And the other number shows is the month and the year when the cigars were boxed (see below). These seals must be attached to the box and not simply inserted into it on adhesive paper. That $100 Rolex is fake. In these cases, the seal indicating the type of special edition is placed immediately under the HABANOS S.A. seal. If the ash is white, youre likely smoking a fake. Reading Time: 2 minutes Fresh cigar questions have arrived! Shapira says . If the squares are not full, even on the edges, then youre likely looking at a fake. The fact is, the Cuban cigar industry doesnt make cigar boxes with glass or even clear plastic tops. Cuba has always been very proud of its famous 'Habano' cigars. This is the familiar seal you see on all boxes of handmade cigars from Central America. The cigars will be the same size (or very, very close), the colors will be similar cigar to cigar and the bands will be aligned from one cigar to the next. For more specific information regarding the Cuo, concerning the codes, the different types of Cuo and how to decode this stamp and understand if it was affixed in the wrong way: GUIDE TO HOW TO READ THE CUO. The band is a good place to start, especially in the case of the iconic Cuban Romeo y Julieta cigar Cohiba, the word for tobacco in the language of the indigenous Taino people of Cuba, as we all know today, has become the most sought-after brand among Cuban cigars. I suspect that of the dozens of Esplndidos that Ive smoked, most of which were given to me, a good third of them have been fakes. If someone is trying to sell this box in your country for $ 100-200, or you fnid people selling it for $ 50 in Cuba (sellers on the street), the situation is quite clear: in both cases, an alarm must sound in your mind. Border chief reveals they made 50,000 arrests in just one week There are two ink-stamps on the bottom of Habanos boxes. Presuming the mark is an experienced cigar smoker, hell be even more livid that he allowed himself to be suckered. Everything checks out but no date on the bottom. At Cigar Aficionado, we've seen lazy counterfeiters sell . Dupont Collection Pays Homage To Paris, 2022 Big Smoke Las Vegas Seminars: Blend Ambitions With Dewars And . In counterfeit boxes, this usually has an incorrect print of this logo. 11. Spot Fake Cuban Cigars If someone tries to sell you a $300 box of Cubans for $50 or even $100, odds are theyre not the genuine article. . How to Spot a Fake vs. Real Cuban Romeo y Julieta Cigar - Holt's Clubhouse One of the most counterfeit cigars in the world are the Cohiba Esplendidos, due to its value and fame. Look for the following to determine that your Cohiba is authentic. A reader of mine once sent me a box of counterfeit Arturo Fuente cigars and it was obvious the bands had been cheaply printed, most likely on a laser printer. The Canadian market, which allows the sale of Cubans, is almost as bad as the U.S. market, sitting []. ZinoDavidofflearned this first-hand in the early part of the 20thcentury, and was the first European cigar retailer to introduce Cuban cigars to the world. Straight-sided Cuban cigars (i.e. Your first step in spotting a fake Cuban cigar is to examine the box that I came in. That is when it gets a bit more difficult to tell what youre dealing with before you buy. 1. type of leaves present It is a common tourist trap on cruises and resorts around the world. For the American cigar smoker, Cuban cigars are the holy grail. Pricing can also be a tip-off to spotting fake Cuban cigars. And Havanas have never been all that cheap, either. Internal seals Lets say that it is the last step, the one left to be performed when you are almost certain that the cigars are fakes. An avid cigar smoker for over 30 years, he has worked on the marketing side of the premium cigar business as a Sr. Copywriter, blogger, and Executive Editor of Cigar Advisor. So, that makes the Behike a limited edition by default. Taking in several factors, a Montecristo No.2 costs around $10 in Cuba, where it is obviously the cheapest. Im no tobacanist. The brand is known for its canary yellow coloring and famous white-and-black checkboard band. . In fact, many boxes have Cuos with too many codes, or they do not have the Cuo at all. So is the 10 CUC Cohiba. In both of the aforementioned cases, the mark doesnt realize hes been ripped-off until he lights-up one of his prized purchases, or tries to share one with a cigar smoker who knows the difference. Genuine Cuban Cohiba Esplendidos, when you can find them, sell for about 23 CUC. 5.Look at the clasp with cohiba logo in front of the box. Additionally, the box is very difficult to replicate. Cohiba is a brand for two kinds of premium cigar, one produced in Cuba for Habanos S.A., the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the other produced in the Dominican Republic for US-based General Cigar Company. As for the size of the leaves, we are referring to the dimensions that the tobacco leaves have. Well, it might have been good, but it was a fake. And you need to do that BEFORE you start shopping. 4. When smoked, the ashes tend to be entirely grey and devoid of any black fragments. Copyright 2023 Holt's Cigar Company. To help prevent this, in 2010 Habanos S.A. designed a new seal using watermarks, a super-strong adhesive, a hologram on the right side of the seal, and a bar code on the left. The system started in 2000 with 00, then 01 and so on. A genuine box of Cuban cigars should haveallof the following five attributes: Not unlike counterfeit cigar bands, the bottom of the box may be missing some of this key information; it could have typos, and may even be printed with different fonts. What do you look for? Don't take the bait and don't be tempted by the idea of a bargain. If the hustlers are going through the trouble of counterfeiting the seals, you can bet the bands have also been faked. Dupont Collection Pays Homage To Paris, 2022 Big Smoke Las Vegas Seminars: Blend Ambitions With Dewars And . Aside from the specific Edicin Limitada cigar, you should be wary of any kind of special edition cigar that is not sold to be a legitimate vendor. Fidel Castro, socialism, excellent rum and arguably the world's best cigars. But the clasp on boxes is DK, not Schmale, Germany. Cubas famous Cohiba brand is one of the most counterfeited cigars in the world. 10. J.A. Read the full story here. Twitter Blue is a premium subscription service that allows Twitter users to become verified and offers access to other select features. The changes to this information leaflet were 3: This guide will help you spotting fake Cuban cigars. If the ash is white, you're likely smoking a fake. 5000 | Same day delivery in Lahore & Karachi (selected areas) on selected items via Card Machine (POS) Payment. Required fields are marked *. Now lets look at the cigars finally. In fact, by illuminating it with UV rays, the coat of arms of Cuba (which is also on the left side of the seal) will appear in the center. DOP means Denominacin de Origen Protegida, or Denomination of Protected Origin in Spanish. So, if any one of these things is off, your Behikes are off too. They look a little like paper money and printed in different colors. A password reset link will be sent to you by email. . Obvious signs of fake cigars that everyone who wants to buy Cuban How To Spot A Fake Cohiba | Cigar Aficionado Cuba releases three per year, and those releases are all documented on this website. According to the Border Chief, these statistics are for the whole of the U.S border patrol, including the southern, northern and coastal borders. Proper packaging doesn't guarantee a genuine Cuban cigar, but bad packaging is a quick and easy way to spot a counterfeit. So lets see what other checks we can do. Your access is restricted because of your age. Learn more here. Gary Korb has been writing and editing content for CigarAdvisor.com since its debut in 2008. Cuos Cigar Aficionado Looking at the foot of the cigar, you can immediately notice how it has been filled. 1997-2015 JRCigars.com, Inc. All Rights Reserved - 2589 Eric Lane, Burlington NC 27215. What do you do? Unless youve actually smoked a good number ofgenuineCuban cigars its easy to be fooled, especially if the counterfeiter got everything right but the cigars. 2 or Partags Serie D No. JRCigars.com is not responsible for typographical errors. The only time the seal wont bend up like this and go over the Cote dArms is on very large cigar boxes. The name cohba derives from the Tano word for "tobacco". yadda-yadda-yadda.In some very rare cases, the cigars are the genuine article, having been snuck out of the factory, but the sucker who thinks hes getting Montecristo, Romeo y Julieta, or Cohiba cigars is more likely getting cigars rolled with cheap tobacco that didnt even come from said factory; they may even be machine-made cigars. Great article. Although many fake Cuban cigar bands maylookauthentic and in some rare cases are its not unusual to find bands with spelling errors, poor alignment, the wrong color and/or typeface, missing embossing, and in the case of fake Cohiba cigars, the wrong size or number of white squares on the band. Learn how to tell whether theHoyo De Monterrey you're smoking is authentic or fake. This is due to the minerals in the tobacco grown in Cuba. Created in 1966, Cohiba was not commercially released until 1982. What about a cigar bought here in the states from an old local shop with no band at all? This new seal was introduced starting in 2009, but the introduction was gradual. This is the familiar seal you see on all boxes of handmade cigars from Central America. 6. ). If you are going to buy one of the highly priced and rare Edicin Limitada cigars, be careful! Not all fake cigars deliver a bad smoke indeed! Is my Cuban cigar real or fake? Watch now and see. If you dont have that kind of experience, then you are far better off staying away from the back alleys and buying from a main-street seller who you know, and can prove, is legit. . Its important to note that the squares are full and do not get cut off either on the top or bottom row. I dont care if you bought them from Mother Teresa; youre probably sitting on imitations. The first type of seal was used from 1994 to 2004. Read this and you might be able to avoid spending more than $50 on a fake Cohiba Behike, or any money on any Cohiba knockoff. The Experience of Buying Cuban Cigars in Cuba. Also, Cubas coat of arms will show in the middle and the seal itself has a reaction if directly exposed to ultraviolet light. Its one of the most common questions we receive here at Cigar Aficionado: Is this Cuban cigar fake or real? With a rich counterfeit market hawking fake Cubans throughout the Caribbean and other tourist destinations, its easy for any cigar enthusiast to get duped into buying a bogus Cuban. But it doesnt have to be this way. Your fugazi alarm should be ringing loudly. The bands have several minor marks that you can identify.
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