Local Cigar Shop Owner Reacts to Travel Changes to Cuba

Source from:  KETK 56 Tyler 01/19/2015

The ice has thawed between the United States and Cuba and new rules have been unveiled regarding travel and and what Americans can bring back.

According to the U.S. Department of Treasury, Americans will be able to travel to Cuba without getting a license, as long as the trip meets certain criteria. American travelers will be able to bring back up to $400 worth of Cuban goods, with a $100 limit on liquor and cigars.

"People are buying 'em anyway, just taking the bands off and sneaking 'em over, ya know?" said Michael King, owner of Hickey Brothers Cigar Store and Hookah Lounge, "People when they go to the Caribbeans or when they go to Canada or Europe, they always bring four or five cigars back anyway. It's never really affected us. They bought it back illegally, now they can bring them back legally, no big deal."

He says for $100, a person will be able to bring back around four cigars and that most of the cigars he sells at his shop have Cuban connections.

"Most of the cigars either come out of the Dominican Republican, Honduras or Nicaragua. Most of the companies are owned by ex-Cubans, who exiled to those countries. Most of them are rolled and grown by Cubans who have moved to those countries. A lot of it's Cuban seed that was brought over from Cuba. It's pretty much getting a Cuban cigar, just grown in a different country," said King.

For King's customers, it's all about the quality of the cigar, not where it's from.

"It could be from Rock Island or Davenport, a cigar, I don't care where it's from as long as it's good," said Art Lopez. Enditem