Expert: James Yee - 4/27/2007

Question
I vist St Martin in the caribbean every year and have bought numerous cohiba siglio 111 and enjoyed them. They look good,smell good and taste great. They are sold in numerous stores on the island and after reading about all the counterfeit cubans around what are the chances that I am smoking cubans.

Answer
Hi Howard,

If you're buying your cigars from authorized "Habanos SA" retailers such as "La Casa Del Habanos" (LCDH) shops, then the chances that you're smoking a genuine Cuban cigar is very good.  LCDH shops all stock 100% genuine, guaranteed to be legitimate Cuban cigars.  Authorized retailers will display a "Habanos" sticker in their front window or on the walk-in humidor or humidor cabinets themselves.  If a cigar shop you visit doesn't have the sticker, contact Habanos SA and ask them what the supplier/distributor of Cuban cigars for the Caribbean is and then check with that company to see if they supply the store you normally shop at.

If the shops you buy your Cuban cigars from are not authorized Habanos retailers, it doesn't automatically mean that the cigars are counterfeits but you should be cautious because the supplier for these shops may not be reputable and their source of cigars questionable.  

Counterfeit cigars have become so sophisticated and convincingly real that the only way to be sure that you're buying genuine cigars is if the retailer is an authorized and approved tobacconist.  Even if the cigar boxes look real, the cigar bands look real, the cigars look good and the shop employees reassure you that their stock is genuine, unless they’re approved and confirmed by Habanos SA, you’re potentially at risk as a consumer.

Hopes this answers your question. If you have any more questions, please feel free to just ask.

Regards,
James

P.S. – Here are the two known LCDH shops in St. Martin:

LCDH Marigot – Port La Royal
Rue de la Liberte 71 STM FW 9715
Tel: 590 87 5894

LCDH Phillipsburg
Front Street 24
Tel: 599 543 1001