# Legality of Cuban cigars **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 18, 2001, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839 "2001-05-18T16:32:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/21 "2001-05-20T13:01:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sailor \* > **CheapBastid, you are distorting things.** The OP was pretty extensively answered, and I do understand what the question was, but the fact that one can indeed buy Cuban Cigars was not stated. The condition is a {i}very\* specific one, and I thought it useful to know. I’m sorry if I offended your sensibilities. ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/22 "2001-05-20T15:04:53Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Kalt \* > \*\*Cuban cigars are illegal to buy in 3rd countries. They are illegal to buy when you are abroad. Bill Clinton recently bought a cuban cigar (Bolivar) in london - in front of the press. What a cocky prick. \*\* This is interesting. Does it fall under “trading with the enemy” if you purchase (and smoke) a Cuban cigar in, say, Spain? Here’s something I just thought of: one of my cousins was taking a semester of school abroad. The location? Cuba. Yes, really. Therefore, wouldn’t they be violating the “trading with the enemy” act on a daily basis, purchasing food and such? It would certainly be an interesting case if such a thing were brought to trial ---
**Author:** ![occ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@occ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/occ)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/23 "2001-05-20T15:08:27Z")
On another aside, I recall recently reading that a snooty private club in Manhattan was recently raided, due to suspicion of hoarding…Cuban cigars. Their humidor was full of them, and I believe arrests were made. ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/24 "2001-05-20T15:23:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by occ \* > **Does it fall under “trading with the enemy” if you purchase (and smoke) a Cuban cigar in, say, Spain?** It would be a violation of Treasury Department Regulations. Not really enforceable, but illegal nonetheless. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by occ \* > **…one of my cousins was taking a semester of school abroad. The location? Cuba. Yes, really. Therefore, wouldn’t they be violating the “trading with the enemy” act on a daily basis, purchasing food and such?** Not likely, if he (she?) is there with a General or Specific License the spending of money is allowed. If you’re real interested you can read the docs at the OFAC site. ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/25 "2001-05-20T15:43:02Z")
> [@](#): > > I do know that you can get “Cuban Style” made cigars. Kinds of a tricky move, but I have seen them around. Not the real thing though. Well, you’re right there! After the embargo, all of the Cuban cigar makers set up production plants in the Dominican Republic, so any Cohiba, Romeo y Julieta, etc. that you see in a US store is going to be produced there and not in Cuba. It’s not that Dominican cigars are of poor quality; most cigar afficianados would rate them almost as highly as real Cubans. The fact is just that the copies aren’t quite as bold and robust as the originals (as Dominicans are generally considered more mild than Cubans). > [@](#): > > This is interesting. Does it fall under “trading with the enemy” if you purchase (and smoke) a Cuban cigar in, say, Spain? If this were the case, then the rather lucrative business of Cuban cigars in Canada (which I’m sure caters more to rich Americans than to natives) would be quickly destroyed. -Bill (dreaming of a nice Cohiba Esplendido) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/26 "2001-05-20T23:34:02Z")
What is so special about CUBAN cigars, anyways? ---
**Author:** ![CheapBastid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8baadc/32.png) [@CheapBastid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheapBastid)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2001, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/27 "2001-05-20T23:50:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Guinastasia \* > \*\*What is so special about CUBAN cigars, anyways? > \*\* Tough question. It depends on who you ask. Some say they aren’t so special, others say they will smoke nothing else. My answer is that the tobacco has a distinctive flavor, and has a tendancy to age very well (from what I’ve heard anyway). =) There are fantastic cigars from the Dominican, Nicaragua, and Honduras, but Cuba is really Cigar Mecca. It is where it all began. ---
**Author:** ![Kalt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalt)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/28 "2001-05-21T01:22:11Z")
i should note that although he is correct in what he has said on this thread, cheapbastid is a nazi sympathizer. ---
**Author:** ![beergeek279](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@beergeek279](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beergeek279)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/29 "2001-05-21T02:56:39Z")
> [@](#): > > What is so special about CUBAN cigars, anyways? I would say that Cuban cigars are a much richer, more robust and heavier smoke than any other. I don’t know if this is necessarily a good thing or not(personally, I wouldn’t recommend a Cuban to a novice smoker…I’d recommend they start with a much milder cigar first), but to the afficianado, it’s a matter of taste. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/30 "2001-05-21T04:10:08Z")
> [@](#): > > i should note that although he is correct in what he has said on this thread, cheapbastid is a nazi sympathizer. [Moderator watch ON] **Kalt** , what the heck was that supposed to mean? Explain quickly. ---
**Author:** ![Morrison\_s\_Lament](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Morrison\_s\_Lament](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morrison_s_Lament)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2001, 1:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839/31 "2001-05-21T13:35:50Z")
Whoa, talk about coming out of left field 😃 You’re not a Swiss banker are you Cheapbastid? — G. Raven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-cuban-cigars/65839.md?page=1)