It’s just a plain fact that today among cigar connoisseurs, the Cuban is recognized as unarguably the gold standard above all others. Now that’s premium grade Cubans because the truth is that not every leaf of tobacco that is grown and cured there is premium grade. In fact, if you were to travel to the island you can find cheapo sub-grade cigars for sale in stores there.
Now having made note of that, the fact remains that by and large when the vast majority of smokers go online or head down to the local cigar shop to find one, it’s the premium brands that they’re after. Now in the US as a result of a trade embargo that was instituted in 1964, Cuban cigars being contraband are far more difficult to find locally, and fetch incredibly high prices.
Even so, how can you tell if the cigars that you are buying are the real McCoy? The “Genuine article”. Because unless you’ve been sleeping in a cave for the last ten years or so, you know that counterfeiting is big business today. In fact as far as high end consumer products go, and Cubans are one of them, if it can be counterfeited, it is somewhere by someone.
Take a moment to consider it and what you’ll come up with, is that high end cigars in particular would be pretty simple to replicate. The reason being is that a counterfeiter wouldn’t have to roll a single unit. Instead all he has to do is have the boxes, bands, and packaging whipped up someplace in China or India, and then simply buys the cigars wholesale off the Internet. Really quite simple.
Now if you think for an instant that good packaging and official seals are hard to have made then think again. Now in years past, it used to be hard to find a maker of quality knock off packaging but not anymore. In fact today in places like China the rule for a huge majority of good packaging makers is “don’t ask questions”. “Just be happy you have the job”.
So really, in the end all you can do to prevent getting ripped off on fake Cubans is to go through a reputable online seller that has plenty of good feedback, and be willing to pay the price. Remember that hop-scotching around the Internet looking for the all time best deals today on just about anything, is one of the best ways to get yourself hooked up with a knock-off.
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