Box Code
Oftentimes you can ascertain the age of a cigar by its box codes. Every Cuban cigar produced has a code at the bottom indicating the age of a smoke; that will not only tell you how old it is, but the vintage, which may be important. This coding process is rare outside of Cuba. Today’s Cuban box code is transparent and easy to understand, but earlier incarnations were disguised, to discourage consumers from knowing the date the cigars were produced. The best-known Cuban date code was known as NIVEL ACUSO.