SMOKE 03/98 - Spotting Fake Cuban Cigars (pg.2)

Spotting Fake Cubans - page 2

CIGAR INSPECTION

An encounter with any individual selling Cuban cigars, whether in New York City or on the streets of Havana, should be approached with skepticism. If you're viewing four boxes and locate a serious discrepancy with one box, there is a good chance that all four boxes are fake. If you're unsure of the authenticity, sit down and smoke a cigar with the salesman. Try and choose a sample cigar that looks wrong or feels hard and may be rolled too tight.

Here is what you should look for:
Box Appearance. Ideally, the box should be in good condition, free of scuff marks and smudges. You don't want a box that looks like it's been passed around for six months looking for someone stupid enough to buy it. The first thing to consider is the box's weight. If it seems excessively heavy, you might want to have a closer look. For some reason, many of the fake boxes are manufactured with plywood of excessive thickness. Another reason for a fake 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 stick - a technique that simplifies the task of attaching the wrapper. Fakes are almost always wrapped too tightly because it is easier to produce a uniform shape when wrapping a hard blank.

A 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. Inside 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. Do not be overly concerned if your box's seal has been broken; opening boxes is a common practice during inspections in Cuba to check for defects. On the box lid's upper right comer should be a white Habanos sticker, pasted diagonally. On the bottom of the box you will find a Habanos heat stamp. Look closely to make sure it is a heat stamp and not an ink stamp. Below the heat stamp should be an ink 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 NIVEL ACUSO. Developed many years ago, this code is actually the Latin term for " you are accused." Following is a description of how the code is used:

The ten letters correspond to ten numbers, one through ten, as follows: 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. See the box below for a list of the best known factories and the abbreviation used in the NIVEL. ACUSO.

The remaining NIVEL ACUSO characters indicate the month and year the cigars left the factory. For example, a NIVEL ACUSO reading OLSC, translates to 05/97, or May of 1997. The NIVEL ACUSO is the best key to learn where the cigars were produced, which is very important in determining the quality of the cigars. The factories located in Havana usually are associated with better consistency and higher quality than those located elsewhere known as provincial factories.

Continued on next page...

CURRENT ISSUE	ARCHIVES	SUBSCRIBE	REVIEWS
CIGAR FORUM	SEARCH	CONTEST	SHOPPING