 AUTHENTICY SEALS
The Authenticity of Cuba Cigar Club
The problem with fake cigars is twofold; firstly there is the problem with fake cigars manufactured in the Caribbean or Central America and packaged to look like Cuban cigars, secondly and potentially more troubling can be authentic Cuban cigars made with inferior tobacco and packaged to look like quality brands. Often, one of the first indications that a cigar product is not the superior one you expect is a claim of cheap or discount. For your assistance we offer the following information advising you on how to identify fakes and counterfeits. Identify fakes and Counterfeits
1 The Cuban Government's Warranty Stamp Stablished by Law of July 16, 1912, there is a " Sello de garantía nacional de procedencia " that seals the opening of every cigar box. It is printed in four languages with green ink on a white paper (the green shade is not always the same), and there are at least three different sizes:
.Since 1999, Habanos has introduced a new version of this seal to make more difficult its falsification. It measures 148x49 mm (5.83x1.93") and is manufactured with a better quality, self-adhesive paper, embossed inks and UV marks. It also has a serial number printed in red ink.
2 The "Irons"
3 The "Habanos" sticker
4 The Factory and Date codes In addition to the three guarantee proofs described above, Cuban cigar boxes are stamped on the bottom with the Factory and Date codes in blue or purple ink (sometimes in black). Depending on the Factory, these stamps can take one or two lines, and can be enclosed or not in a rectangle. Varnished boxes packed in a carton box wear the stamp imprinted on the carton, and not on the wood. The codes of the best known Cuban factories are as follows:
As for the date of manufacturing, it is represented by a four letter coded text. For the periodbetween 1984 and 1998, the first two letters correspond to the month and the last two to the year of manufacture, i.e. "MMYY". Once "Cigar Insider" has unveiled its meaning, I feel free to reproduce here the translation from the coded letters into clear figures:
For instance, a box of Punch Double Coronas with the code "FR - OESA" printed on itsbottom indicates that it was manufactured at the La Corona factory on April, 1996. Since January, 1999 the Union of Cuban Tobacco Companies (UNión de Empresas del TAbaco=UNETA) has started to apply new Factory and Date codes that were supposed to be "unbreakable", using a different set of letters. What is the origin of the new code? Well, the English word "Code" is translated as "Código" into Spanish, so the "Uneta Code" would be the "Código Uneta". Deleting the final "o" yields two 5-letter words: CODIG-UNETA. Then, assigning the following numbers: 98765-01234 to the two words, and finally arranging the letters from 1 to 0, we obtain the new code:
On the other hand, the order of the new date code was reversed with respect to the ancientone (i.e. "YYMM" instead of "MMYY"), and the Factories were encoded using three lettersfrom the same set, the first one corresponding to the Province the Factory belongs to Since January, 2000, Habanos decided to maintain the factory codes secret, but started to apply a "readable" date code, consisting of a group of three letters (representing the abbreviation of the month name in Spanish) and two figures (the last two digits of the year). Therefore, a box of San Cristóbal de La Habana with the code "EOG - JUL00" indicates that it was manufactured at La Corona factory on July, 2000. 5 The Cohiba case Due to the sensitivity that COHIBA always carries when speaking about fakes, I'll try to clarify some aspects involved with their authenticity: 5.1 The boxes All Cohíbas (excluding carton packs of 5) come in natural wood boxes varnished on all sides but the bottom. There are three different kinds of boxes where Cohíbas are packed: a.) BN (Varnished Boîte Nature with brooch). These are the boxes where the three initial 1982 vitolas came (Lanceros, Coronas Especiales and Panetelas). They can hold 25 or 50 cigars, placed in conventional layers, and their corners are softened. b.) SBN-B (Varnished Semi Boîte Nature with Brooch). These boxes are used to hold two of the three 1989 vitolas, i.e. Espléndidos and Exquisitos. The corners are sharp, and the lids are flat. Cigars come in two conventional layers. c.) SLB (Varnished Slide Lid Box). This kind of box is used to keep the Robustos and also the five SIGLO Series vitolas. Cigars come in a bundle of 25 wrapped in a wide yellow cloth ribbon and a white tissue type paper with a Cohiba self adhesive label holding the paper together. The SIGLO Series yellow ribbon is imprinted with the logotype of the brand and the words "Línea 1492". 6 Other Clues When receiving a box of Habanos, if any of the marks mentioned in paragraphs 1 to 4 is missing, you can be sure that it does not contain genuine hand made cigars. Counterfeit Havana cigars are made not only in Cuba, but in Dominican Republic and other countries. The cedar sheet that separates the two layers of cigars in a 25 cigar box, must fill completely the opening of the box and its top-right corner should have a curvilinear or straight cut. A shorter sheet is a symptom of falsification. If the cigar is not a figurado, nor a curly-head, have a close look to its head. You will see a fine spiral line making two and a half turns, that corresponds to a piece of wrapper leave cutted in a half-moon shape (named "pañuelo"), that is twisted at the very end of the cigar, and covered by another piece of wrapper leave with a circular shape (named "casquillo"). This kind of finishing is to avoid the wrapper to unravel when cutting the head of the cigar (provided you do not cut the cap completely!). Some counterfeits have not this characteristic "pañuelo" finishing, but only the "casquillo". Fake Habanos can wear authentic bands. Check for their perfect alignment in the box, as well as for the uniformity of colour tones in their wrappers.
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