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. There were plenty of Cohiba Siglo VI cigars in tubes, priced at $12 (Bahamian or American. 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.Ī 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. I saw a fake I had never seen before, a Cohiba cigar made with a barber pole style wrapper. 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. The shops wouldn't be there if the business wasn't there.īut 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 next time you're in Nassau, be careful if you buy a "Cuban" cigar. "About 90% of the "cuban cigars' in the bahamas are fake. The only way to get a real one is to do your due diligence, and research the hell out of ONE specific cigar, from ONE specific company find out all you can about it, and see if there is a dominican (or other) that is the same, but with different tobacco, that you can inspect at a local store. Then, once you know everything about that cigar, and you go to the bahamas, you have a 50% chance of getting one of the 10% of real cubans. I went down there a few weeks ago and wanted a cohiba reserve, I managed to get my hands on four that I thought were real (correct labels, correct look of the wrapper, correct everything) I bought 2 from each place. I smoked on from each group, the fake one I smoked a few puffs of and threw both away. The other one I smoked entirely, and saved it's brother. So I am now the proud owner of ONE (1) cuban cigar. Not worth the trouble, but if you really want one from Nassau, that's about the only way to do it.HAVANA TIMES – Think of Cuba and a few things pop to mind. Cuba has always been very proud of its famous ‘Habano’ cigars.įidel Castro, socialism, excellent rum and arguably the world’s best cigars. The authentic and highly desirable smokes use Cuba grown tobacco and are rolled by hand on the island in a process that involves over 500 manual tasks.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |