David Savona

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Fake Cigar Central

Posted: 04:49 PM ET, March 13, 2007

I just returned from the Tobacconists of America show in the Bahamas. While I was there, I took a little walk down Bay Street in Nassau. Bay Street is a busy place with endless markets. You can buy just about anything there: diamonds, clothes, liquor, coedeine without a prescription and plenty of Cuban cigars. I can’t vouch for the drugs and booze, but the cigars ain’t real.

The Bahamas are a key place for fakes due to the tourist trade, and Bay Street is tourist central. The massive cruise ships dock right there, and eager tourists spill out ready to buy. Sadly, the cigar items for sale are not worth the money.

In a span of all of ten blocks I saw four stores selling cigars, and they all looked like counterfeits. All the stores had Montecristos and Romeos and most had Cohibas. I even saw a fake Cuaba Salamone. There were plenty of Cohiba Siglo VI cigars in tubes, priced at $12 (Bahamian or American. They’re of equal value and U.S. greenbacks can be used for all purchases here.) This is a cigar that sells for more than double that in legitimate shops, depending on where you are in the world, so either this is the deal of a lifetime or the cigar is as phony as $10 Rolex.

A counterfeit Edición Limitada was laughable—the Edición Limitada band was about twice the width it should have been, and the words were written in yellow type on a black background. Lord knows where that came from.

I saw a fake I had never seen before, a Cohiba cigar made with a barber pole style wrapper. It looked hideous. Didn't catch the price on that one.

The other day I asked Paolo Garzaroli, who makes Graycliff cigars here in Nassau, about the local counterfeiting problem. He estimated that 95 percent of the Cuban cigars sold here are fakes. Seeing what I saw today, I can believe it.

There were problems with the packaging on most of the cigars, and none of the bands looked quite right. The cigars didn't have that Cuban look, the style of Cuban leaf or the construction of a typical Cuban cigar. But the sad fact is that with so many tourists, so much foot traffic and not enough knowledge of the real deal, people buy those cigars everyday. The shops wouldn't be there if the business wasn't there.

The next time you're in Nassau, be careful if you buy a "Cuban" cigar.

(8 comments on this post) Submit your comments >

Reader Comments

User Name: sheldon weiner, Calabasas, Ca Posted: 04:22 PM ET, March 15, 2007

The Cuban cigars in the retail stores and the ones that the street vendors sell in Nassau have been fakes or counterfits for many years now. This should not be new news. It's the same story in Mexico on both east and west coasts. You should always remember if the price is cheaper than what you thought it should cost......it's more that likely fake!

User Name: Ken Coleman, Paris Posted: 04:27 AM ET, March 16, 2007

"a Cohiba cigar made with a barber pole style wrapper. " and you didn't get it? What a conversation piece! What a collectors' item.

User Name: DAVE Savona, New York Posted: 07:53 AM ET, March 16, 2007

Ken, somehow I turned that one down. Of course, I can always buy plenty of them when in next in the Dominican Republic, where I'm sure they were rolled. Funny--the one thing I didn't see were Cohiba Crystals, the glass-top or lucite-top Cohibas that are very common fakes. Thought that would be a big deal there.

User Name: Anthony Grant, New Rochelle, NY Posted: 01:41 PM ET, March 16, 2007

Absolutely in Mexico. I was on my honeymoon in Mazatlan and wanted to buy a couple cubans. Not only did they look fake they were pricey and the wrappers were dried out. Good thing I had a few Work of Arts left over from the wedding to enjoy poolside...BUYER BEWARE....

User Name: Paul Johnson, Florida Posted: 02:23 PM ET, March 16, 2007

I think the glass tops are losing popularity. I was in Jamaica a little over a year ago and saw lots of stores selling "Cuban" cigars but not one real Cuban cigar. I too expected to see the glass tops, but did not (in fact I haven't seen one since a trip to Costa Rica six years ago). What surprised me in Jamaica were the number of shops selling "Cohibas" in boxes that weren't the right size! I saw a box of torpedoes that couldn't close because somehow the cigars inside were too big for the box. Another shop had robustos in what looked like a churchill box packed with loose tobacco to fill in the extra space (a la Drew Estates). It's hard to believe people fall for it, but like Dave said if it didn't work, they wouldn't be in business.

User Name: Matthew Caruso, Jersey Posted: 03:47 PM ET, March 16, 2007

I love the guys in Mexico that try to sell you the "changing labels" trick. "Muchacho, for $20 more, I will change out the labels so you can get through customs. Come back in a half hour." Oh yeah, they change the labels...and the cigars too. Welcome to Web 2.0 Dave! This looks promising. Matt Caruso

User Name: Barry Kamen, NY Posted: 12:51 PM ET, March 19, 2007

I too was in Nassau about a week ago. I think saw you on Bay Street. I was told that John Bull had some genuine Cubans, but with the multitude of fakes I didn't even bother going in. Unfortunately there are so many uninformed tourists stopping in these port cities that you could get away with selling just about anything that resembles a cigar. Maybe I should use my collection of genuine Opus bands. I could wrap them around Marsh Wheelings and sell them as prepunched Opus Panatellas on the streets of Grand Cayman (Grand Kamen??).

User Name: DAVE Savona, New York Posted: 02:20 PM ET, March 19, 2007

Barry, no offense to Marsh Wheeling, but I don't think Carlos Fuente Jr. would approve of your plan.

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