hard, as you can see im about to have like 50 different types of cigars to test out. lol no playin around
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Couldn't tell ya, I don't smoke many Monte's...NC or CC. Just keep trying new things and odds are you'll find something you like...the cigar world enormous. Keep an open mind and try to enjoy the cigar for what it is and not what you want it to be. :-)
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thanks!
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