The Cuban cigar

is a wonderful
thing, requiring
upwards of 100
steps to complete
the coveted
masterpiece.From
the planting of
seeds to nailing the
box shut, the
intricate process
follows a tradition
that has changed
very little over
hundreds of years.
hen produced
properly and aged
sufficiently, an
authentic !abanos
is truly the finest
smo"ing
experience one can
ever hope for.
#hortcutting this process would deny the full pleasure and value that so many smo"ers
have come to expect from abox of genuine Cuban cigars. $t is unfortunate that a guide
li"e this is necessary, but to protect the good reputation of Cuban tobacco, we must
attempt to ma"e it difficult for those who see" to fool us with inferior products.
$n my travels around the world, $ have purchased many boxes of genuine Cuban cigars
and encountered my fair share of fa"es. $ learned very early that fa"e cigars, although
appearing authentic, are inevitably a disappointment, due to poor quality tobacco and
inferior construction.
hen visiting !avana, $ am constantly badgered by young men on the street promising
me %&uen tabaco, cheap, cheap.% 'any times, out of curiosity and the hope of scoring a
deal, $ have followed these fellows to the typical sweltering, small room in a rundown
tenement. (pon our arrival, my escort would leave for a moment and then return with
two or three other men and several boxes of difficult)to)find, large)si*e cigars. $ would
ta"e a quic" loo" and decline by saying the cigars were %falsos% +fa"e, and not worth five
dollars. The young man and several vocal supporters would swear most sincerely that the
cigars were indeed very real, stolen from the cigar factory by their dear -unt Carmen,
who wor"s there. $n truth, the boxes were stolen, but the cigars were made of inferior leaf
found somewhere on the blac" mar"et and produced by shoddy rollers wor"ing out of
private homes.
The fa"e)cigar scenario is more common than ever these days, with so many new
smo"ers loo"ing for Cuban cigars. -dd to this the increasing sophistication of
counterfeiters, who have begun manufacturing boxes that loo" very real. The newest fad
on the streets of -merica are Cuban cigars called %second quality.% $ can assure anyone
that there is no such thing as a factory second from Cuba. $f the cigar is flawed, it doesn.t
leave the country. -ny sub)par cigar rolled by students or found to contain defects is
distributed within the country.
&efore attempting to spot fraud cigars, it
helps if you understand how Cuban
cigars are produced and distributed. -ll
Cuban cigars are called !abanos, and are
controlled by a government corporation
of the same name. Cigars are collected
each day from the various factories and
sent to the !abanos warehouse to await
distribution. /ocated throughout the
world are authori*ed !abanos dealers
who get a large portion of these cigars,
although the quantities shipped represent
only a small proportion of what the
dealers desire. - much smaller portion of
the factory output is divided amongst the
00 or so domestic cigar stores, almost all of which are located in !avana.
1very wee" or two, the !avana stores receive an allotment of cigars, mostly small cigars
but also a few of the large models +robustos, churchills, torpedoes, double coronas, that
everybody is loo"ing for. 2ou cannot hop a plane to !avana on a whim and buy any cigar
you want. /arge)si*e cigars are very difficult to find. 3elatively few are produced, and
only a fraction are sold in Cuba. #pread these precious few around to all the domestic and
international dealers vying for them, and you can understand why few storebought Cuban
cigars ever reach -merica.
hile it is possible to buy Cuban cigars in countries such as 'exico and Canada and then
resell them in -merica, there is minimal profit in buying a box in 'exico for, say, 4506,
and reselling it for 4700. Tobacco taxes usually nullify this third)country concept in every
country but one8 #pain. Factor into the equation the ris" of losing cigars to customs, and
it becomes clear that reselling cigars bought abroad doesn.t ma"e much business sense.
#mugglers are interested only in ma"ing money, and their preferred method is to buy a
box of counterfeit cigars for 450 in !avana and sell it for 4700 in the #tates. 1ven if they
wanted to buy legitimate !abanos they couldn.t, since there aren.t enough available. #tore
prices in Cuba have risen 709, in the last year, forcing even more smugglers to the dar"
side in an attempt to maintain large profit margins.
Thus, the counterfeit cigar business is booming. !undreds of street hustlers in !avana
will offer to sell cigars to anyone who doesn.t loo" Cuban. The more sophisticated
smugglers operate large private factories that turn out thousands of boxes of the top
brands, although the tobacco quality and construction of these cigars will never approach
the strict quality standards of a real Cuban factory. The Cuban police are trying to control
the situation, but so far they are losing the battle. -dditionally, some of these illicit cigar
factories have sprung up in Central -merica, where there is an abundance of good rollers
and tobacco. The cigars are shipped to the (.#. as non)Cubans and re)pac"ed in
counterfeit Cuban boxes.
The bottom line is that the cigar cra*e in -merica has awa"ened a deep thirst for Cuban
cigars, which has spawned a whole underground industry. (nfortunately, the
counterfeiters are getting better and better at their craft
C$:-3 $;#<1CT$=;
-n encounter with any individual selling Cuban cigars, whether in ;ew 2or" City or on
the streets of !avana, should be approached with s"epticism. $f you.re viewing four
boxes and locate a serious discrepancy with one box, there is a good chance that all four
boxes are fa"e. $f you.re unsure of the authenticity, sit down and smo"e a cigar with the
salesman. Try and choose a sample cigar that loo"s wrong or feels hard and may be rolled
too tight.
!ere is what you should loo" for8
&ox -ppearance. $deally, the box should be in
good condition, free of scuff mar"s and
smudges. 2ou don.t want a box that loo"s li"e it.s
been passed around for six months loo"ing for
someone stupid enough to buy it. The first thing
to consider is the box.s weight. $f it seems
excessively heavy, you might want to have a
closer loo". For some reason, many of the fa"e
boxes are manufactured with plywood of
excessive thic"ness. -nother reason for a fa"e
box being too heavy is that the cigars are rolled
by amateurs who crammed too much tobacco
into the wooden tobacco press, forming a very
hard and, typically, very wet tobacco stic" ) a
technique that simplifies the tas" of attaching the wrapper. Fa"es are almost always
wrapped too tightly because it is easier to produce a uniform shape when wrapping a hard
blan".
- green and white warranty seal should be visible on the left front side of the box. The
seal.s color can range from forest to lime)green. $nside the seal is an insignia that contains
a shield with a hat resting on top. The fold line of the seal should run directly through the
center of the shield. >o not be overly concerned if your box.s seal has been bro"en?
opening boxes is a common practice during inspections in Cuba to chec" for defects. =n
the box lid.s upper right comer should be a white !abanos stic"er, pasted diagonally. =n
the bottom of the box you will find a !abanos heat stamp. /oo" closely to ma"e sure it is
a heat stamp and not an in" stamp. &elow the heat stamp should be an in" stamp +in any
color, that will tell you where the cigars were manufactured and when they left the
factory. This stamp is referred to as the ;$@1/ -C(#=. >eveloped many years ago, this
code is actually the /atin term for % you are accused.% Following is a description of how
the code is used8
The ten letters correspond to ten numbers, one through ten, as follows8
N I V E L A C U S 0
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0
The first two or three letter denote the factory which produced the cigars. #ee the box
below for a list of the best "nown factories and the abbreviation used in the ;$@1/.
-C(#=.
The remaining ;$@1/ -C(#= characters indicate the month and year the cigars left the
factory. For example, a ;$@1/ -C(#= reading =/#C, translates to 06ABC, or 'ay of
1BBC. The ;$@1/ -C(#= is the best "ey to learn where the cigars were produced, which
is very important in determining the quality of the cigars. The factories located in !avana
usually are associated with better consistency and higher quality than those located
elsewhere "nown as provincial factories.
&=D C=;T1;T#
2ou are now ready to inspect the contents of the box. (pon opening the box, you should
see a loose paper flap that protects the cigars, as well as a slender piece of wax paper
running across the bands. The wax paper should be cut clean, with perfectly straight
edges. 3esting on the cigars should be the !abanos warranty, printed on a small piece of
parchment. 3emove the warranty, pull bac" the flap, and smell the tobacco. 2ou should
find the fragrance very pleasing, with a rich, deep aroma. Cuban tobacco has an
unmista"able smell. $f you are luc"y enough to sample a cigar, ma"e sure you draw on it
before actually lighting up. $f you aren.t offered a sample to smo"e, try suc"ing on the
end of an unclipped cigar. This may seem rather strange, but it is one of the best ways to
tell if the tobacco is good quality. =bviously, this requires a little "now)how, but after
some practice you will be able to recogni*e the signature flavor of Cuban tobacco.
The cigars should be uniform in both color and shape? consistency is very important. The
wrappers should be tight and free of large veins? avoid cigars whose wrappers appear dry
and chal"y. #mall golden spots on the wrapper are normal, produced by a slight burn
when a ray of sunshine is magnified by a drop of water on the leaf. The top face of the
cigar may appear flattened, or what is "nown as box)pressed. This is particularly true for
torpedo shapes. 3emember that the cigars should always be tightly pac"ed. The caps
should loo" identical, all resting an equal distance from the top of the box. Tap the box to
align the heads if they are staggered. The foot of the cigar should be cut clean and
straight, and the bands should be identical and aligned perfectly. <oor printing
registration on cigar bands is fairly common, so it is difficult to point to this as a flaw.
The wrapper color can vary slightly from light to dar", but never to the point of what you
might consider a maduro color. Cuba does not produce maduros.
Feeling the cigar is probably the single most effective way to ascertain quality. The true
talent of a professional cigar roller is the ability to place exactly the right amount of
tobacco in a cigar from head to foot. -n amateur places tobacco unevenly, giving the
cigar hard spots and soft spots. - hard spot is a clog in the cigar, ma"ing a smooth, easy
draw impossible. - soft spot will cause the cigar to burn unevenly or go out. Feel the
contents of a cigar by firmly pressing your thumb or forefinger into every inch of the
stic". The wrapper should feel soft and moist and the tobacco beneath firm and even.
<ractice on a cigar that you "now draws well and you will acquire the feel. #earch for
hard spots and, when you find the worst example, smo"e the cigar as a test. $f the draw is
off, you Eust saved yourself the price of a box)full of disappointment.
$f the top level of cigars loo" good so far,
pull the paper flap out of the box and
open the lid a few inches. Turn the box
upside down and "noc" on the bottom a
few times to dislodge the cigars. The
ends of the cigars should drop into view.
This is your chance to view the inside of
the cigar. The tobacco should be brown,
usually dar" and never green. The
density of the filler should be even, with
enough space between the leaves to
allow air flow. $f the filler appears too
tightly pac"ed, almost solid, the cigar will be plugged. /oo" for leaf veins that appear as
small, light)colored twigs inside the cigar. - very common mista"e of counterfeiters is
the failure to remove the central vein from the leaf before rolling. This is a sure giveaway.
:enuine cigars contain whole leaves that run from end to end, allowing a natural channel
for the smo"e to follow. Fa"e cigar producers use whatever they can find for filler, and
that usually includes leftover tobacco scrap. 3arely do they blend tobaccos to achieve
flavor balance. The result is very often a horrible)tasting cigar. $f you ever buy a Cuban
cigar that won.t draw and tastes terrible, open it up with a ra*or and see what.s inside.
2ou are now ready to inspect the cigars pac"ed in the box.s bottom layer. The wrapper
color of these cigars should be almost identical to that of the cigars on the top? a
noticeable difference is a tip)off that the product is fa"e, since counterfeiters often place
the Eun" on the bottom. $f you were a little suspicious when you examined the top layer,
be especially thorough with the bottom. $f the cigars stic" to the lining paper, especially
the cigars on the far left or right, it means that the box was produced so quic"ly that the
glue was not allowed to dry before the box was loaded. This is common among fa"es.
The final mar"er of authenticity is a little)"nown but always reliable flaw that appears on
most fa"e boxes. $f you examine the thin cedar lining separating the two layers, appearing
on the upper right corner should be a small half moon)shaped cut)out for your finger.
This cut should be perfectly curved, with a clean edge? it is machine)made and should be
free of any imperfections caused by a human hand. The remainder of the liner should be
cut to perfectly fit the box, with approximately an eighth of an inch clearance around the
edges. The surface should be free of crac"s or splits that are a sure sign of salvaged wood.
$f you receive a box which has a divider made of cardboard instead of cedar, the box is
surely not authentic.
;ot all boxes of factory)made Cuban cigars are
perfect and meet the criteria described here.
They are, after all, a handmade product being
produced in a country that routinely experiences
shortages of raw materials. $n the last few years,
the tobacco crop has been strong, allowing Cuba
to increase production to meet growing
worldwide demand. ;ew factories have been
opened and new rollers trained. The production
push has strained quality control, especially in
the area of pac"aging. !opefully the worst is
over now and the leadership at !abanos can
focus again on quality and consistency.
For those who love Cuban cigars, the best protection is to purchase from an authori*ed
!abanos dealer, such as the /a Casa del !abano stores, located in many maEor cities
around the world. $f you live in a country that bans Cuban products, you must do your
best with what is available. -lways be wary, "eeping the mindset that most of the product
you encounter is, unfortunately, not what it is represented to be.