Back from the Caribbean

Just got back from a sweet 8 day cruise. I was a little bummed that cigar smoking was only allowed in the cigar bar on the ship and not on the open decks, but the music and atmosphere in the cigar bar were great. I packed my smokes a couple days ahead of time in a tupperdor with a small credo and a digital hygrometer. The humidity jumped to 90% and I did not catch it until we were on the ship. The smokes I packed soaked up enough moisture that they were basically unsmokable on the trip. However, I did find some great smoke shops that provided the needed cigars for the rest of the trip. Below is a review of each port and the cigar scene there.

San Juan, Puerto Rico:

I found a really nice shop in Old San Juan. The name of the shop is The Cigar House. They had all the General and Altadis stuff along with a full line of RP, Ashton, Fuente, Padron, etc. They had boxes of Casa Magna for ~$130. They had tons of Opus @ $30+ per stick! They also had a nice selection of accessories. There were a couple other shops, that while not great, still had a decent selection of NCs.

St. Thomas, USVI:

There were a few nice shops in St Thomas. There is a shop right off the boat. They had a nice selection. Mostly General and Altadis, but also Fuente, Padron, Ashton, etc. They also had Opus for $30+ per stick. They had several of the Montecristo tobacco leaf ring tools hanging around, but would not sell me one.

The next shop was Captain's Corner in downtown. Only one of the locations has cigars. Basically, the same selection as the other shop. They also had tons of the Dominican Cohibas (with Cuban style bands). I talked the cigar salesman into selling me one of the Monte ring tools. I picked it up for $30 with the nice montecristo hanger.

I visited another shop that had a small selection of General/Altadis and the Dominican Cohibas. This was basically a souvenir shop with a small humidor. The guy that was working there tried to sell me some of the nastiest looking churchills that he claimed were "Cuban Montecristos that I took the band off". I laughed and left.

AH Riise also had a decent selection of smokes. They had Opus X at reasonable prices....Reserva d Chateau for $18 per stick or the 3pk tins for $54.


Antigua, Antigua and Barbuda:

There were a couple liquor store selling smokes. One store had a small, but nice selection of NCs and a small CC selection. The NCs included several Graycliff lines, RyJ, Macanudo, etc. The CC selection included Monte #2 and #4, RyJ Churchills (tubos), Cohiba Robustos. The CCs were authentic...as best I could tell from all the studying I have done. I bought a Cohiba Robusto and RyJ Churchill. After smoking the Cohiba, I was certain it was the real deal.

The other liquor store had fakes that were obvious fakes. Boxes improperly sealed, no triple caps, poor construction, etc.

I found a nice shop in the upstairs of the Heritage quay "mall". They had a full line of authentic CCs. Prices were a little steep, but I did pick up a Juan Lopez Sel No2, Cuaba Exclusivos, and a Fonseca No1.


Tortola, BVI:

There is very little shopping on Tortola. I did find Little Denmark which sells souvenirs. They had a full line (in the tiniest walk-in) of CCs. Prices were a little more reasonable than the shop in Antigua. I picked up a Sancho Non-Plus, Quintero Nacionales, and Por Larranaga Montecarlo (I was trying to pick up a selection of brands I had never smoked). It was tempting to pick up a Sancho Panza Sanchos (9.25x47)...but I didn't think I could tackle it. I was also able to buy a book, The Journey of the Havana Cigar. This is a nice book that talks about cigars from seed to finished product.

Nassau, Bahamas:

Fake CCs everywhere. I had a guy try to sell me some CCs at the straw market. A few minutes prior, I saw him putting Cohiba labels on a pyramid shaped cigar. All the shops had nothing but fakes.

I did visit Graycliff. The place is beautiful. The cigar factory is basically a small room with 12 rollers working. I got to take some pics. I don't plan to post them, because there is really nothing different from the pics others have posted....and no need to waste bandwidth. The cigars were pricey in their shop...which only sells their products. I picked up 3 different lines (Chateau gran Cru, Espresso, and Crystal). I smoked the Chateau Gran Cru and it was very nice...much better than the 1666 I smoked. Graycliff is definitely worth a visit. Once you leave the ship terminal, it is about a 15 min walk.

The lady working at Graycliff advised that Atlantis Hotel is the only place in the Bahamas where you can safely buy legitimate CCs. I didn't go to their shop due to lack of time, etc.

Well, that basically sums up my port cigar reviews. Hope this is helpful for those traveling to the islands in the future.