I’m hoping my Canadian friends can help me. And if this belongs in IMHO or something, apologies in advance.
I have a customer in Canada that I normally send a nice box of cigars every Christmas. It’s his thing. I’m in the US.
The last two years, FedEx has made a big thing of shipping tobacco products. One shipment got returned and one went into some kind of clearance hell. I don’t have all the details, as my Admin handles it. But she’s good. She insists that there is nothing that says we cannot send cigars, but it ain’t working.
SO… Do any Canadian dopers know of a Canadian-based online retailer where we can order the cigars delivered to the customer? Or even a friendly local cigar store/bar that might do it? I’m thinking keeping it Canadian-domestic might be the way to go.
I’ve got no answer to the question, but you might want to know how I read it. I was wondering “why would anyone would call Canadians ‘cigars’?” Was that a pejorative of some kind? A nickname for something? A pop culture reference?
Well, it’s none of those things. You might want to ask a mod to change the title slightly to get straight to your meaning.
That’s your best bet. Find a proper tobacconist in your customer’s locale (Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, wherever), and call them. On the telephone. Do not use online retailers, as there are few that are actually Canadian-based (though they claim to be), and most of those that are actually Canadian, serve the US market that wants Cuban cigars. When calling a Canadian tobacconist that has a brick-and-mortar store in Canada, you can ask about what they have to offer, and the price that you’re willing to spend, and they should be able to suggest something suitable. And they can ship within their province, no problem.
Note that tobacco sales are mostly controlled by Canada’s provinces, all of which do not look kindly upon interprovincial sales of tobacco (they’re missing out on the excise taxes that they are owed, while another province gets them). To state an example, your call to a Toronto, Ontario tobacconist would likely result in the answer that they cannot ship to Calgary, Alberta, if that’s where your customer is. That’s why I said “in your customer’s locale.”
As a pipe and cigar smoker, I’ve been to more that a few proper tobacconists in various cities of Canada. If you let us know where your customer is located, I might be able to suggest a tobacconist.
Oh, I should add (it’s too late to edit the above), that Canada does not allow any advertising of tobacco products.* That extends to websites of tobacconists, so even if you look at the website of a Canadian tobacconist, it will make no mention of selling tobacco, or the cigars/pipe tobaccos/cigarettes/cigarette tobacco/snuff that it sells. It will inform you of the pipes that it sells, or cigar accessories such as cutters and ashtrays, but it will make no mention of the actual tobacco products on offer.
Again, your best bet is to speak, on the phone, with the tobacconist, inform him or her of what your client likes, and seek a recommendation that is within your budget.
Note the asterisk.* (Discourse, I did not wish to place a bullet point.) Anyway, any purportedly “Canadian” tobacconist website that advertises cigars, pipe tobacco, or tobacco in any other form is almost certainly not Canadian, because they are advertising tobacco, which is illegal under Canadian law, and the Canadian government would have shut these places down long before now. Avoid these places; they are not Canadian.
As a pipe smoker, I can attest that Montreal is easy: Blatter & Blatter. (375 Avenue du President-Kennedy, Montreal, QC, H3A 1J5; telephone (514) 845-8028).
I’ve never been there, but I know them by reputation. Pipe-smoking friends have been there, and they have been very pleased with the selection and service. Note that B&B deal mainly in pipes and pipe tobaccos. No idea how they are on cigars, but I’m sure they would be able to recommend a good local cigar retailer.
I was also able to find, via Google, Vasco Cigares in Montreal (1392-1394 Saint-Catherine West, Montreal, QC; telephone (514) 284-0475), which, as expected, advertises no tobacco, but in its “About Us” page it mentions that it has the “finest selection of Cuban and non-Cuban cigars from everywhere.”