close...but no cigar

I'm not a cigar smoker but was wondering what brands are most favorable for connaiseurs from Costa Rica. I once met a cigar lover in Tambor that said some of the varieties were comparable to Cubans at a much better price....should of picked his brain a bit more at the time for specific brands.
I'd like to bring some home for gifts if anyone has suggestions

Don Benigno cigars, are great!!!

Are Don Benigno cigars Costa Rican?

Scoot- As a cigar guy first let me say that Cuban cigars available outside Cuba are over rated and mostly counterfits. There are some very good Costa Rican brands as well as Honduran. You need to find someone in CR while you are there that enjoys cigars and get a first hand opinion based on preference. D.B. cigars are very nice BTW. I prefer Dominican cigars personally and you can find these and many others in CR. You can get good ratings from Cigar Afficinionado and from Cigar Dave ( He does a syndicated radio show from Tampa). You should be able to Google both.

Nicaraguan and Dominican cigars, in my non-affecianado opinion, are vastly superior to Cubans. Cuban cigars, to this Yank, I guess only hold the minimal appeal of "forbidden fruit" - and well, that last only moments anyhow.

Can't recommend any brand in particular, but mid-range Nica's or DR's have never failed me - I'll just generally ask the recommendation of the guy at the shop, anyhow.

I dont smoke them that often, but do enjoy a good cigar in CR, yes the Benigno is fine smoke, but the Nicaraguans are even better. Apparently, the tobacco in Nicaragua and Dominican Republic are the same on some plantations as the Cuban cigars, but I found them smoother, as Cubans can be very strong, rich and heavy, but cigar lovers may prefer that type, many people like to have a Cuban for the sake of saying or trying a Cuban, do the mystique surrounding the legends of Cuba and the Cigar of Latin America...

All Cuban cigars are rolled in Nicaraguan leaf!!
I know nothing about cigars but a friend who smokes them rates the Nica cigars higher than Cuban.

Nica has great cigars. I cannot stand cigars or smoke normally, but the Nica ones were quite tolerable (coming from me that's a 5-star rating...)

And a great value. THe CR ones appeared overpriced when we looked.

In Nica, we picked up some hand-rolled ones (using Cuban leaves) from a shop called "The Sultan" or something like that in Granada. We watched them hand-roll them in front of us.

There is a Nica cigar factory in Puriscal. PM me and I'll get you the business name, directions, and telephone number for a contact person. They ship 45,000 every month to Dubai. Hmmmm

Hey, if you're looking while here, there's a guy named Greg in Uvita who was doing a small side-buisness in CR cigars. He hangs out sometimes at the waterfall just up the road into the hills- Mystica. Great little bar and waterfall 5 minutes up from the coast highway. He was getting cigars made in the valley just below San Isidro. Stop in and ask, its an extremely casual place and the folks there will definately know who you're talking about and if he's around.