Rolling tobacco in Latin America and South East Asia

This article should be useful for the roll-your-own-cigarette smokers on their travels. From my own experience, it is virtually impossible to get any information about where to get rolling tobacco in Latin America and South-East Asia, how much does it cost and what brand to pick in those regions.

Please, if you have any additional info or updates - let us know so we can update this post - to keep it relevant and useful for us, tobacco lovers ;)

Duty free vs street price

To cut the long story short, my major advice would be to get your stash at the Duty-Free shop at the airport before leaving your country. It will cost you less than if buying baccy in most of the places in South and Central Americas, Thailand and Laos. As far as I know, you can only score a cheaper Drum or Golden Virginia in Vietnam and Cambodia.

Except for paying less for your tobacco, you will also spare some time searching for places that sell rollies because, as we know, most smokers prefer their fabric cigarettes, so it’s not always easy to find rolling tobacco in most places. Furthermore, with your own stash, you will know what you’re getting because many brands in the South and Central Americas are completely unknown to a Westerner.

Moral note

Before I dive into more details, I need to say that I understand that tobacco has a bad impact on our health but at the same time as it could have benefits for one’s soul 😉 Anyway, this piece will be mentioning brands of tobacco but there are no advertising revenue or any kind of profit-related intentions involved on my end. It only intends to be a rough shopping guide for us, the niche market rolling tobacco smokers.

Rolling tobacco in Latin America

Generally speaking, I believe that due to an occasional demand, you should be able to get baccy in every major city or tourist destination but somewhere you might have to work hard (search&move and search&move some more) in order to get it.

Look for tabaquerias (Google can help here) but be prepared that they might not be selling rolling tobacco among all that 1000 kinds of cigars in each and every one of them. Asking for a tobacco para liar and making hand gestures usually does the job of describing what you want, although it can get you in comical situations as well. As you might know, rolling tobacco is not very common here and people often don’t know about it in some tobacco shops at all.

The most baccy rolling people and therefore the most choices, as well as shops to get rolling tobacco I’ve seen in the whole Latin world, was Argentina, particularly in Buenos Aires. In Chile, I’ve seen many of the 100% organic types of tobacco in the major tourist destinations. Due to having a large stash from Argentina while being in Uruguay, I don’t know much about the options there – from the occasional checks – I haven’t seen much rolling tobacco in the shops but you can definitely get some there.

In Bolivia, I came across one American Spirit in La Paz and once also in Sucre but that’s it. Peru had some OK-ish choices in Cusco, Lima and other major tourist destinations. In Ecuador, I haven’t been able to find any baccy and in Colombia, it is also not very common to smoke rollies neither but if you look hard, you can succeed.

As for Central Americas, in spite of trying hard, I could not find any baccy in Panama. Costa Rica, on the other hand, had some expensive choices. In Nicaragua, I could only buy baccy in San Juan del Sur and after a long search, I scored a new pack of Domingo in Granada. Guatemala was nearly perfect, especially in all of its popular tourist destinations so I got the stash for my stay in Mexico, I therefore consequently don’t know much about the options there.

Apologies but I don’t know much about options in Brazil, Guyana, Honduras and El Salvador. Please let me know about those in case you have experience with buying rolling tobacco there and I would happily update this post if you allowed me to. To conclude, IMHO Guatemala and Argentina are the easiest countries to get baccy in Latin America.

Prices or rolling tobacco in Latin America

Many of my friends were advising me of buying tobacco products here in Latin America as they were meant to be theoretically cheaper. That is partially a myth because at least in 90% of cases it was a wee bit more expensive than for example in Germany but I guess that it was cheaper than in the UK or Scandinavian countries.

To be more number-specific, generally speaking, the 30gram package goes from about €3,30, in the recession-hit Argentina but in most cases think more like €4-6 for a package for unknown mediocre brands, while top brands could go for double that price, if not more. But then it depends on the country. For example in Guatemala, you’d pay an equivalent of €5.80 for the 40gr package of Domingo.

Furthermore, please note that the prices are not fixed – varying up to a 30% difference within a country or even a city. Generally, the smaller the demand gets, the more expensive baccy becomes. For example, in Lima, I came across Drum and Van Nelle. The price was nearly €15,- for 50 grams, while the mediocre Stanley went for about a third of that price.

Brands of rolling tobacco in South America

As I’ve mentioned above, most rolling tobacco brands in the Latin Americas were completely unknown to me, although quite a few of them were still produced in Europe for Latin American export purposes only. Except for the occasional Pueblo, Pepe, Golden Virginia or Drum, the only brands I came across in SA that was known to me was the ever-mediocre Turner, which I have resulted in purchasing on several occasions because most of the other brands were just worse (:0

Because you can’t try just one ciggy or just open and smell the package prior to purchasing it, my baccy purchases were a trial and error kind of experience for me. During my travels across this pretty part of the world, I’ve bought many different brands and only some of them would be reaching the higher average levels. Only rarely, I would be 100% satisfied.

My “methodology” was asking for a húmedo tobacco because my preference is the Dutch-type humid baccy, as opposed to seco/dry brands. If there was a choice, I would then pick a brand based on the fact if it said halfzware as well as what was my instinct telling me about the name of the product.

For example, I assumed if something is called Amsterdamer – it could be a dutch type of baccy. This method has however backfired on many occasions and I ended up with 30 or 40grams of crappy or mediocre tobacco 😀 So let’s list some of them here to give you heads up or to point you in the right direction.

Brands to avoid:

1: Deer (purchased in Colombia). The only thing about this baccy is that it nearly got its name right. If it was called “Oh Dear”, the name would be spot on. Avoid if you can.

2: Amsterdamer (Argentina). The name is as misleading as it can get. Avoid if you can.

3: Look Out (Argentina and Peru). Yes – watch out for this one as well 😀

Smokable Dutch-type brands:

1: Domingo (Nicaragua, Guatemala). Drum-like baccy. Arguably the best I’ve smoked from the local import-market brands but it kinda kills your taste buds if you are a heavier smoker. But the 25 grams for €5.37 it’s not really a bargain – especially when you consider the fact that the rizlas in Nicaragua could be up to €1.60 are at and filters at €2.55 – it’s all but a bargain): On the other hand, in Guatemala, you get 40grams of Domingo for 50,-Quetzals, which is about €5.80

2: Pepe (Argentina, Peru). It’s a known brand one can get in Europe sometimes. Actually, it’s rather good smoke and after all the Look Outs and Amsterdamers, it felt like a super treat 🙂 But at 30grams for €4,80 it was rather expensive.

3: Flandria Original (Argentina). OK-ish Drum-like baccy if no better smoke is available. At 30 grams for €3,50 in Buenos Aires, it was about the cheapest OK-ish baccy I’ve come across in the Americas. The price is however relative as Argentina’s currency is currently experiencing a horrible recession.

4: Stanley (Peru). A baccy that sells in many flavours, like halfzware Drum-like, Virginia but also Vanilla, cloves and so on… 30gr @ €6.35, which is also sometimes available in SEA.

Smokable Virginia tobacco brands:

1: Flandria Virginia (Argentina). It states: English Virginia and the slogan is kind of right.

2: Stanley Virginia (Peru). OK-ish Virginia type. Smokable.

3: Sauvage (Costa Rica). This is a suggestion of someone who calls herself called Mvg. I’ve skipped this baccy due to its price of nearly €9 but he or she says that it’s rather good baccy.

Organic/100% natural/dry types that are the most known:

1: Pueblo

2: American Spirit

3: Raw

Honourable mentions:

1: Caney (Colombia). Cigar-like rolling tobacco. Interesting, different and rather strong tobacco.

2: Señor Azteca Halzware Shag (Nicaragua). A bit dry but OK-ish, dutch-type like baccy. I believe it’s made in the EU for the Central American market.

Where to smoke in Latin America

As for the actual enjoyment of the products mentioned above, Latin America is rather “European”, which means that in spite of the extremely privileged-level kind of taxes, you can’t really use the products as freely as the weight of those taxes suggests. I haven’t been to Paraguay, Brazil and the northwest countries yet but as for the rest, you will not be able to light up indoors in most places, except Bolivia and Nicaragua.

The most hardcore anti-smoking probably was Panama. Personally, I’ve got a natural self-imposed smoking ban and I would not smoke in closed spaces in front of kids or just other non-smokers but there are reasonable boundaries that could be crossed when using common sense. This was the case in Panama, where it went to stupid lengths because I had to step away from the open-air windy terrace, where I was sitting alone. In Ecuador for example, it was OK if your neighbours were OK with it.

In Colombia, the smoking ban covers also many terraces that are glass-fenced (for sad reasons I’ll get to in another text), which makes it very difficult to find a café where you can enjoy the beverage and cigarette at the same time i.e. in Bogotá or Medellín. As far as I know, you will be able to smoke on terraces in Argentina, Chile, Peru and sometimes in Ecuador either.

Prices and places to get rolling tobacco in South East Asia

South-East Asia isn’t much different from Latin America when it comes to rolling tobacco. Except for the popular tourist destination, it’s rather hard to find a shop that sells it, but the people will often point you in the right direction if they know about a place where you can purchase some.

When it comes to the prices, again, it depends on the country. For instance, in Thailand, a baccy can get bizarrely expensive in the context of the local prices. As for brands, you can usually get Golden Virginia, Drum and some of the brands mentioned above.

Vietnam

Get it at any major larger tourist destinations, such as Sa Pa, Hanoi, Saigon or Hoi An. Prices vary from about €4-10 for 50grams of Drum, depending mainly on your haggling skills.

Laos

Luang Prabang had few places to get tobacco but as far as I remember – it wasn’t cheap (I’ve had my own duty free stash so I didn’t investigate much it was)

Cambodia

I’ve seen a super cheap Drum in Sihanoukville, 50 grams for about €4.

Thailand

Bring your own duty-free baccy unless you want to pay €11-15 for a 50gram Drum package. If you are desperate and not keen on the Thai local hardcore baccy – you can get those in major tourist destinations.

Some more practical info for a traveller in Latin America

• Budget: in case you were interested, here‘s an article listing the country-by-country basic expenses for a traveller in Latin America
• Safety: Few safety tips on how to secure your valuables, what to watch out for and more can be found here
• Transport: Information, safety and some other practical advice regarding public transport in Latin America can be found here
• ATM withdrawal charges: Some practical info, including the list of free-of-charge ATMs in Latin America, can be found here
• Border fees: To find out how much you will have to pay to enter or exit certain countries in Latin America, please click here
• Pre-trip preparations: Few things you can do ahead of time before you’ll become frantically busy prior to your departure are listed here
• Packing list: What to take with you for an extended trip as well as some security tips could be found here
• Cheap Flights: few tips on how to score a cheap/er flight, get a better seat on a plane, where to get a nap at a particular airport and so on

Locations covered on Quaint Planet

Santiago de Chile ► Valparaíso ► Santiago de Chile ►Punta Arenas – Ushuaia – Punta Arenas ► Puerto Natales – Torres del Paine – Puerto Natales ► El Calafate (Perito Moreno Glacier, Arg) ► El Chaltén (Los Glaciares National Park) ► Chile Chico (Ch) – Puerto Rio Tranquillo (Marble Caves) ► Coyhaique – Puyuhuapi – (Carretera Austral) ► Puerto Chacabuco – Quellón/Castro ► Puerto Varas – San Carlos de Bariloche (Arg) ► Buenos Aires ► Colonia (Ur) ► Montevideo ► Punta del Diablo – Cabo Polonio ► Montevideo ► Salto ► Concordia (Arg) ► Puerto Iguazú (Iguazú Falls) ► Salta ► San Salvador de Jujuy ► Tilcara ► San Pedro de Atacama (Ch) ► Uyuni Salt Flats Tour (Bol) ► Uyuni ► Sucre – La Paz (Death Road Tour) ► Copacabana (Lake Titicaca) – Isla del Sol – Copacabana ► Cusco (Per) ► Aguas Calientes (Machu Picchu) ► Cusco ► Lima ► Máncora – Montañita (Ecu) ► Puerto López ► Quito ► Ipiales (Col) – Pasto ► Tatacoa Desert ► Bogotá ► Medellín ► Villa de Lleyva ► Santa Marta – Cartagena – Rincón del Mar Necoclí ► Capurganá ► Puerto Obaldía (Pan) ► Panama City ► Las Lajas ► Cerro Punta ► David ► Bocas del Torro ► San José (Costa Rica) ► San Juan del Sur (Nic) – Ometepe ► Granada ► Managua – El Rama – Bluefields – Corn Islans ► Léon ► El Tunco (El Salvador) ► La Antigua Guatemala – Lake Atitlán ► Lanquín (Semuc Champey) – Flores (Tikal) ► Belize City ► Bacalar – Tulum – Playa del Carmen – Mérida – Valladolid – Cancún ✈️ .

Peace and puff. It’s just a cigarette 😉