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Thank you to www.vitolas.net, 2002 and a special resource on the cigar forum where I am a participant. I certainly would not find this valuable information on my own. Although this information is nine years old, it happens over and over again. Caveat emptor.

“Cigar pictures Copyright ©2011 by Andrew Welch, used with permission”

An inside look at the cuban counterfeit trade

Rod Steele. Ajaxcigars.com 13/05/2002

Victoria (Canada).- Cuba’s present economic hardship has its people searching endless new ways of making money. In the old days when counterfeiting existed on a very small scale, it was considered merely a ‘gentleman’s offense’. Today however the Habanos counterfeiting business is in full bloom.
This article will take you from the acquiring of the raw tobacco to smoking in capitalism’s fine salons.

First meet Jose who used to live in Pinar del Rio on a Finca (farm) about 15 klicks from San Juan y Martinez. Mucho trabajo y poco dinero or ‘much work for no money’. Jose didn’t want anymore so he moved from the Vuelta Abajo to the ‘city of capitalism’ Havana. With an old Chevy pickup truck we head to Pinar del Rio to buy tobacco. After three hours we arrive in San Juan y Martinez.

Many Vegueros throughout Cuba hold back some tobacco for the black market, where they can get up to ten times the price paid by the state. First stop, nada. Now its off to San Luis, 20 minutes away. It is a poor region. Most of the Vegueros here own little plantations and anyone earning more than $100 per month is considered rich. The Vegueros leads us to his Casa del Tobaco. On the racks are thousands of leaves that look like hundreds of bats hanging around.

In one corner are bales of tobacco that have been wrapped in palm leaves. The tobacco is still light in color which means that the fermentation is not yet finished. Jose wants tobacco for 5000 cigars and talks with the Vegueros about price. The deal is set at filler for $2.50 per kilo and a sheaf of wrapper, which contains about 100 leaves for $4.00. Total cost $500.00 a small fortune in Pinar del Rio. Fully loaded we head back to Havana. Jose is sweating and is afraid of getting caught by the police. He hasn’t been in the business very long.

The tobacco is stored in Nuevo Vedado, a section of Havana where we meet Benito. He’s a car mechanic with his own shop – which hides other things. Jose’s tobacco will rest here for a few days before being distributed and processed further. He explains that this tobacco is reserved for an American (we’ll meet George later) living in the Bahamas who has ordered 50 boxes of Partagas Lusitanias, 50 Punch Double Corona, 50 Hoyo de Monterrey Double Coronas and 50 Cohiba Esplendidos. The American wants only the best quality and is willing to pay for it.

We spoke with another counterfeiter who buys his tobacco from some of the worst regions, where tobacco for cigarettes and other tobacco products are grown, and sold only for domestic consumption.

The tobacco

The leaves are small and the fermentation shorter. This is where the smaller counterfeit organizations buy their tobacco. Behind innumerable streets and corners where extremely poor people live, we wind our way through the dark passageways, staircases and doors of an old colonial place. Everything is worn and run down. Collapsed walls, a strong stench and begging children.

Its like a garbage dump. In a small room sits a young boy and an old woman who can barely walk. She receives a monthly government pension of $2.00, an amount impossible to survive on. She learned from a neighbor how to roll cigars. The boy and the lady are rolling ‘Churchill’ style – maybe a future Cohiba Esplendido, they don’t know. We test the quality of some of these cigars.

Poorly proportioned with both hard and weak spots. The cigars are not cut at the right length as this will be done later at the finishing workshops. The cigars are like the garbage dump, partly rotten and moldy. These people work day after day without a break.

One worker can make approximately 200 cigars per day. A man enters the room and requests unfinished cigars for 10 boxes of Cohiba’s. He is surprised by our presence but we persuade him to take us to the guy who makes the boxes. In the back yard of Eduardo’s house is a small workshop. In between half built chairs and cabinets are vast amounts of cigar boxes. One worker puts the boxes together. In a corner stands a hand press that imprints the brand labels on boxes.

Now, the stamps

The stamps are either stolen or counterfeited by specialists. ‘With furniture you can’t make money’ he complains. ‘The Cubans are too poor to buy such things.’ ‘We have to improvise but in this way the Cubans are world champions.’

The next day we visit a Cuban in Centro Habana. His workshop is his living room. Cigar bands, quality seals and other materials are everywhere. On one table are a lot of empty boxes. He puts the bands on the cigars and cuts them to length. He has them spread across the sofa in piles of ‘good quality’ and ‘bad quality’. When he packs them in the boxes he makes sure the poorest are on the bottom. He tells us that he doe not sell the cigars to the tourists – this is done by the Jineteros or street hustlers. He told that he spent a year in jail when he was caught by the police with 10 boxes of counterfeits. The next time would mean several years – so he leaves it up to the Jineteros. He puts the tax / seal stamp and Habanos label inside the box. He will attach the labels to the box only if the customer requests it.

The counterfeiting organizations work in small groups and co-operate closely with each other. Their methods are simple: at the doors and in the immediate area of the cigar stores and factories, stand the Jineteros offering reduced prices. From all sides, they try to persuade you not to buy in the shops. They always tell the same story – right from the counterfeiters manual.

They have a brother, sister, cousin, uncle, aunt or nephew who works in the factory and brings them out for them. If this were true then the entire production of the Partagas Factory would disappear on the black market – every day! Everything is the same, the brands and the sales pitch. The quality and the price however vary. The main counterfeit cigars are the larger sizes and bear well-known labels. The most fraudulent of all are the Cohiba and Montecristo. Other brands can be delivered as well, without delay.

“Cigar pictures Copyright ©2011 by Andrew Welch, used with permission”

A Cuban problem?

Now most would think that this is just an internal problem within Cuba. Well here is where it gets interesting. Every year thousand of tourists go to Cuba to buy the Falsificaciones. Many of them do it intentionally, like Dieter who is an aficionado from Stuttgart. Twice a year he flies to Cuba to buy cigars in the official shops. He buys ten boxes for his own enjoyment. Another 10 boxes he buys on the black market for $30 a piece. He in turns sells these in Germany at half the going market price. With his earnings from the sale of the black market cigars he finances his personal cigar purchases. The black market cigars must be sold quickly because they have not undergone disinfection like those in the factories. Therefore, within a short period of time the tobacco beetle is hard at work.

Hans, a Dutchman living in Cuba, tells us that, for the past three years, he has made his living from cigar smuggling. Five to six times a year he flies to Amsterdam with 100 boxes of counterfeits in his luggage. We ask him to tell explain to us how he takes such large amounts out of Cuba without detection. He says that he knows ‘people’ at the airport and pays them $10.00 per box -no questions asked. Then Hans offers us the opportunity to join him in business because, by the way, he is short of money. He shows us a business card and then laughs. It is a card from a well known cigar shop in Amsterdam with subsidiaries all over the Netherlands. Every time he goes to Amsterdam he claims he sells them all his cigars at Dfl 500 per box. ‘Its quick money’ he says.

Going to the US

George (he’s the guy that Jose bought all the tobacco for) lives in Tampa Florida but is a citizen of the Bahamas. He owns a yacht which he rents to tourists who want to go deep sea fishing. On one of his charter trips to Cuba several years ago, George got the idea to smuggle cigars when he saw his passengers bringing vast amounts with them. Soon after, he once again sailed to Cuba and contacted counterfeiters. At first he bought only a few, now George smuggles around 2000 boxes a year to the states.

The cigars are loaded into George’s yacht and in a flash the boat is cleared for departure and heads for the Bahamas. He remains there for a few days and then travels under the American flag to Miami.

In Miami a distributor pay $250 per box and the cigars leave Miami for fine cigar shops, restaurants, bar and clubs – from New York to Los Angeles. Tom and his buddy ordered 1000 cigars from a Torcedor (roller). He pays the Torcedor a $1000. ‘Good quality that we would smoke as well’ he says. Then a counterfeiter provides the bands for $60. They fly back to the US via the Dominican Republic. One has the cigars in his luggage the other has the bands in his. In the USA they declare the cigars as ‘Dominican Seconds’ and pay a small duty. Once back in Palm Springs they put the bands on the cigars and fill boxes that we keep on hand. They offer them under the table in their smoking lounge. ‘For one Cohiba Robusto we get $40. They sell like hot cakes’ he said.

In the state owned media, tightening the black market activities is constantly talked about. On the street, however, it’s a different story. On every corner, you are offered cigars. It seems each household is selling cigars. The police turn a blind eye. When we asked the police why nothing is being done to stop this – we are told that most of Havana would be in jail if action were taken.

As an illustrator living in Toronto, with a second home in rural Ontario, I get to see a lot of different outlets for color. When April and May roll around, this really gets my motor running. Ever since I got my first phone with a camera in it, especially when I figured out how to e-mail photos to myself or others and upload them to Facebook, the world really became my oyster!

Here are a few samples:

A. Robin’s eggs in nest on front porch of our log home; B. Strange and wondrous advertising message created for Claritin by FIVE planes simultaneously above Toronto; C. Chipmunk at giant bird feeder, which can be drained by a couple of rodents in three days.

Translate this to the color palette for water color or acrylics and you can get this (or thereabouts):

My iPhone is turning out to be a fabulous tool in my paintbox!

www.lisarotenberg.com

Here is a setting for you. A warm night, a clear sky, some birds raiding the feeder and perhaps Pinot Noir in a couple of glasses on the back porch. Any porch as I am not fussy, as long as it outside. No wait. Single malt scotch with a bit of water. Or coffee. Someone cut the grass nearby so there is that smell of chlorophyll in the air.

Crack open humidor number one, the ones with Dominican robustos in it this time because we smoked Cubans yesterday. Hey if we smoked Cubans every night we would go bankrupt. We trade for great cigars online and whoever says only Cubans are great does not know what they are talking about, just like one kind of wine is no good or you can only get great steak from one butcher. All of these things require the same amount of attention. At this level, it is easy to feel threatened, as alpha behavior abounds and thrives on making the vulnerable feel like they have no place in the smoking lounge, which is nonsense.

Well guess what. This female is neither an alpha or an expert, but can discuss all of the above intelligently. Perhaps the difference between men and women who indulge in these excesses (that is what they are), is women share with those who join the circle and men circle the wagons? Just my observation of course and sure I could be wrong. Also an observation. Women can be wrong. Men? Meh.

Back to the issue at hand, the cigar. Cigars require patience and knowledge. The choice of stick, storage, humidity, cutting, lighting, smoking, even how you put it out when you are done. I have been schooled in each step and criticized along the way, kind of like on Kung Fu. Remember? Take this pebble from my hand. To be mentored by one who had the generosity of spirit to share this knowledge is the true lesson here. Cigar smokers send each other surprise gifts and their sharing is unbelievable.  There is even a name for it: Bomb.

And who said cigars are bad for you?

CIGAR AFICIONADO QUIZ

1. What is ligero?

-In the context of a cigars, ligero is a unique leaf variety used in the blending process. In particular, the ligero leaf is part of the tobacco plant with direct exposure to the sun. This sunlight results in an enhanced effectiveness of the plan and a higher level of nicotine than is traditionally in other parts of the tobacco plant.

2. Name the three major growing regions of Nicaragua.

- The Jalapa region is located on Nicaragua’s northern border neighboring Honduras; South of Jalapa is the Estelí region; On the road between Estelí and Jalapa is the town of Condega. Condega is a fertile region where mostly filler and binder tobacco is grown.

3. What is a puro?
- Spanish. A “puro” is a cigar where wrapper, binder and filler tobacco are from the same country.

4. Who makes the cigar called The Edge?
- Rocky Patel

 

5. What is a chavetta?
- The traditional chavetta is a tobacco roller’s tool. It has been called a knife, but it is not particularly sharp. It is 6 inches long and 4 inches high with a curved edge for cutting and a straight edge for holding. It does a nice job trimming wrapper leaves for bunching or rolling.

6. What is a torcedore?

- A torcedor is a cigar roller. Since the Cuban Revolution, the majority of Cuban torcedores are women and referred to as a torcedora (Plural: torcedoras).

7. Describe the difference between binder and filler.
- The binder is a tobacco leaf, usually having little or no flavor, which is used to bind and contain the filler tobacco inside of a cigar. Another tobacco leaf, called a wrapper, is wrapped around the outside of the binder to complete the cigar.

 

8. Put these tobacco terms in the proper order: fermentation, priming, aging, curing.

-Priming – Curing – Aging – Fermentation -  (source: http://www.tabacordillera.com/cigar-leaf-processing.htm)

 

9. Whats the difference between Connecticut shade and Connecticut broadleaf?

- Connecticut shade and Connecticut broadleaf grow side-by-side throughout the Connecticut River Valley, but they are quite the odd couple. Shade is smooth and elegant, while broadleaf is grizzled and tough. Shade plants are tall and thin, reaching as high as 12 feet under their silky tents, broadleaf grows in the open sunlight. Blue-collar broadleaf seems to have a fitting price, selling for as little as $12 per pound, an apparent bargain compared to the $45 per pound that top-grade Connecticut shade commands. But because of all the curing, fermenting and sorting required to turn broadleaf into usable tobacco–plus all the waste–it ends up being much more expensive.

 

10. Which of the following is not an actual cigar: Flying Pig, Taco, Loco Chivo, Pussycat, The Chisel.

- Loco Chivo

 

11. What is a Salomone?

- A member of the diadema group of cigars, these very large figurados have pointed, tapered heads and bulbous feet with a nipple tip. E.g. Cuaba Salomone measures 7 1/4 inches by 57 ring gauge. Due to their curves and the size, they are very hard cigars to roll, demanding a lot of skill and time.

 

12. How many Edicion Limitada cigars does Cuba release in a typical year?

- Three

13. Name a cigar with a suggested retail price of $25 or more.
- Cohiba Behike BHK54

14. Describe a cigars wrapper.
- A cigar’s outermost leaves, or wrapper, come from the widest part of the plant. The wrapper determines much of the cigar’s character and flavor, and as such its color.

15. Where is Danli?

- Honduras

 

16. Which country makes the most premium cigars?
- The Dominican Republic (source: http://procigars.com/premium-cigar-sale.htm)

 

17. What year did Cigar Aficionado make its debut?

- Cigar Aficionado magazine debuted in the fall of 1992, launched in New York City by Marvin R. Shanken, longtime publisher of Wine Spectator

 

18. What is Cigar Aficionados signature cigar show?

- Big Smoke

 

19. Name three types of cigar cutters.

- Guillotine, V-Cutters, Punch

 

20. Which of the following are proper methods of lighting a cigar: wooden match, Zippo lighter, paper match, cedar spill, butane lighter.

- wooden match, Zippo lighter, paper match, cedar spill, butane lighter. – any of the above

 

21. Is tobacco for premium cigars grown in the United States?

- Yes. When most people think of tobacco being grown in the USA, they tend to think of the southern states. This is mostly true, but in the cigar world the northeastern state of Connecticut is famous for producing some of the world’s best cigar wrapper leaves.

 

22. What is a Cuban sandwich cigar?
- The infamous Cuban Sandwich, a variation of the traditional ham and cheese, was a common lunch snack created for Cuban workers during the early 1900′s. Since they typically sold for roughly fifteen cents a piece, they were appealing to many of the Cuban immigrants trying to get by in Florida. It’s no coincidence that the Cuban Sandwich cigar is a bargain cigar, manufactured in Nicaragua.

The Cuban Sandwich cigar is a medium bodied cigar that utilizes either a delicious Cameroon wrapper, or an aged Maduro wrapper depending upon the cigar. The Cuban Sandwich cigar uses premium Nicaraguan tobacco as a filler and binder to “sandwich” this delicious, inexpensive cigar. At a bargain price, sample one of these bundles today and you’ll be taken back to Havana at the turn of the 20th century.

 

23. Whats the difference between a dress box and a cabinet?

A dress box usually holds 10- 25 cigars, is more for retail display with decoration and stickers. A cabinet holds usually 50 cigars, without stickers or labels; usually unfinished Spanish cedar or mahogany, and more for humidor storage.

24. Name three people who have appeared on the cover of Cigar Aficionado in the past 12 months.

- Matthew McConaughey, Paul Giamatti; Jim Belushi

 

25. What company distributes Cuban cigars throughout the world?
- Habanos S.A

 

If you get the job in New York that this is a requirement for, YOU ARE WELCOME!!!

CIGAR AFICIONADO QUIZ

1. What is ligero?
2. Name the three major growing regions of Nicaragua.
3. What is a puro?
4. Who makes the cigar called The Edge?
5. What is a chavetta?
6. What is a torcedore?
7. Describe the difference between binder and filler.
8. Put these tobacco terms in the proper order: fermentation, priming, aging, curing.
9. Whats the difference between Connecticut shade and Connecticut broadleaf?
10. Which of the following is not an actual cigar: Flying Pig, Taco, Loco Chivo, Pussycat, The Chisel.
11. What is a Salomone?
12. How many Edicion Limitada cigars does Cuba release in a typical year?
13. Name a cigar with a suggested retail price of $25 or more.
14. Describe a cigars wrapper.
15. Where is Danli?
16. Which country makes the most premium cigars?
17. What year did Cigar Aficionado make its debut?
18. What is Cigar Aficionados signature cigar show?
19. Name three types of cigar cutters.
20. Which of the following are proper methods of lighting a cigar: wooden match, Zippo lighter, paper match, cedar spill, butane lighter.
21. Is tobacco for premium cigars grown in the United States?
22. What is a Cuban sandwich cigar?
23. Whats the difference between a dress box and a cabinet?
24. Name three people who have appeared on the cover of Cigar Aficionado in the past 12 months.
25. What company distributes Cuban cigars throughout the world?

“Top Shelf” of my humidor… Behike, Davidoff, Tatuje, Drew Estate Limiteds. The cigars of dreams.

In the Specialty coffee business, of which I am a member as a retailer in www.rocketfuelcoffee.com, the coffees beans we sell and drink every day are exquisite. Jamaican Blue Mountain, Hawaiian Kona, Kopi Luwak. Not only is access to these beans privileged, but learning about the various varieties and often speaking directly to their growers, distributors and writers who comment on them is a privilege as well. As a member of the Specialty Coffee Association Of America, I can go on trips, attend shows, workshops, even get accreditation in this chosen field and get paid for the joy of coffee. All I have to do is ask once I show I have the knack for it and time.

A similar world exists in the cigar smoking community. Online forums, festivals, trade shows and societies. A visit to my site www.hisandherf.com barely scratches the surface of this world, but you can get the idea. The equivalent to the top of the line coffees stated above would I guess include Cohiba, Montecristo, Davidoff and any number of coveted bands. But like wines, the verticals or years cigars are issued, their rarity and where you live can drive up their value. Trading cigars and buying from collectors is where the real money is if you ask me.

Cohiba Behike BHK 52′s. Online $40-50 per stick. In Canada, $80 per stick. Worth it? Hell yeah.

Which brings me to my topic du jour, the parallel of the cigar and coffee enthusiast who delves into the best of the best. If you get to buy Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee every day at $25/half pound, what is Sanka going to taste like after that? Cow pee. That’s what. And if you smoke Arturo Fuente Hemingways, Davidoffs or a Dunhill Red Range stick, a smooth creamy cigar, are you going to settle for some modest smoke, even if it says Habana on it? I don’t think so. And if you smoke a Cohiba Behike BHK 52, Cigar Aficionado’s 2010 number one cigar of the year, what then??

I have this activity. I take photos of the cigars Matthew and I smoke and I put the pictures up on Facebook. My friends, and there are quite a few of them who are cigar buffs, also show theirs. Cigar porn I like to call it. As the photo collection has grown, it is great to note that less and less are ISOM – Island south of Miami. Educated smokers have broad horizons and know there are so many great cigars to choose from as coffee lovers know there are great coffees all over the world. But the best ones come at a price and there is a reason they cost what they do. Unlike wines, where you may find a bottle for $12 and a few folks can share it, you may find a cigar for $6 but one person smokes it and *poof* it is gone. And those numbers add up!

A collection of gorgeous bold cigars, estimated value, $100.

All I am saying is Kopi Luwak coffee, the cat poo bean, Rocketfuelcoffee.com sells for $55 a quarter pound. This spectacular coffee sits in my coffee stock and I do not drink it. It is too expensive. And my humidor is heading in that direction. A $40 Behike and a $45 Limited Edition Davidoff 8.5″ Salomone? I only have so many special occasions. I keep trading coffee for these gorgeous sticks. I need to aim a bit lower so I can have some cigars to smoke everyday.

Cheers!

Drink it or smoke it, for those of us in the description business, this one is gold.

At CoffeeFest, the weekend coffee trade show Mecca, which happens this weekend in Chicago, I was given a wonderful mouse pad with the above graphic on it. It was to assist me in my coffee vocabulary when writing ad copy or reviews for Rocketfuelcoffee.com, my then budding coffee company in 2008. An education in a rainbow pie, this tells you everything you need to know about every kind of coffee there is in the world, and what you can expect to taste in your cup.

Fast forward 3 years later and my coffee website has a partner, www.hisandherf.com, a site devoted to the love and smell. taste and smoking of cigars. But damn if that rainbow pie of glorious words does not apply! Look up there in my humidor ^. A range of smokes, tangy, nippy, chocolatey, smokey, ashy… you get the picture. So this is a short blog today. Just a gift of the flavor wheel.

Enjoy!

French Presses and Chemexs are awesome and make amazing coffee, but if you’re an average joe like me, you also have a drip coffee maker that gets a lot of use too. I use my French Press a lot on the weekend and the Chemex when I have a new coffee to try, but my drip coffee maker is my go to machine in the morning before I run off to work. However, if you don’t treat that drip coffee maker properly, it can make some pretty bad coffee. To prevent that, here’s my down and dirty guide to making better coffee with a drip coffee maker.

Buy Whole Beans

The first and one of the most important steps is to buy whole bean coffee. Ground coffee gets points for being convenient, but if you want great tasting coffee, you need to buy whole beans. Ground coffee starts losing flavor as soon as it’s ground and can go stale within fifteen minutes. Who knows how long it was sitting on that shelf before you bought it.

The Daily Grind

Now that you have whole beans, you’re going to need to grind them. A twenty dollar blade grinder is a good start, but if you’re serious about getting a the perfect cup of coffee, you’re going to need a burr grinder. Using a burr grinder you can fine tune the size of the grinds to get the optimal amount of flavor out of them. By the way, for most drip coffee makers a medium grind works perfectly.

Clean Your Coffee Maker

When was the last time you cleaned your coffee maker? Depending how often you use it, you should be cleaning it as often as once a week. The minerals from you water and the oils from your coffee can start to build up and it isn’t long before they start affecting the taste of your coffee. And you don’t need one of those special coffee maker cleaning solutions. All you need is some vinegar.

Staying Hydrated

How is the water from your faucet? Do you drink it directly from the faucet? Is it labeled hard or loaded with chlorine? Another easy way to improve the quality of your coffee is to filter your water before pouring it into the water chamber. A water filter that attaches to your faucet or a pitcher with the filter built in will make a huge difference immediately.

Don’t Let Your Coffee Sit Around

I get nervous if my coffee is sitting on the warming plate or in the coffee pot for fifteen minutes. You’re probably safe letting your coffee sit for half an hour or an hour (not on the heater). You’ll get the best results making smaller pots of coffee multiple times, then one huge coffee pot of coffee that sits around all morning long.

And Definitely Don’t Reheat Your Coffee

Microwaving your coffee kills the flavor. Need I say more?

Store Your Coffee Safely

Once you brew up that perfect pot of coffee, you’re going to need to store the beans properly. The best place to store your coffee is someplace cool, dry, out of direct sunlight and in an air tight container. Do not put an open bag of coffee in the refrigerator or the freezer!

Bonus Tip: Invest in a coffee maker. You’re going to be using it every morning, so don’t just buy the ten dollar one that’s on sale. Buy a good one, it’ll last longer and probably produce better coffee. I could do a whole guide about buying the perfect coffee maker, but I’ll save that for a future post.

What tips would you share to make better coffee with a drip coffee maker?

—

Photo by PJMixer.

For those of us who pay more for less, we want proof.

I have been in several situations where I have had to prove to what I have to sell is genuine – or help others NOT buy what they want because it is fake. At www.rocketfuelcoffee.com, our Kopi Luwak, arguably the most expensive and weirdest coffee in the world, the legendary “cat poop” coffee we sell for $55 a quarter pound, we show as much information as we can including where the coffee comes from and facts about the beans. The information and verification must come from trusted sources other than us, with a money back guarantee. Access to us must be readily available for comment. These are factors which build credibility for retailers of specialty items. For several years I sold rare Canadian silver antiques on eBay. The selling a fake Canadian Indian trade silver artifacts is so rampant, I have a written guide there to assist eBay buyers. I have given up on reporting fake sellers.

Top shows real hallmarks for Canadian Trade silver; Bottom shows fake piece and fake hallmark.

Now onto the topic that I am applying to this here: Cuban cigars. A site called www.cubancigarwebsite.com is just a fountain of information! Trevor Leask of Sydney, NSW, Australia has taken his passion for cigars and done us all a great service and put down in keystrokes great info about just about everything we need to know about the stick, the tube, the the stamp and the box. And in this world of fakery and money making, a quick look here and you will be way ahead. I am listing some highlights here.

Aluminum Tubes

Aluminium tubes have a thin cedar timber veneer lining. Tubes help preserve cigars from physical damage and short-term drying out. Habanos recommends removing the cigars from their tubes if storing in a humidor; but MRN recommends leaving cigars in their tubes for improved (but slower) aging. Since 2006, Habanos SA has been extending the available tube range in their major brands, using both the recoloured standard tubes and a new premium style tube. The new premium tubes have a twin tube construction, with top friction pull-apart section. Davidoff had a special multi-tube system with a long slot, that could be opened or closed by twisting the tube. This slot was intended to give the user humidity control by adjusting the slot width.

How cigars are made

Handmade Cigars (note: make sure these marks are burned in, NOT PRINTED)

Machine made Cigars

Cuban Warranty Stamp

This seal was introduced in late 1999. It was a major modification of the previous seal and incorporated more security features. There are two sizes (148mm x 49mm for boxes and 60mm x 20mm for cardboard packs). The smaller seal has no serial number. In 2010 Cuban cigars for export have a hologram panel added.

The serial number consists of two letters and six numbers, and the first letter of the Serial Number “should” correspond with the following box date code.  The second letter appears to be somewhat random.  Any serial number on the warranty seal commencing with XX or XY has been opened and inspected at the Habanos SA facility as part of their quality control and these boxes may have a “REVISADO” (reviewed) stamp on the base of the box.

Stickers etc.

Health, Logos, and Duty Paid Stickers: These are stickers applied by the Regional Distributors before being sent to retailers.

Government Health Warning Stickers: These are placed on boxes by the regional distributors to comply with local

anti-smoking laws.

Logos and other Duty Paid Stickers: These include stickers applied by some distributors to authenticate their point-of-distribution origin.  In some countries, a duty paid sticker is also applied.

Habanos Packaging Codes: Special packaging code is used to describe the Packaging available for each vitola for retailers, and these are found on the Habanos web site. Vitola refers to the unique description of a cigar.

Feel free to visit  http://www.cubancigarwebsite.com for more information!

Coffee and Cigar Forums are so much alike it is kind of scary.

As the owner of an online coffee company, and the lover of fine cigars and Scotch, I love hanging around online forums for several reasons. The information you can learn about the specialized topics is bottomless from the generous members. Ask a question and within minutes you will get answers, and the kindness of strangers cannot be underestimated. As a resource for finding rare cigars, coffee or just about anything, if you show yourself to be a fair trader, you can obtain wonderful items at great prices.

onlinehumidor.com

There are many forums for both coffee and cigars, probably just about anything really. I am sure plumbing suppliers and taxidermists have their forums too and a simple Google search will get you in the door. Your first task is to give yourself a forum name. Mine is canadianbeaver. If you use the same across many forums, you will get to cross reference yourself and become better known. On coffee sites I am coffeeloverlisa, because I started on those forums first and I was less saucy then.

coffeeforums.com

My motive for joining these forums was quite simple. To sell Rocketfuelcoffee.com. Links, advice, promo deals for members, you name it. I am a moderator on coffeeforums.com and the folks there are terrific. My passion for cigars made me think that those forum members might like Rocketfuelcoffee too. Turns out on almost all cigar forums there is a coffee section. Wait though, turns out there on these cigar forums there are also sections for “Hotties”, guns and dirty jokes. Coffee forums? Not so much. And by the way, the dirty jokes section is hilarious.

puff.com

Some forums are definitely more geared towards some activities than others. For instance, I find onlinehumidor.com to be the go to place for sourcing cigars but they will not tolerate any BS, negotiating or poor behavior. Like all of these sites, they quickly will add you to their public “scumbag” list and freely share this information. Fighting seems like a common activity too. If you think that women cat fight, you should see these guys! Owners/moderators ban participants for 7-14 days quickly and ask for donations to participate. For the access to the information and trade privilege, I coughed up on day one. No problem.

cigarweekly.com

Other forums, like Cigarweekly.com, add other great features such as an online magazine. You do not need to be a forum member to access this feature. All forums include reviews of cigars, as do coffee forums for coffees. This is a great way to get advice on new products and how to enjoy your favorite cigar or bean!

There is one thing that we Canadians have to know about the above mentioned cigar forums. They are American based and do not tolerate talking about how to ship Cuban products to the USA, trading Cuban sticks to the USA or anything like that. Your posts will vanish and you will get a nasty e-mail from the moderators. Interestingly enough though, they buy and sell Cuban cigars to each other. The acronyms are CC (Cuban Cigar) among others and you take any such info to private message. Internet activity can be monitored by anyone and the rules are very strict. As well, if you buy cigars from a fellow forum member, do not ask for packages to be marked gift or other fraudulent requests on the forum. You will end up in the doghouse.

Coffee forums such as

http://www.home-barista.com/forums/

http://coffeegeek.com/forums

http://www.coffeecrew.com/ourforum

are also fantastic places to learn about coffees through members. Check them out and enjoy a cup while reading.

Cheers!