Other than the few baskets and shops on the northwest corner of HK lake, does anyone know where there's a tobacconist selling good cigars?
(Preferably cheaply?)

Seriously. I've been looking and asking around too. If you hear anything let me know please.

-A

I do believe there is a tiny store outside the Sheraton. Not sure what cigars they actually stock.

cheaply is the hard part but my husband treats himself to a decent cigar intermittently from the Vine (Xuan Xieu)and the larger hotels - also Jafa at ciputra (around $8 for 1) don't know what they are though he did say duty free in Thailand was about the same price

I've seen a few around at some of th nicer bars and restaurants, but I'm living a couple of hours out of town so I' like to buy in bulk (or at least a few!) to take home with me.

I occasionally buy a couple boxes of Cuban cigars (to send home to Canada) from the fixed shops at the top of Hoan Kiem. They have real Cubans, with seals and everything, but they aren't cheap.
That's the only place I've seen boxes of good cigars.

For what it's worth, I found a lousy selection of poorly kept cigars going for almost $40 each at the Sofitel the other day and kept on walking.

Later, I found the Latino Bar in the Melia Hotel. They had a pretty nice little selection of Habanos starting at $11. I got a Montecristo #3 for $14 that burned a little unevenly, but was delicious down to the nub.

(And, although they they dress the staff like icedancers, they were all very nice too.)

anyone know where to find small cigarillos, like swishers sweets of cafe cremes?

@phofacedkillah, i know the cigarette stands around hoan kiem have some small cigarette sized captain blacks... its what i get offered when i go looking for pipe tobacco... which seems to be non-existant in hanoi... anyone able to disprove the non-existance of pipe tobacco?

Vine Restaurant at 1 Xuan Dieu, Tay Ho seems to have a pretty good stock of cigars in a proper walk-in humidor. I expect that it is expensive, though. I can't vouch for the quality, as I don't smoke anymore.

Vine Rest #1 Xuan Dieu and Vine Cellar Door at #7 Xuan Dieu are the lowest cost place to get real Cubans in very good condition (proper humidity and authentic cubans). You can smole cigars at the Vine Restaurant and also Vine Cellar Door has a cigar smoking lounge upstairs with bar/food service from the Vine Cellar Door (they make great mojitos and cuban sandwiches). Also, the Casa Habana shop in the Melia Hotel has the same cigars as Vine. The cost isn't the cheapest compared to duty free outside but they have a great selection and they seem to be all real cubans.
Ask for Chris the cigar manager at Vine, he knows cigars and cuba quite well.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100009204831450
https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Hanoi-Cigar-Club/688099271301113

check it out thichxiga.com
seller could speak english so you could call him directly

My experience with sourcing a good cigar in Hanoi:

Nguyen Hoang, owner of Pane e Vino Restaurant and Wine Shop, is the godfather of cigars in Hanoi. He always has a large collection of unique cigars and boxes on hand at his restaurant and he loves to talk cigars.

Casa Habana stocks cigars but the staff are not deeply knowledgeable about their offerings. There is a shop on To Ngoc Van and they have a sofa and two comfortable chairs.

Phu Kien cigar stocks a wide range of cigars and they have some nice accessories too such as portable humidors. They're on Dien Bien Phu across the street from The Kafe.

The Polite Pub carries some cigars and they're usually open to midnight and they're at 5 Hàng Hành, Hoàn Kiếm.

Vine on Xuan Dieu still carries cigars.

The InterContinental Hotel (pricy) has a small but well-stocked humidor.

Don's Bistro also has some cigars.

La Salsa on Xuan Dieu also stocks a small supply of cigars.

If you need a quality stogie after midnight you may be out of luck. Hope this helps.