PalQ

I would imagine that one of the joys of a cigar smoker in Europe would be the chance, everywhere, to buy real Cuban cigars. However it appears that even for an american to buy Cuban goods abroad is illegal, due to the economic boycott of Cuban goods the US government has imposed.
Do you break the law or still puff away on that stogie - i don't smoke but i'd certainly buy Cubans if i did as i think the boycott is unjustified.
Do you buy Cubans in Europe? Are you a law breaker?

P_M

I didn't know that buying Cubans while overseas is illegal, I thought it is only a crime to bring them into the US. But if you are correct and just buying them is illegal, then that law is completely unenforceable as long as you don't try to bring them home.

atlantagrl

ummm...not sure i'd consider myself a law breaker...but i think the only illegal thing is to bring the cuban goods back into the US. I don't think the US government is going to busy itself with keeping US citizens from smoking cuban cigars while on foreign soil - I mean, how on earth would they prove such a thing????? even if you get caught bringing cuban cigars back into the US, all you get really is the proverbial slap on the wrist.

PalQ

Well yes i believe it is - it came to light to me in Detroit here when we had the Super Bowl and folks were spilling over into Windsor to go to the "Windsor Ballet" - euphenism for total nude dancing bars and to buy and smoke Cuban cigars, which Customs officials said was illegal, even to buy them outside of the US - now making smoking them outside US is not illegal but buying them is - as per the economic boycott, much like you can't fly Cuban Airlines anywhere, legally.

bardo1

Your right! Here it is (paragraph 3):

http://www.ustreas.gov/offices/enfor...ba/ccigar2.pdf

I don't smoke cigars anyway, but really now, what is the chance of the US government catching you red handed smoking a cuban cigar while you are abroad?!?!?

grsing

If you're a US citizen, I'm pretty sure it is technically illegal to buy them anywhere, but, as was mentioned, it's basically completely unenforcable. The US government does keep unusually tight leashes on its citizens (as far as I've found out, we're the only country on the planet that makes its citizens pay income taxes to the US government even if the citizen hasn't been in the US the whole year and is living abroad).

logos999

So what you should do if you wan't to get rid of this annoying american is to:
- offer him a drink
- show him the bottle of Hanvana Club rum
- phone the number from the link

Sounds like great fun ;-)

henryv

I am a cigar smoker but don't buy Cubans for political reasons.Also I think that Dominicans make such great cigars that I am not suffering to greatly.I remember a U.S. ambassador to the U.K(a retired admiral) was asked about his smoking Cuban cigars.He said"it is longed used tactic to burn your enemies crops".
One way to bring Cuban cigars back is to have the shop remove the rings and put the cigars in a noncuban box.They will then mail the rings and the box to the U.S.

ipod_robbie

Where is this ballet?

PalQ

There are several Windsor Ballets - a nickname for strip clubs that as per Canadian law can take it all off - ones in Detroit legally cannot. I've never been to the Windsor Ballet but there are several in that town that is just south of Detroit via tunnel or bridge (weird geographic: Canada lies due south of Detroit).

ira

I don't smoke cigars, but I do buy Cuban cigars and bring them back for my friends who do.

wanderlust5

I certainly do.

Intrepid1

Ira, please tell us how you do it. Do you hide them (doubtful) or just brazen your way through with the identifying marks removed?

PalQ

Ira - you should take the fifth - i'm calling that number on Bardo's post right now - expect Fox News Police to be at your pecan grove soon!

viaggio_sempre

Hey Bardo, good sleuthing!

VS :-"

crefloors

My brother buys cubans all the time when we are in europe. He has NOT brought any into the US however. He has found that just because they are cuban doesn't mean the are all good. He has lit up and tossed several. Some were really good though.

robjame

I do travel from Canada to States a couple of times a year. I always declare my tobacco as I enter the US (eg. 50 cigars for my own use). I have never been asked to show them or have I been questioned regarding the country of origin of the product. Perhaps the corollary to it being illegal for US citizens to light up in Canada or France is that it IS legal for Canadians to smaoke these evil products of Castro in the US.
BTW it is far too expensive for me to buy Cuban cigars in Canada on a regular basis because of the inflated prices caused by the demand from American tourists. Several Canadian cigar stores have verified this. Cuban cigars were far more reasonable in France, even buying them in a restaurant like La Truffiere or Jules Verne.
And another BTW it is worth the experience of buying a cigar in these types of restaurants if only for watching the ritual they go through.

Neopolitan

It's OK. I smoked one, but I didn't inhale.

PalQ

the problem with Clinton was he never exhaled!

AnselmAdorne

PalQ, we Canadians seem to be injecting a little cash into the Cuban economy. My daughter was in Havana just a couple of weeks ago; if I were a smoker, I could have asked her to pick me up some.

Anselm