by Steve Saka

Thanks for the compliment regarding our Counterfeit Primer - it is one of the most viewed sections on the site. However, it is not perfect, in fact your question raises an important note that I will include in the next update. Cuban cigars and their boxes are handmade and handpacked so some deviations occur from time to time. You can not judge the authenticity of Cuban cigars solely on any one finite detail, but rather on a whole. It is not rare for a box to be missing the glassine strip or for the separator sheet of cedar to be enclosed the wrong direction. Slight variance in ring size occur commonly and every once in a while you will even get a box of cigars that was trimmed just a hair short. Although another website online stresses being super critical of the bands as the best way to ID Havanas, any true Havanaphile will tell you this is nonsense. Slight mis-registration, color variance, and embossing flaws are not uncommon on many Havana rings. In fact, some of the mistakes are so common that they themselves can help an experienced Cuban cigar smoker identify the cigars as authentic, ie. poor centering of the round on Montecristo bands, shift of the red lines on the Bolivar bands, etc. The ideal way to ID Cuban cigars is by using the sum of your experience and knowledge just like you did in this case - the seals and stamps looked good, cedar sheet right, decipherable codes, the cigars were the right size and looked good, and most importantly, they tasted and smelled right. With all this in mind it sounds to me like you have a very legit box of Habanas and the fact that there was no glassine strip should be chalked up to a packing mistake. Btw, the Bolivar Royal Coronas is one of my absolute favorite robustos... Enjoy!

The best? That is a tough question to answer since everyone's idea of the best will vary to suit their individual needs. However, I think there is some consensus on which three cutters are those most worth of your attention. The first and the most time tested is the Zino Davidoff. Priced at roughly $55.00 this simple double bladed cutter has a proven track record of giving perfect cuts for years of use. Next on the list is the Palio with ultra sharp blades and supposedly ergonomic shape. Personally, I find the ergo-shape to have zero value, but the larger blades and cut-hole easily accommodate huge ringed cigars without any problem. The third cigar cutter I would check out is the Xikar. This machined all-metal cutter is not only stylish, it delivers a razor sharp cut each time. Plus its spring-loaded switchblade like action is too cool to ignore. I own and use all three of these cutters and would consider any to be an excellent choice.

            

Any cutters to avoid? Yes, anything that has a single blade - they simply do not work as well as those having two opposing blades. Also I suggest you steer clear of the Nat Sherman cutter because they on occasion jam and crush your smoke. I know it is infrequent, but who needs the aggravation? And finally, I would also ignore all of the fancy gold/silver Dupont and Dunhill cutters. Although beautiful, none of these $300.00+ cutters will give you as good a snip as the three suggested above. They look great and are a pleasure to own, but they are strictly a luxury item. Plus it is a heartbreaker when you leave your Dupont cutter on the hotel bar.

Many longtime Habana smokers have noticed different wrappers on their Cuban cigars as of recently. The traditional Corojo wrapper plant was created Rodriguez and Niehuys in the early 1940s by crossbreeding Criollo strains of tobacco with Sumatra varieties. The result is a beautiful looking full flavored tobacco that has a high 20% yield of top-notch wrapper leaves. However Corojo is only moderately resistant to Black Shank and very vulnerable to Mosaic Virus and Blue Mold. Because of this the Cubans have been developing two new strains of tobacco: Habana-92 and Habana-2000. The H2000 is noted for its light brown color with ultra thin veins and the H92 is a more attractive reddish-brown color whose leaves possess a high fat content and are very elastic. Both are highly resistant to most diseases. H92 also has the additional ability to grow well nearly anywhere in Cuba and as such, has become very popular with farmers. It all sounds good, but it isn't because neither of these new black tobacco strains taste as good as either of the Criollo or Corojo varieties in the opinion of many Cuban cigar smokers. As for which you may have smoked, I suspect it was the H92 from your description although the olive/green hue is not a normal trait, although the wrappers are dark and thin as you described. Side note: I personally find it somewhat confusing that what the domestic American market calls their "H2000" leaf seems to actually be from the Cuban seed of the H92 variety.

For more information, I highly recommend you read Cuban Cigar Tobacco: Why Cuban Cigars are the World's Best by Eumelio Espino Marrero, ISBN 0-7938-0294-6.

Yeah, buy in cash and money orders. <snicker> Actually I do have a couple of useful tidbits, one is to not buy too much. I know this sounds sacrilegious, but hear me out before burning me at the stake. It is very common for newbie cigar smokers to go hog wild and buy box after box of cigars once they have discovered the joy a fine handmade can bring. This is particularly true if you read forums and ASC (alt.smokers.cigars) - it is hard to ignore all the great advice and new cigars you read about online. But you must, because the truth is that what you find an enjoyable smoke today is going to change in a year. Almost all smoker's palates change as do their desire for certain cigars and if you buy too many too quickly you will find in a year's time that you are aging hundreds of cigars that no longer suit your fancy. Also you will find that your stock will reach a point where there is no possible way for you to smoke them all before the overage past their prime. It is a shame to allow a good box of cigars go to waste like this so I strongly suggest you throttle back on your spending habit some. Also I suggest that you try sharing your new found hobby to your wife. Most wives view our passion for cigars in a better light if they are introduced to it in a good way. For some excellent advice on how to do this please read my CNX Counsel article titled "Perfect-O-Nuptials?" and good luck!

Only cigars imported into the United Kingdom have the EMS stamp from Hunters & Frankau. The EMS stamp is a mark of quality control/inspection given by Hunters & Frankau. The quality control includes checking wrapper, quality, color and construction on both layers of cigars within a box and the random checking of cigars within a bundle according to the PR that comes from H&F.

Gibraltar is not part of the United Kingdom, but Hunters & Frankau imports to Gibraltar and the stamp H & F 98/150 for example is a verification of authenticity and a measure against counterfeiting. This stamp has now been replaced by the "H&F Imported Directly from Cuba." This is not a quality control stamp. The cigars, therefore, that bear the EMS stamp for the UK market are considered of a higher quality due to the quality control procedure.

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