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Counterfeit Cubans Exposed!
October 14, 2003
*** IN THIS ISSUE ***
1.
Feature Story: Counterfeit Cubans Exposed!
2. Survey Says: Do you smoke in the house?
3. Smoker's Ed (Cigar Terms & Tips): Legal Cuban limit
4. Site Improvements: Found a lower price? Tell us.
5. Rating Lunatic: Bad cigar reviews
6. NEW! Cigars in the News: Herfin' in Lisbon
*** A Public Service Announcement about Excalibur "Dark Knight" ***
If you are currently a smoker of Excalibur Dark Knight cigars, please note that due to the increased demand for this cigar, the manufacturer
has run low on supply. In order to assure and maintain the high quality
of Dark Knight, they will not ship until the cigars are properly aged.
If you have a backorder pending on Dark Knight, your credit card will
not be charged until the order is fulfilled. Backorders will also be
honored first. Once they have been completed, the remaining inventory
will be posted for sale.
And now, back to our regularly scheduled program. . .
*** FEATURE STORY ***
Counterfeit Cubans Exposed!
It seems that in spite of all the information available on the hazards
of procuring "authentic" Havanas and the apparent decline of their
quality (see our last issue with Jose Oliva's remarks on the state of
the Cuban cigar industry), cigar smokers continue to seek them out.
Why? Probably because as long as their mystique continues to spark the curiosity of
aficionados, they will buy them when the opportunity presents itself.
In case you're interested, you can buy real Cuban cigars on the web as
long as you have the bank roll to pay for them. One site I visited,
which featured popular Havana brands like Sancho Panza, Partagas, Ramon
Allones, Rafael Gonzales, Montecristo, etc.,(also available in legal
versions) were going for an AVERAGE of $400 U.S. per box!
The real problem arises when you come across a box for far less than
that. Sure, you're getting a great deal, right? My rule of thumb
has always been, if it's too good to be true it probably is. Following
is some "caveat emptor" I came across on one of my cigar resource sites.
For those of you who may have been or are about to be victimized by the
Cuban cigar hosers of the world, I hope you'll find it useful.
The first thing to keep in mind is that with the capability of today's
technology to reproduce Cuban bands, labels and boxes to look authentic,
you can be very easily fooled. In fact, some boxes actually ARE the
authentic Cuban boxes. One scam is to place counterfeit cigars in genuine
used boxes and then sell them as singles in clubs, bars and cigar-friendly
restaurants. Factor in that the counterfeiter may have also knocked off
an exact replica of the band and you've really got yourself in a quandary.
One report has shown that almost 90% of all "Habanos" sold to Americans
in particular are bona fide counterfeits. In other words, most "Cuban"
cigars you will be offered are most likely to be Dominican, Honduran
or other legitimate cigars dressed in revolutionary attire. Even worse,
some cigar smokers will actually pay as much as $40 a piece for these
cigars just for the cachet of having smoked a "Cuban."
One way to get real Cubans is through a "dealer" who has purchased them
in Canada and Mexico for resale in the U.S. One problem for the seller
is that he must pay a tobacco tax for the goods, which cuts into his
profit margin. If a box costs the seller $350.00 in Canada and re-sells
it for $400 in the States, there's not much incentive especially when you
tack on the additional risk of the boxes falling into the hands of the
U.S. Customs Dept.
Smugglers, like most con men, are primarily looking for the BIG profit
so what they do is buy boxes of counterfeit cigars for $25-50 and then
resell them in the U.S. for as much as $400. Another popular scam is to
take non-Cuban bundle cigars, put a counterfeit "Habanos" label on them
and box them up. Again, easy to pull off with a little Adobe PhotoShop
experience and a high end printer. Either way, it's a seller's market and
the buyer ends up with the proverbial cat-in-the-bag.
Before you reach into your wallet, there are a couple of things to look
for that will help you determine whether that cigar is a genuine Cuban
or a fake, phony, fraud. All you need to do is get familiar with a couple
of key characteristics unique to Cuban cigars.
If you're in a club, restaurant or even a store with a reputation for
having Cubans on-hand, look at others smoking cigars that are allegedly
Cuban. If you can get close enough, check out the color of the ash on the
cigar. Cuban cigar ashes have a distinctively darker grey color. The ash
on most better quality Dominicans, etc. tends to range from light grey
to silvery-white. On the other hand, there are also some pricey non-Cuban
cigars that have a dark grey ash. So, you have to go with your gut, but
there is one other tell-tale sign that's easy to spot.
It's the wrapper cap. Cuban cigars are finished with three individual
layers that you can see plain as day. If the cigar does not have these
three layers on the cap, it's a phony. The only instance where you may
be fooled is if the cigar is a Torpedo or Pyramid. The cap finishing on
these cigars is different by the nature of their shape. However, if the
cap has a "pigtail" (twisted into a little knot at the head of the cigar),
chances are it could be the real deal, especially if it's a Trinidad or
a Cohiba. Only a few non-Cuban cigars, like the Vega Talanga Tercio, for
example, are made with the traditional Cuban pigtail cap.
Although my experience with both worlds has led me to believe that non-Cuban cigars are far superior to the Cubans being produced today, now
that you know about these little details, you can at least make an
educated decision. For the kind of money they're getting for so-called,
"Cuban cigars," you may be better off spending it on a box of Padron
1926 or Davidoff Millenniums. At least in those cases you KNOW what
you're getting. ¶
SURVEY SAYS DEPT.
Do you smoke in the house?
As the temperature continues to spiral downward here in the Northeast,
it's that time again when many of us have to go into virtual cigar
smoking hibernation. Maybe it's a healthy thing for us in the long run,
but some of you may have the luxury of smoking in your house year-round.
Why do I get the feeling a lot of you who do are single or divorced? ;-)
Send an email to: and in the Subject line, type or copy & paste, the following:
1. Yes, I smoke in the house (neah neah!)
2. No, I do not smoke in the house
3. I can smoke in the house but prefer not to
As always, your comments are welcome.
Survey Results for September 30th: What cigar wrapper do you like best?
94 responses came back on this one. Here they are in order of preference.
I was surprised how Maduro dominated with 39% of the vote.
Some respondents offered more than one favorite, but I went with the
first one in their list. If anything, it does seem to confirm the trend
toward more full-bodied cigars.
Maduro (Connecticut broadleaf, et. Al) - 37 (39%)
African Cameroon - 23 (24%)
Double Maduro/Oscuro (black wrapper) - 8
U.S. Connecticut shade - 8
Sun-Grown (dark natural) - 8
Ecuadorian Sumatra - 3
Dominican - 2
Cuban - 1
Habana 2000 - 1
Candela - 1
Corojo - 1
Other: 1
CIGAR TERMS & TIPS (Collect and trade em'!)
Habano - A designation which, when inscribed on a cigar band,
indicates that a cigar is Cuban, BUT not all Cuban cigars are
marked with "Habano" or "Havana."
Legal Cuban Limit
I was just in Costa Rica last week and purchased some Montecristo
torpedoes. I smoked the box with a few friends as I feared bringing
any back home to the US of A. On the plane someone said you could
bring back a limited number. What is the deal? I was afraid of asking
a Customs officer as I did not want to be delayed by a full search in
case they had suspicions on my question. I will be going out of the
country again this year and would love to get some more.
- Joe W. in Florida
"Only persons returning directly from Cuba after a licensed visit there
are permitted to bring Cuban cigars into the United States, provided the
domestic value of such cigars does not exceed 100 U.S. dollars and the
cigars are for the person's personal use and not for resale."
(From a letter sent to the members of the Retail Tobacco Dealers of
America from the Director of the Office of Foreign Assets Control of
the Department of the Treasury, June 1, 1995)
*** SHAMELESS SELF-PROMOTION DEPT.***
Have a question about the care and feeding of your cigars or another
cigar-related topic? Send your questions and comments to me at: . I will try to respond as quickly as possible, but some replies may take a few days.
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FAMOUS-SMOKE.COM HIGHWAY IMPROVEMENTS
Found a lower price? Tell us.
Due to the ease of price comparison shopping on the Web, we expect that
many customers will have "shopped around" before logging on to Famous-
Smoke.com. Of course, we prefer if you decide to buy from us, but to help
us help you, we've added the following new feature to the site.
When you
click on an item's name, to view the details, a link labeled "Found a
lower price?" has been added. When you click on this link, a window will
appear requesting the price, location, and date of the better offer, seen
elsewhere. We will gather this information in our database for future
reference. For details of this feature, you may visit our web site and
click on "Help." Under the heading, "Pricing", you will find a help text
link labeled "Price Matching."
RATING LUNATIC DEPT.
For a change of pace, here are some recent reviews on cigars that just
didn't make the cut to these customers. Note, that if you're a regular
smoker of these cigars, your opinion may vary. I've also chosen cigars
that generally have a pretty good rep. But like great athletes, even
the best cigars can have a bad day on the field - right?
Camacho Corojo "Diploma" (Honduras)
Size: 5" x 50
Wrapper: Honduran Corojo Vintage 1997
Filler & Binder: Honduras
A disappointing smoke for the money. Started out nice and strong w/ good
flavor but the burn and crumbly ash cost this cigar. Too much money for
this stick. Score: 85.
- B. Ford, Boston, MA (October 2, 2003)
Acid "4 Pack Variety Sampler" (Nicaragua)
(Acid 1400cc, Acid Atom Maduro, Acid Kuba Kuba, Acid Liquid)
A very stinky cigar. I tried the sampler pack and discovered that one
cigar was no different than the others. It reminded me of those flavored
cigars that had to cover up the taste of the tobacco. I don't smoke
cigars for the herbal qualities, I smoke them for the tobacco flavor. I
usually light a scented candle for the aroma but I don't smoke them. For
the money spent on Acid I could buy 2 boxes of Romeo Y Julieta.
- Fred Alongi, New York, NY (October 6, 2003)
La Flor Dominicana 2000 "El Toro" (Dominican Republic)
Size: 6¼" x 52
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade
Filler & Binder: Dominican
Yuck! I like full bodied cigars. CAO Brazilia, El Rey del Mundo, Bolivar
Fuerte, Partagas Black Label, and Sancho Panza are some good full-bodied
cigars. This one is not - the flavor sucks - it tastes cheap and blah -
not exciting at all. However, it is well constructed and it lasts a long
time. This is the second one I've smoked - had a #2 before - flavor was
slightly better on #2 - wouldn't buy either one again. If you like Gurkha
Regent - you will like La Flor Dominicana 2000. Gurkha Regent was not
exciting either.
- Mike in California (October 4, 2003)
Customer reviews are selected at random and may be edited for length, not content.
AGREE/DISAGREE? Your opinion may be similar or completely different and is also appreciated, so don't be shy. Rate the cigars you smoke on our web
site. What you say can help others make a more informed decision, even you!
CIGARS IN THE NEWS
So you think only people like Kobe Bryant and Rush Limbaugh are news
makers? Here's a new section I thought would be fun.
Herfin' in Lisbon
OCT. 2, 2003 - LISBON, PORTUGAL - Dressed in their finest attire, the
450 high-society guests gathered at a seaside casino near the Portuguese
capital were not celebrating a wedding or the opening of a new art exhibit
- they had gathered to laud the pleasures of cigar smoking.
The party, which attracted celebrities from the world of television and
business last June, was the largest in a recent wave of events bringing
together Portugal's growing legion of cigar smokers.
"It is a pleasure which has been increasing," the director of cigar
retailer Cigar World which organized the casino party, Pedro Unha Martins,
told AFP.
"It is associated with relaxation, with anti-stress and a certain way of
being in life."
Unlike in neighboring Spain, where cigar smoking has had a strong tradition ever since the conquistadors brought back tobacco from Cuba and other
Spanish colonies in Latin America in the 15th century, the habit never
gained a widespread following in Portugal.
But growing commercial ties with Spain, combined with a sharp drop in the
tax charged on cigars and media portrayals of smoking as glamorous, have
made cigars increasingly fashionable in Portugal.
Just over one million cigars were sold in Portugal in 2002, up from 750,000
in the previous year, according to industry sources.
Many of the sales were to young professional men, who see cigar smoking
as a status symbol, although retailers report rising sales to women as
well.
Cigar World began offering cigar appreciation courses last year and roughly
one-fourth of the students in these classes have been women.
"Before, if I was out for dinner celebrating something, the evening would
end with a whiskey or some other drink. Now it ends with a cigar," said
28-year-old broker Pedro Medeiros, who started smoking cigars on business
trips to Madrid.
The habit became less expensive in late 2001 after the government slashed
the tax it slapped on cigars from 26 to 12 percent, a move cigar retailers
credit with helping fuel sales.
The trend towards rising sales bucks the pattern in most major industrialized nations, where cigar sales peaked with the end of the 1990s high-tech boom.
With business down in many of their traditional markets, major cigar dealers
are on the lookout for new markets developing elsewhere and Portugal, despite its small size, has not escaped their attention. Cuban state cigar
export company Habanos has announced plans to open a store in the Portuguese capital while Menendez Amerino, Brazil's largest cigar maker, began
exports to Portugal, a nation of just over 10 million, last year. ¶
(From travel.discovery.com. Courtesy of Kevin Keller, Famous-Smoke.com
Website Administrator)
*** GIVE THAT MAN A CIGAR! DEPT.***
Cigar tasting events in our retail store at 1100 Conroy Place, Easton, PA
Call 610-559-8800 for more info and offers associated with these events.
Friday, October. 17, 4:00/6:00 P.M. - Romeo Y Julieta Tasting
Buy 2 Get 1 Free (Pre-pack Special)
Saturday, October 25: 12:00/3:00 P.M. - Drew Estate Cigar Tasting
ACID, Ambrosia & Natural - Buy 3 Get 1 Free and more deals!
Coming Soon! * Punch Photo Shoot - Star in your own Punch cigar ad
* Appointed Davidoff Merchant Grand Opening
* Cigar rolling
*** EYES ON THE PRIZE DEPT.***
Cigar Sightings
Guess I'm posting this sighting a little too late. ;-)
I can't wait to see what "El Rushbo" will be puffing on at his new
stint on ESPN Sunday Night Football. I believe he mentioned that he
is a Macanudo guy.
- Jim Harris Sr., Scranton, PA
Other Famous Cigar Smokers Caught “Infumare Delecto”
Stephen Ventura with his new Fender Strat and Crème De Jamaica Toro.
WANTED! Cigar-smoking photos of you and/or your friends. (See next paragraph for details.)
Have You Made A Cigar Sighting Recently?
It can be from a movie, TV show or a celebrity you've seen elsewhere or in-person puffing on a primo. If you can name the brand of the cigar, even better! Or send in a herfing photo of you and your friends to me at
and please put "Cigar Sightings" in the subject line. Limit: 1 sighting or photo (preferably, a JPEG) per email.
That's all folks. Until next time, Happy Smokes!
Gary
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Copyright © 2003 Famous Smoke Shop - PA, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Portions or all of this information may be reprinted freely, provided this
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