tenth

May 2013 - A box of H Upmann #2s while in Varadero for our wedding. Picked up a box of either Cuaba Divinos or Upmann Petit Coronas for each of the groomsmen. Hooked ever since!

Does he connect through somewhere else, or are there really direct flights from Luxembourg to Canada? I had good luck in Amsterdam duty free. It's been a while now, but from memory a box of 10x Monte Petit Edmundo's was ~75 Euros, 25x Partagas Aristocrats around the same, and 10x Monte 520's was around $170 Euros. As a Canadian we actually paid lower than the posted rate in the duty free shop. Not dirt cheap, but certainly a significant discount compared to Canada.

Oh, and I forgot mcmenamin's. We did not make it to any of them but I guess they take old church's, schools, etc, and convert them to bars, restaurants, theatres, etc... Their "kennedy school" in Portland does have a cigar bar "detention centre", and generally looks super cool, but was too far from our hotel to really get to. This was one that's definitely on my list to check out if I go back. http://www.mcmenamins.com/427-kennedy-school-home

I did Portland for a bachelor party last year and had a blast. Portland is a bit of a mixed bag for cigars. There are a couple places to smoke indoors, but smoking is banned at public squares and parks (benches on the outskirts of parks I believe are fine). From memory, I believe they have 2 establishments that have smoking indoors left. You can smoke in the basement of "Kell's", an Irish pub downtown. Great food and a decent whiskey selection there, although it's a bit dank without any natural light and all the cigar smoke. So long as you spent a minimum amount there (I feel like it was $10 or $15), there was no cutting fee for bringing in cigars. The other is a brazilian BBQ "El Gaucho" a couple blocks from Kells, which closes earlier (and therefore I never made it to). Like strizz, I visited Rich's Cigar Store. I visited the one on Alder, which is just South of the Pearl District (they do have one on Flanders in the Pearl District as well). Their selection and prices were good, among the best in town from what I researched, although I prefer a walk in humidor as it was difficult to peruse their stock from behind a counter. I had to ask a lot of questions, although strizz is right they were great to deal with and provide suggestions. For hard liquor, I believe it was the Multnomah Whiskey Library that half our group visited that they're still raving about. Other highlights included the Deschutes brewpub (gluten free won't be an issue at all and I'm sure they serve hard liquor), Ground Kontrol Classic Arcade (licensed arcade with all the 25 cent arcade classics - craft beers were $4), Brewvana brewery tours (maybe not so good for you - but maybe they do distillery tours), all of the food trucks downtown, and a Portland Timbers game (among the coolest sporting events I've ever been to - sit in the general admission section with the supporters). Rogue and some other brewers have gotten into the liquor game as well. I didn't enjoy the Rogue Dead Guy whiskey I had a few years back, but apparently their gin or vodka won competitions last year. Links: http://www.elgaucho.com/el-gaucho-portland.html http://www.richscigarstore.com/ http://www.kellsportland.com/cigar-room/ http://www.multnomahwhiskeylibrary.com/ http://groundkontrol.com/

Canada Post or a shipping company? For Canada Post I have had to pay at the post office before they release the package, although I know Fed Ex and UPS are big fans of charging duty/customs and collecting after you pick it up.

This looks absolutely amazing. Such a great idea. Looking at the first photo, this looks like the helicopter operation at the Stony Nakoda (presumably for the smokeout event)? Did you have any concerns, or did they talk to you at all about the helicopter crash 2 or so years ago?

Great notes above. I had the pleasure of stumbling upon the La Escepcion 2011 Italian regional last August at the Rome LCDH and it was fantastic. That LCDH was basically right on our walk from Trevi fountain to the Pantheon. I thoroughly enjoyed smoking it a few blocks away from the Pantheon at Piazza Navona. Even in August it was much quieter than the main squares, but busy enough to people watch and enjoy great pasta, coffee, wine, and a cigar. Of course, after returning, I'm wishing I had bought a box (or 3) of the La Escepcions. I did have good success at Amsterdam Schipol duty free. Picked up a box of 10 Montecristo 520 2012 EL for about 170 Euros (was able to get a discounted rate even from what was advertised because I didn't need to pay the European tax built into the price either), and 10 Montecristo Petit Edmundo's for around 70 euros. So, significantly cheaper than Canada, although not quite Cuban pricing. Have fun! It will be awesome. I would definitely stock up on on sticks in the major centres with LCDH or other large shops (P.G.C. Hajenius in Amsterdam was very nice), as the selection in the smaller cities/towns will definitely be limited to a few vitolas of the big 3 marcas. But I loved nothing more than a great smoke in a spectacular setting, and Europe is definitely still more liberal than much of North America with respect to locations you are able to smoke (or drink).

Quick bump with more detail based on our stay last week in Puerto Morelos (15 minutes south of the Cancun airport). The resort we stayed at (Excellence Riviera Cancun), had an alright selection, and what I looked at looked pretty legit, although their humidors were pretty sad. I couldn't spot a humidifier in any of their cabinets, their main humidor had a humidifier the style I recall using as a kid when I was sick spewing vapor constantly, and I couldn't find a hygrometre anywhere. They had them out in the open outside trying to sell them one night, and the sticks they brought out for that were in just terrible condition with wrappers on Siglo's and Monte #2s coming undone and caps falling apart. Of course, you'd see a guy every now and then come by with a phone to his ear, no doubt Americans calling a buddy to figure out what "cuban" to try. That said, I could only bring down 4 with me in my travel humidor, so I did end up buying a HDM epicure #2 (~$15 USD), Partagas Series P #2 (~$21 USD) and Series D #4 (~$17 USD), Bolivar Royal Corona (~$13 USD), and Ramon Allones Specially Selected (~$12 USD). The Monte #2s were all in bad shape, but ran ~$22 USD each, and the Partagas Salmones was $40 USD. So, bad pricing relatively to the rest of the world, but relatively affordable for Canada. The Cancun duty free was, surprisingly, much worse in pricing with the Monte #2 going for ~$30 USD a stick. Even "duty free" liquor wasn't great (at least compared to Alberta) with 1L of Woodford Reserve going for $45 USD, and 1L of Dalwhinnie 15 going for ~$85 USD.

That's fantastic. Had the pleasure of meeting Arturo Jr at Tampa's Sweethearts before really getting into the hobby. Came right to the door to shake everybody's hand, signed our single boxes of the 2011 Opus X Petit Lancero, and chatted with us for quite a while about the business, his family, and his love of cigars. Highly recommend the trip!

This probably goes without saying, but definitely take a peak at duty free in the airport. I'm not sure how you're getting in/out of Europe, but I found the Amsterdam duty free to be great. Having a non-EU passport, they knocked the price down from even what was advertised as I guess we're excluded from whatever EU tax that is built-in. Picked up a box of Montecristo 520 EL, Petit Edmundos, and Partagas Aristocrats (have been good for winter). I believe the Petit Edmundo's worked out to around ~7-8 euros a cigar. And consume lots and lots of the local brew! Big fan of belgian beers.

For those that watch the oscars, a good chunk of the 2014 nominated documentaries are on there this year. The Square has been my favourite so far, about the series of Egyptian uprisings from Mubarak, to military rule, to Morsi, and then military rule again, all through the eyes of the protesters. "The Act of Killing" documentary was just mind blowing. Basically it's about a bunch of Indonesian gangsters who re-enact via film and theater their ~1960's murders of thousands of alleged communists, or just people of Chinese ethnic background (presumed to be communists). It's hilarious and incredibly sad at the same time. It's just unbelievable to watch. "The Short Game" just came out last month about 7-8 year old kids trying to become professional golfers. I haven't seen it yet, but it's on my watch list, and is supposed to be great. So many good options.

I can't find anything on that, and most courses will give you an ash tray for the cart. Given it's not even an issue in Calgary parks (other than playgrounds, skating rinks, sports fields, skate parks, etc), I can't imagine why they'd restrict it on a golf course. I could see the city courses doing something weird like that, but I've definitely played with some heavy cigarette smokers at Shaganappi. I'd wager whoever told you that misheard something. The city restricts "within five metres of outdoor pools, outdoor skating rinks, playgrounds, skate parks or sports fields as of Aug. 1, 2013." The province restricts workplace, public vehicle, the 5m from doorways/entrances rule, and public places (enclosed buildings and attachments, bus stands, restaurants, hotels, etc).

Thanks for the info. Heading to Puerto Morelos in May and I was having a hell of a time finding any info on just how bad the LCDH pricing was. I knew it was bad, but coming from mostly Americans that doesn't tell me much. It seems both the Cancun and PdC stores are a good ways away, so I'll just go with my initial plan to bring my own down.

The Excise Act itself mentions a prescribed limit, but that limit isn't defined. Do you have any further insite into this? It seems ridiculous. http://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/E-14.1/page-10.html#s-32. "32. (1) No person shall sell, offer for sale or have in their possession a tobacco product unless it is stamped. (2) Subsection (1) does not apply to the possession of a tobacco product by ... (j) an individual who has imported the product for their personal use in quantities not in excess of prescribed limits;"

Great video, thanks for posting it. I was in Tampa a year or so ago and visited Tampa Sweethearts Cigar Company in Ybor City. Even though we got there after hours, it just so happened Arturo Fuente Jr was waiting for a delivery and left the place open. Incredibly friendly guy. It was really interesting talking to him about the business, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and his brother. He was kind enough to autograph our 2011 Opus X Petit Lancero boxes, and I snagged a business card to go along with the box for display in the man cave. I'd recommend stopping in if you're in the area.