Expert: James Yee - 2/19/2008

Question
Hi James, I recently had a friend go to Jamaica and she brought me back a couple of cigars. The one I have a question about is the Cohiba Robusto, I think it is a real Cuban ,she has had it at home in a plastic zip-lock bag for a week or so it still feels moist, the last inch or so by the foot seems to be swollen and a kind of loosely rolled. When you look at it,it is noticeably bigger around than the rest of the cigar. I was wondering if you could explain this to me? Did she, and me get taken by a fake ? It does have the three somewhat distinctive layers on the cap and does smell the same as some other Cohibas that I have and I know are real Cubans. Thanks again for your time James

Answer
Hi Grant,

It's really hard to determine a cigar's authenticity without visually examining it, inside and out.  Genuine Cohiba cigars are known for having a high level of construction and wrapper leaf quality (more than any other Cuban brand, IMO) and based on your description, the cigar does sound suspicious.  Do you know if your friend purchased the cigar at an authorized Habanos SA retailer?

Even though the cigar has the triple cap, there's still a chance that it's fake if it wasn't purchased at a Habanos SA retailer.  Cigar counterfeiters are very skilled now and can easily produce cigars that look 99% like the real cigar.  To make the fake cigars look even more real, counterfeiters will even recycle genuine cigar boxes and cigar bands!

Your only method of determining if the cigar is real or not is by smoking it and observing the flavour and aroma of the cigar as well as the quality of the ash.  The ash should be firm and solid; not crumbly and flaky.  If the ash looks good, compare the flavour and aroma of the cigar to a genuine Cohiba robusto and see if they're similar.

Again, based on your description, the cigar doesn't seem right and unless it was purchased at an authorized retailer, there's a good chance it may be fake.

If you have any more questions, just let me know.

Regards,
James