Need help on a decision..

[Kass]

I'm gonna be going to South Korea for a year, leaving near the end of December. I can only bring 50 cigars duty free, and my girlfriend can also bring 50, so that makes a hundred I can bring in without having to pay for them. It'll be really hard to pick out only 100 cigars from my collection, of around 3-400, to bring; especially because almost all of them are singles that I have not tried yet. I just got off the phone with some customs guy in South Korea. He told me that the taxes are 40% (of the value) for the national tax and around 70 cents per cigar for the local tax. A rough calculation, estimating the average cost of each cigar at $5, gives me a bill of around $800 to bring 300 cigars. However, I'm not sure how reliable the guy was, because his english was not that good and he kept calling them cigarettes, instead of cigars, even though I kept correcting him.

So, I guess my options are:
-sell a lot of them
-bring them all and pay the duty, which will not happen, too expensive. plus how are they gonna find the value of all my cigars when they are pretty much all different brands and sizes.
-get someone to look after them for a year... Don't really know any that I can trust to do a good job
-package them up and get someone to mail them to me when I'm there.. again the duty problem may arise

I DONT KNOW WHAT TO DO!!
Honestly, I haven't been able to sleep well the last couple of nights thinking about this!

[Bassfever]

bring them with you take 150 and tell them thats 100. take the bands off the rest and tell them they are worth a buck each

[mithril]

send some and sell some. the ones you send, lie about the value

[Kass]

Good suggestions thanks.. I imagine that they are much more strict over there, though, for some reason. Plus I'm not sure how much english they will speak, so whatever I say they may not understand or really care.

[Shelby07]

Make sure you know what you're going to need to do in order to take them back home next year.

I would take as many as you think you're going to smoke, up to the 100 allowed and leave the rest here with someone. I say that because there is always the risk of damage or loss while they're being shipped. I would think if you get a bunch of beads and a cooler and wrap the cooler up in a couple of plastic trash bags. they'd probably survive a year (that's just a supposition - any other opinions?) Or better yet, see if your local B&M would be able to keep an eye on them for you while you're gone.

Consider this an opportunity to put some age on some nice sticks.

By the way, enjoy your adventure.

[Smoked!]

I like what Shelby suggested. There are B&Ms that rent lockers, so why not ask if they'll store your humi for a year for a reasonable fee. As Shelby said, the possibility of loss, damage, or confiscation in transit is probably the greater risk.

A full year in a sealed cooler? Interesting. I have no idea if a sealed coolidor would hold RH for a year with just beads and no maintenance. My guess is that the sterilization would have to be impeccable before you sealed the box. Now I'm curious. Anyone out there tried this?

[JFellows]

Cigar Oasis XL + biweekly checkups?

[bigwhiteash]

I think completely sealing would be a bad idea, don't cigars need fresh air circulating as much as proper RH and temp?

[Kass]

I think completely sealing would be a bad idea, don't cigars need fresh air circulating as much as proper RH and temp?

Thats what I was thinking...

and there are no B&Ms around me.. i rarely ever visit one and I'm not sure Ive ever seen one with humidors for rent. we cant smoke anywhere inside here, so I would think that the shops wouldnt bother with renting humidors.
I may have found someone to look after them for a year, and as shelby said, it will a great way to get some age on them.

[Kass]

Cigar Oasis XL + biweekly checkups?

I was also thinking of this.. get a bigger cooler and put all my smokes in there with one of these. It would be alot easier to maintain then beads, atleast I think.

[Shelby07]

I think completely sealing would be a bad idea, don't cigars need fresh air circulating as much as proper RH and temp?

To be honest, I don't know. i know that it is recommended to open a cooler every few months to exchange the air, but I don't know if it will hurt the cigars if you don't. I think the biggest problem is the release of ammonia from young cigars, but I also know that lower temps will slow the aging process. Does anyone know if ammonia will harm the cigars or will it just dissipate when the box is finally opened?

[bigwhiteash]

I think the best idea is having someone look after them.

Besides, how awesome will that be when you get back? All those perfectly aged smokes that you will probably not remember what brands you had! it will be kinda like Christmas

How is the local cigar market in South Korea? Will you be able to buy locally?

[JFellows]

How is the local cigar market in South Korea? Will you be able to buy locally?

I'm sure he'll be able to find plenty of Romeo y Jurietas, Borivars, and maybe even Por Rarranagas.

[bigwhiteash]

LMAO

[basil]

Most likely, your collection includes cigars that you are reluctant to part with. As someone said earlier, it'd be great to know you have them waiting for you when you get back. Also as mentioned before, there will be cigars there as well. In your shoes, I would leave them with someone reliable; there are guys on this board I know I could ship a cooler full of cigars to and rest assured they'd be in safe hands for the duration. Good luck and have a great time.

[Kass]

Thanks again guys. I think I have found someone I can trust with them for the year.
From what I've read, the cigar market isnt that big in south korea. But if I bring 100 I should be set for the year. and I can always have the babysiter send over a few extras if I need them.

[bigwhiteash]

a hundred cigars would definately NOT last me one year.

[Kass]

a hundred cigars would definately NOT last me one year.

I guess that would be 1 cigar every 3.65 days..? I could deal with that. But I like being able to look through the stash and pick what I feel like then. when I have only a dozen or so left I'll be stuck smoking something too big or too small, or smoking a maduro when I feel like a conneticut...ect..