We know, it’s less than half way through the month and the disposal income is looking rather limited… well fear not we’re found a way to get the best priced cigars, helping make that December pay cheque stretch just a bit further!
Reporting for Cut The Cap is Andrew Paszkowski, so carrying on reading for the best news of the year so far!
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Yes, ladies and gentlemen, we have discovered the Holy Grail of every cigar aficionado: Cuban cigars, the real McCoy, at prices even lower than you can buy in Havana! Where? How? Why? We can hear the cries!
The answer lies in the small independent principality of Andorra hidden between the peaks of the Pyrenees Mountains. Andorra is one of the last remaining tax free havens in Europe and you can buy Cuban, as well as fine cigars from the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, Honduras and even more obscure locations if you chose, with no duty or tax to pay. There are of course some restrictions on the quantities you can take out of the Principality; 150 cigars if they weigh less than 3 grams each or 75 cigars for anything larger.
The savings can be really quite substantial and really are the best priced cigars we’ve found anywhere. Here are some examples; take the exquisite Romeo y Julieta Churchill, possibly the epitome of a large cigar. In Andorra you can purchase 25 of these beauties for €250, or roughly £205 in real money. That compares to £489.97 (quoted on many websites in the UK) or in layman’s terms that is 2.4 x more! Another gorgeous cigar, Bolivar’s Belicosos Finos does even better. In Andorra the cost for a box of 25 is a salivating €185.50 or roughly £152. In the UK you would probably need to persuade your flexible friend to part with over £410, which is a whopping 2.7 x saving.
We’ve bought our cigars from The Cigar Shop. Andorra has two outlets, one in Andorra La Vella (the main town) and the second in Pas de La Casa, another commercial centre. They have a very good web site (although regrettably you cannot order for export) which is www.thecigarshop.ad where you can check the price of your favourite cigars.
Apart from duty free prices on cigars, booze and cosmetics (for the ladies), Andorra punches a pretty attractive tourist package, especially if you enjoy Alpine sports. As you would expect, the scenery is spectacular. Although getting to the Principality can be a bit of a bind because the closest airports (Barcelona and Toulouse) are about 3 hours drive away but once here, there are loads of activities for all the family – one bonus of the 3 hour trip from the airport means fewer chavs come to this mountain resort!
So we can hear you ask, which cigars have we bought for my degustation and mellow contemplation? This time we have chosen a box of 25 magnificent Montecristo Number 2 Pyramid for only €225 and another box of 25 of the majestic Hoya de Monterrey Epicure Number 2 at €185 (a personal favourite of fellow Cut The Capper, Eray). And maybe we can still be tempted to get a box La Gloria Cubana Inmensos, going for a song at €97 per box of 10 – we can’t even find these rare monsters in the UK!
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So there you have it – the perfect alternative to a holiday destination to Cuba that will end up paying for itself!