TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands Bringing liquor/cigars from STT to BVI's

Some of our crew are staying in STT the night before our charter. They get in too late to make the ferry.
They're asking me if they buy liquor & cigars in St Thomas can they bring them into the BVI's? They'll be arriving to the BVI's by ferry.
Thanks!

In December, we bought $300 worth of beer in STT along with a case of beer packed in a suitcase and took it with us to JVD. We were on a private water taxi and we declared it on our customs form. They did open the bag (which was left on the boat), looked at it and closed it up.

That was all that was said.

Why bring sand to a beach? You can get Cubans in the BVI!
G

Allan, did they charge a duty on what you brought?
George, where is a good place to buy cigars on Tortola? Or other islands?

Not a smoker but I hear that some complain the Cubans down here are dry..they sell them at Harbour Market in Soper's if you are on a boat and in several places in Road Town..

Cuban cigars not worth the money. Rarely find one in truly decent condition. Dominican cigars much better quality and price.

They did not charge us any duties !!! I was actually surprised they didn't.

I bring an 8 pack of my Phifer Pavitt Wine down each year and they never have charged me a tax.

I don't smoke cigars--or anything else!! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Laugh.gif" alt="" />--but I hear that most places in the Caribbean, unless they specialize in cigars--do not store them properly, i.e., too much heat and humidity. I also hear that cubans are over rated these days. It guess it depends on how much of a real aficiando you are, whether it would be worth it to go to a real cigar store in STT. I would be prepared to pay duty and be happy if it is not charged. For liquor, not sure I would bother to lug it, unless there was something for sure you knew you couldn't get in the BVI, and I don't know what that would be.

Beer, wine and rum prices here in the BVI are very reasonable..

Best bet is to bring Dominican or Nicaraguan cigars from the US that have been stored in proper humidity. Cigars purchased in the islands are typically not stored well and are disappointing.

A couple of years ago I talked to the lady who runs Little Denmark, the only place that has a proper humidor room. She said that other than cigarettes there is no formal way to import most tobacco products including Cuban cigars. At the time her daughter was buying pipe tobacco in Florida at retail and mailing it down. Cubans were being bought in the DR by ship crews and resold to her and other stores. That does not speak well for cigars being properly stored and handled.

Twice I have ordered Cuban cigars, specifically Montecristo No. 4's (10 pack) and been very pleased. I will say though that I chew mine mostly, so they could in fact be drier than normal and I'd probably never know....

In addition, I have worked it out via email to have the cigars delivered to the charter base....(takes multiple emails and then a phone call for final payment, but worth it to me)....once the cigars made it to the boat, the other time, they were at reception...

Little Denmark Limited
P.O. Box 12
147 Main Street
Road Town
Tortola VG1110
Telephone: (284) 494 2455

Thanks for the info on the cigars. I'm not a smoker so I'm just passing on the info.
I agree that the liquor prices are very reasonable in the BVI's. I think our crew was just asking in case they find something interesting in St Thomas whether they could bring it to the BVI's.
Which gets me thinking, we're staying 2 nights pre charter on Scrub Island. We'll have time Sat before we can get on our charter boat for our sleep aboard. Is there a liquor store with a really good selection that might be on the way when we taxi from Scrub to Nanny Cay? Maybe we'll provision our liquor ourselves instead of being at the mercy of Caribbean Cellars.

When we went to Little Denmark, we were quite pleased with the size of the selection. So we purchased a few Cubans only to find out they were dry. It was a realization that cigars aren't their mainstay and therefor treated accordingly. It's worth our time and effort to bring good quality Dominicans with us.

Little Switzerland might have a humidor