Counterfeit Cuban cigars are common, especially the famous names: Cohiba, Montecristo and the Behike line. No single check proves a box is genuine, but together these ten catch almost every fake.
1. The warranty seal
Genuine boxes carry the Cuban government warranty seal across the front corner, with a hologram and a printed code. Habanos offers an authenticity check on its website where you can enter that code. A missing seal, a blurry one, or a code the check doesn’t recognise is a warning.
2. The Habanos label
Look for the Habanos S.A. label on the top right of the box and the stamps on the bottom. Labels that are peeling, loose or badly printed are a red flag.
3. The box codes
The bottom of the box is ink-stamped with a factory code and a date code, such as “AGO 19” for August 2019. The date should make sense for the cigar. A limited edition stamped years before it was released is fake. Our guide to reading Cuban box codes explains the format.
4. The box itself
Habanos are not sold in boxes with glass or clear plastic lids. Boxes with sloppy joints, rough finishing or printed-on details that should be embossed are suspect.
5. The count
Every cigar is made in set box counts. Cohiba Behike, for example, comes in boxes of 10. A Behike box of 25 is fake. Check the count against the official release.
6. The bands
Genuine bands are crisp and finely embossed, and in a box they sit at the same height. Limited and regional editions carry a second band naming the edition. Check it matches a real release: a brand that had no Edición Limitada in a given year can’t have one from that year.
7. The cigars
In a genuine box the cigars match in size and colour and are neatly made. Straight cigars have a neatly applied cap at the head. Cigars with two wrappers twisted together in a “barber pole” aren’t part of the Habanos range.
8. The price
A box offered far below its usual price is almost always fake or stolen. Fair prices exist, from buyers who source collections directly, but not prices that are too good to be true.
9. The seller
Street sellers, beach vendors and people who “know someone at the factory” are where most fakes come from. Buy from a Casa del Habano, an authorised Habanos retailer, or a specialist who checks every box and guarantees it.
10. The smoke
Once lit, genuine Cuban tobacco usually burns with a grey, salt-and-pepper ash. That’s a last check, not a first one: by then you’ve already paid.
Buying with confidence
We check every box we buy against these points before it’s offered to anyone. Our monthly email lists what we have, with prices, and every box is guaranteed genuine.
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