About Us
Welcome to J&J Habanos Official Website
To talk about J&J is to talk about a journey of two entrepreneurs committed with quality, service and lifestyle in all we do, in order to please our customers. Founded in 1996 J&J Habanos has always delivered top quality service, Habanos, Premium Tequilas and related products to Cabo San Lucas.
Our business name “J&J Habanos” comes after my wife’s first name “Julieta” and my name “José” and “Habanos” for being the correct word to name Cigars produced in Habana Cuba. Since we established our business downtown Cabo San Lucas back in 1996, our commitment with our clients drove us to start a campaign against counterfeited (FAKE) Habanos.
So the first step we took, was teaching our clients the differences between an original Habano and a fake one, all this in order to establish product quality recognition, on a place where there was no information available about the real deal on Habanos. On those dark days, it was shame to see how easy people were tricked in buying “great deal” cigars from so called “respected” establishments which ended up being fakes, not to mention from street vendors as it still happens nowadays.
All this hard work paid off and helped us to get excellent recognition from our clients and quickly made J&J’s the top choice for authentic Habanos in Cabo, rewarding us with the most diverse clientele in which we can count celebrities, entrepreneurs and regular tourists visiting Cabo. At J&J’s we make sure our Cigars are kept in perfect conditions 70/70 (temperature and humidity) 24/7/365 days of the year, something no one else before came close to do, in order to maintain cigars in top conditions.
By 1997 we added Premium Tequilas to the Cigar equation, becoming the very first in Los Cabos to start doing Tequila tastings, pairing them with Habanos. Who would have thought that this would become a lovely combination that keeps paying dividends till this day.
Not so long after, in 1998, J&J’s was awarded by Habanos S.A. with “The Specialist in Habanos Golden Award” only given to a hand full of Habanos retailers around the world for their top quality service, great selection of Cuban Cigars and most knowledgeable staff. On the same year, J&J’s was chosen by Habanos S.A. (worldwide distributor of Cuban Cigars) as their exclusive distributor and official retailer of Habanos for Los Cabos area and South Baja.
In 2005 J&J’s acquired “La Casa del Habano” franchise for Los Cabos area, which is the official Cuban Cigars retail and wholesale license that Habanos S.A. grants to their own official stores around the world. Along with this, we started the project of “Hemingway´s Cigar & Mojito Lounge” on beautiful 10,000 square feet location, this was a great project and a success from the very beginning, a beautiful all cedar and leather seats lounge with live Cuban Music, an awesome Tequila tasting bar area, a giant walk-in humidor, a garden area where you could dance, eat, smoke and drink the best “Big Papa Mojitos” in the world.
Then 2008 and 2009 came along bringing tough times to the world economy in general, slowing down business and stopping tourism, the main industry in Cabo. All this affected Hemingway’s our newest venture, streets were deserted and then swine flu delivered the final blow. So by the end of 2009 Hemingway´s sadly had to close its doors, this has been a very sad moment for us, but also for the many loyal customers that loved our place and still nowadays from time to time people show up at J&J’s asking: “What happen to Hemingway´s?? It was my favorite place in Cabo!!”
Now in 2012 J&J’s like many other businesses is back to basics, but nevertheless this rough years gave us great lessons, helping us to not lose our spirit, quality, integrity and faithfulness on our clients, making us feel stronger than ever, we are still the best place to find top quality Cuban Cigars and premium 100% Blue Agave Tequilas and our already all-time classic and very popular “Big Papa Mojitos”, Hemingway’s signature drink.
Trouble times haven’t stopped us from developing new projects, my wife Julieta just started a new business called “ATOLE” a beautiful little store focused on Mexican folk art and silver jewelry from the finest of Mexican designers and artisans. I’m very confident she will have great success.
Our outlook is very optimistic, looking forward to see the end of this long recession and we are not holding anything back, we still got lots of plans for our “Hemingway´s Cafe & Vintage Clothesline” and our “Big Papa” brand, but only God knows what will really happen, anyhow we keep our minds thinking on a bright future.
We thank our loyal clients for the great support throughout these hard years, just because of your unconditional support we are still alive and kicking, hopefully for many years to come. Thank you all again from the bottom of our hearths and God bless you always.
J.R. Cantú
J&J La Casa del Habano.
FAQ
GENERAL QUESTIONS
J&J Cabo is La Casa del Habano in Los Cabos, official retailer and wholesaler of Cuban Cigars; you can check this out at La Casa del Habano official website www.lacasadelhabano.com under Franchises/America/Mexico/Los Cabos. Here you will find J&J’s contact information and picture.
J&J is La Casa del Habano for the State of Baja California Sur in Mexico, which is the only certified dealer for Cuban Cigars in the whole state. La Casa del Habano franchises are part of the Habanos S.A. corporation which is the worldwide distributor of Cuban Cigars.
More than 90% of the “Cuban Cigars” sold in Mexico, the Caribbean, Central and South America are counterfeits or fakes. About 90% of those counterfeit Cuban Cigars are produced in Cuba, mostly made with bad quality tobacco sold on the black market and produced in clandestine “factories” (homes) in Havana City. The rest of the 10% of the fake Cuban Cigars are made locally.
They are counterfeit cigars made out of Mexican Tobacco produced locally; you can also find them in all of Mexico’s main tourist destinations.
Mexico’s tax on any Imported Cigars (Cubans) is 100% and this is the main reason that makes Authentic Cuban Cigars in Mexico high-priced.
All prices are in pesos including sales tax with total and final price on the label. If for any reason you have any question about the price please feel free to ask our store manager.
Official prices for any merchandise or goods in Mexico are always in pesos which is the official currency.
For sanitary purposes and to maintain the quality in our products we don’t allow customers to handle any cigars until they have purchased them, we encourage you to check them well and make sure you are happy with your purchase before you leave the store.
In case of a whole box of cigars, once you pay please make sure we open and inspect the cigars in the box before you leave the store, otherwise there are no returns.
In 1963 President John F. Kennedy declared a trade embargo against the Island Nation of Cuba, since then no Cuban product is allowed to be imported or commercialized in the U.S.
In order to safely take Cuban Cigars back home we’ll help you to remove the labels off, we also have Mexican cigar boxes for sale in case you want your Cubans in a safe container and also we can give you a receipt for J&J Mexican cigars and that way you can take up to 50 Cuban Cigars safely back home.
No, we do not ship Cuban Cigars to the U.S.
At your own risk in their original box or we have for sell Mexican cigar boxes to carry them, for singles a zip lock bag will do the job.
As long as you keep cigars in a zip lock bag, in a dark and cool place they will stay fresh up to 4 days. In case you plan to keep them longer, we recommend putting a small piece of apple wrapped in a napkin and place it inside the bag, away from the cigars, replace it every day and this will keep your cigars in perfect conditions.
We advise you to check all the cigars you buy before leaving the store, since handmade cigars don’t have a warranty. All that we can assure you is that we keep them fresh and moist in our walk -in humidor, with 70/70 temperature and humidity 24/7/365. After you pick your cigars feel free to check their softness and when you squeeze them they should be fresh, soft and moist.
As far as the draw goes all cigars are different, the bigger the ring gauge the better they should draw. We hardly get a cigar that does not draw, but if this happens, put it down right away, let it go off by itself and place it back in the zip lock bag, then bring it back to the shop. This is the only case we might replace it.
We do not return cigars that are burned more than 25% of the size.
You can take back to the U.S. up to two liters of tequila per person without paying taxes. Most bottles are 750ml (¾ of a liter) so you can take up to two bottles per person on your check in luggage.
*Notice: Bottles with broken seals are not allowed for travelling.