Anyone ever been to the Dominican Republic?

[mav_sd]

Hey Gang,

I just got the word that I will be flying out to Santo Domingo on Saturday (this week) for work.

I realize that Santo Domingo isn't necessarily the cigar mecca of the DomRep, but I figure there has to be some deals to be had?

Any of you ever been? Any reccommendations? I will literally only have one day off while I am there so I really want to make sure I set a good plan... to make things worse, my day off will be this Sunday!

If anyone would have some ideas, it will be this group of brothers. So, what should I do in Santo Domingo on Sunday??

Thanks!

 

[mav_sd]

Nothing?

I will definitely take plenty of pix and let you know how it goes!

 

[gibbleguts]

I went a couple of years ago. One of the hardest places I have ever been to find decent cigars. I think unless you ae goin to a factory your best bet is at the duty free on the way out. Where you area going might actually be better then Punta Cana where I was but I am not sure. One of the problems I read about on the Fuente web page is that the way it is done in the Dominican is that most of the cigars are grown and rolled in area's called free trade zones. This means that the manufacturer pays a bulk sum for taxes for up to 50 years on the plot of land but nothing produced there is for domestic consumtion. They explained that the only way to get cigars made in these area's in the Dominican was to ship them to the US and import them back to the Dominican. I had a lot of fun but recomend taking your own smokes. But if you are interested the one thing you might want to look for is the glas topped cohiba's that they sell everywhere. I almost picked one up just for decoration not to smoke.

 

[derfatdutchman]

I was in the Dominican Republic two years ago in Punta Cana also. There I can tell you it was cigar hell. Lots of fake Cubans (Cohiba esplinado's in regular and vanilla!), fake Opus x, etc. The stuff that wasn't fake was pricey unless you bought some of the don-no-names that they sold. Some of these where not bad, they made good morning smokes. Since your going to be in the capital you may find it to be a diffrent story.

 

[mav_sd]

Thanks Fellas I appreciate it.

I am all packed up with 9 of my faves and I'll rest easy that at least I'll be able to enjoy any down time I come across.

If I run across any goodies, I'll pass on the word.

Cheers.