How To Spot A Fake Cuban Cigar

[midnite]

Cant thank you enough for this informative video. I plan on buying some cigars as gifts and without this video, I would have been duped for sure! Really appreciate it!

[DonaCrane]

Would have been nice to see the inside of the "real" box and the "real" cigar, as a point of

[Tsiikki]

I was waiting you to cut real one open too.. I know they cost money, but for information.. Still thanks.

[cajunpipesmoker]

I just got back from Cuba. Buyers beware, especially when visiting Cuban open markets (flea markets). Every booth will offer you a 'real' Cohiba in hushed tones, like they are giving you a deal. Fortunately I knew some Cubans who took me to a reputable cigar shop located in a nice hotel. The Cohibas are genuine... This video confirmed it for me! 👍

[theocoxd]

I went to Veracruz, in Mexico as a turist and tried some local cigars and they're as great as cubanos. Even cheaper.
One of the times I was there, I visited the ruins from El Tajín, there was an old man rolling black tobacco leafs with vanilla veins and putting them to dry to the sun. I bought one pack for the great deal of 1.50 dollars for 5 cigars. These cigars and the Cohiba that my mother gave from a gift of her boss are the best I've ever smoked. Oh, in a market in that city, you could buy tobacco leafs for 2 dollars for rolling, enough for 4 or 6 cigars.

[itamardurlijunior]

Thank you guys, you were awesome, was an perfect explanation. I live in Brazil and unfortunately here we have a lot of false products and if I have seen this video before I wouldn't buy a false cigar yesterday. Now I know how different they are. Thank you again.

[Salih.A.j]

Honestly I appreciate what did you men do to show the viewer as much as you can in this video .... true, I now learned a lot Thank you two for info's.
Have a good day, men.

[ardentabacist]

GREAT and helpful vid! Thank you guys!!!

[adamzaidi]

I paid $140 for 4 authentic Cohibas. I cut one open because someone told me it was a fake, but it turns out it was real. I almost wanted to cry. Now I have 3. I gathered the remaining tobacco from the cut Cohiba and roll it up in a leaf and smoked it. 😂😂😂

[johnguerin]

Great lesson! I spend a lot of time in Jamaica and friends and acquaintances always want to buy Cuban cigars. They all seem to think they “know” a real one from a fake. When I run into a person with that type of conviction I have no choice but to politely defer to their “expertise”. Now after watching this video I can give them a few short details on the difference between fake and real. 3 layers on the cap, 3 black rows of dots without white band above it and band is almost seamlessly connected. If they have lost their minds completely, (and I have a friend that does it every time), and want to buy a box! Box needs a corner seal, also a green and white govt seal with hologram and bar code and box stamp needs to be pressed into wood. If they don’t take my word after that all the other great info would be lost on them any way. Thanks guys!!!!

[AP-ybji]

Need to have more videos like this. So so many people are being swindled. Sad that we live in a world like this. Thank you for the insight.

[prokingzton]

A Mona Lisa made by someone in Italy is still a Mona Lisa, but it'll never be a masterpiece like the original. Each artwork has its unique value and significance.

[eaysc]

Thanks, guys! I'm looking to buy some cuban cigars, Cohibas actually, and this is just the video I needed to watch. Again, thanks.

[tangoromeo]

Thanks for the advice. A friend of mine gave me a supposed Cuban on Christmas. The box it was in was a glass top and every detail you pointed out was suspect. I also rubbed the bottom of my hand across the foot and a huge chunk of shredded tobacco fell out into my hand.

[stevenardianto]

Thank you so much for the comparison video!

[MrSgtau]

Great video! When I visited the Partagas cigar factory for a tour in Havana last year, there was a fellow trying to see me a box of cigars within half a block of the factory. I told him that I was not interested. And of course, there are vendors hawking cigars all over Havana for a supposedly great price! Given the level of poverty in Cuba, there is plenty of incentive for fake cigars to be produced and sold to clueless tourists. And let's face it, who is going to cut apart a cigar to ensure that the tobacco is strands rather than tobacco or dust residue? The watermarks on the Cuban label of authenticity, the bar code, the quality of the stamped lettering and other minor details are good red flags;. Of course, if a box is open, the box may well be authentic, but not the cigars inside. The vendors like to slide open the box to show the tourist that the cigars inside are Cohibas, even though they're almost 100% going to be fakes.

What would be interesting is an analysis of the production costs of a fake vs authentic cigar. The workers producing the real cigars are earning minimum wage in Cuba, which is not very much money. They would an incentive to increase production, but even with a reward their wages are still miserable. I can't imagine it costing very much to produce a quality cigar, and the markup is just ridiculous. Fortunately, I'm not really a cigar smoker, but I did buy some at Casa del Habano while I was in Cuba. Given what Cuban cigars cost nowadays, I would look at more affordable options from other countries if I were a real aficionado.

One thing that I will say as an espresso aficionado is that Cuban coffee (only available at the airport. Good luck finding it in Havana) absolutely blows away Puerto Rican coffee.

[Habsfan]

Thank you so much for this video. Now i'll know exactly what to look for when buying Cohibas!

[deanmacka]

Great info guys thanks for the heads up. Great video

[TheSteyer]

Really impressive, thanks for the knowledge!

[markdombrowski]

I’ve been buying online from Europe. I was concerned about legitimacy based on price, but they have the proper stickers. Thank god for the Habanos website. So far every barcode matches up.
Also another minor thing to point out, and this goes back to the mid to late ‘90’s cigar boom, and subsequent fake Cuban explosion. If there is a cedar sheet included in the box, the upper right corner should have circle cut taken out of it for a real Cuban box, not a straight or wedge cut.