Expert: James Yee - 1/11/2010

Question
Dear James,

You always gave me great advice in the past, so I am back again.

I am travelling to Gran Canaria on the 16th of January for 10 days and would like to smoke canarian cigars and bring some back with me.
Me and the girlfriend between us can bring back some boxes legally to UK, so I am looking forward to some cigar shopping and also some serious smoking too.....

I couldn't find good detailed info on the net about canarian cigars, but they supposed to be nice hand rolled premium smokes.

Can you give me some info, what are the brands I should look out for - or specific cigars/editions within a brand.
I do prefer thicker gauge cigars like churchills,double coronas,robustos etc...
I'd like to smoke the best available locally made cigars, so if you could help me with a list of cigars or cigar specialists on Gran Canaria, I'd be most grateful.
I will not be doing any island hopping, so I'll try to find cigar shops on Gran Canaria only.
I suppose all brands that are made in the Canaries are available on Gran Canaria too...

Any help appreciated.

Thank you very much,

Jan

Answer
Hi Jan,

Goya, Condal and Penamil are three of the Canary Island's flagship cigar brands.  At one point, the cigar industry in the Canary Islands was flourishing with many premium brands but unfortunately, the industry has greatly downsized within the past 20-30 years.  I haven't smoked many Canary Island cigars the past 10 years or so so even I'm not sure which brands still exist.  (Even their popularity and supply here in Canada is dwindling rapidly.)  If I remember correctly, brands such as Montecruz, Monte Canario, La Regenta and Don Xavier were some of the more popular Canary Island cigars and may still exist today.  

The main cigar manufacturer in the Canary Islands is CITA (Centro Industrial de Tabaqueros Associados) and there are many authorized CITA shops in the Gran Canaria.  When there, simply ask a tour guide or hotel concierge and they will direct you to some of the more popular cigar shops.  Some of the best cigars found in the Gran Canaria are made by the independent cigar rollers so be sure to try some from them.

Hopes this helps.  As always, if you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask and I will be happy to help.

Regards,
James