I recently visited a factory. The pictures are not great because i was not allowed to bring a camera in so i tried snapping a few with the Black Berry. There were over 5,000 and counting Cigars there. They had people hand rolling and machine.
I've only been to two cigar factories in Cuba, and I fail to see any similarities. Is this a place they roll fakes? The "Limitada" in picture IMG00103 looks very odd as if it was rolled with two wrappers.
The Cohiba jars look so out of place in there, but I suspect someone will enjoy some really nicely packaged fake Cohibas eventually.
I've been to my share of factories in Cuba, too, and the photos do not remind me of a single one. 5,000 cigars...whoa! Say it ain't so!!! You realize, don't you, that some of the participants on this board have private stashes that exceed 5,000!
In Cuba, the cigars are rolled by the rollers, then bundled into wheels ("ruedas") of 50 (although a true rueda is 100, so they're actually half-wheels, or media rueda). The ruedas are tagged according to the code for the cigar that was rolled (rollers don't know specifically what they're rolling, only the vitola or size...certainly not the brand), then are collected and shelved in "escaparate" I believe it's called, which are cedar shelves in a large temperature controlled vault, where they sit for 30 or more days. From there, all of the cigars of the particular production are laid out on a table where they are color sorted and boxed.
From there, they are taken to a different place in the factory to get the bands (anillos). The people who do this task (anilleros) remove the cigars carefully from the box to preserve the order they were sorted, affix the bands, and then replace them in the boxes. From there, they get sealed, stamped and sent on their way...sometimes after sitting for a while.
In the picture, it looks like someone pulled the Kohiba from the shelf with the band already affixed, which just doesn't happen in Cuba. If you look closely, it appears as if all of the cigars laying in the shelves have the bands on them. Interesting anomaly. Another thing...the vacant floor space is something that does not exist in Cuban cigar factories...the floors are a mess with clutter and clippings and people and tables and equipment everywhere. There's way too much open space. And that barber shop pole finish? No way.
So, come on. What country OTHER than Cuba were you in? The glass topped escaparate compartments are a nice touch, too. Wonder if they got the idea on ebay.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER (not Ann)! VIVE CPD! Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go...(Oscar Wilde)
Posts: 10611 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
Originally posted by Ouch: I've only been to two cigar factories in Cuba, and I fail to see any similarities. Is this a place they roll fakes? The "Limitada" in picture IMG00103 looks very odd as if it was rolled with two wrappers.
The Cohiba jars look so out of place in there, but I suspect someone will enjoy some really nicely packaged fake Cohibas eventually.
Yea I agree with Ouch,
The 35 Anny was released in 2001 and only 500 were made. Nice barber pole cigars. Where was this place?
Cor: Steve, you have proven yourself to be a tremendous whack job.
I have never been to a cigar factory. Real or otherwise but I would expect it to be different than this. I will be curious to hear the response from Jeffy on its location. Where are you Jeffy?
Posts: 1997 | Location: Middle of California | Registered: November 07, 2007
I suspect this is a counterfeit cigar factory in Jamaica, as Jeffy has admitted in previous posts that he spends a lot of time there. And he enquired whether real Cuban cigars exist in Jammy land. I guess his photo essay pretty much answers that question.
For what it is worth, it is an interesting view of the seedy world of fake Cuban cigars. Nice investigative journalism work Jeffy. What's next, Bagdad or Kabul?
Cor: Steve, you have proven yourself to be a tremendous whack job.
This is obviously a fake plant. There wasent a "real" cuban in the whole place. It was in Jamaica the man whole owned it had his own cigar label. But he insitesd that Cohiba allowed him to produce his own..... lol Just thought it was something pretty cool. This is a fairly hidden plant because he diddent want to get taxed by the government... The best part was the security outside.... And the 5,000 is an estimate. He told me the number but i was semi preoccupied. If your intrested the man gave me a card with his website email me and i will send it to you. It was incredible to see.
couple years back, I stopped in Jamaica and bought a few local sticks.
lit one in the cigar lounge back on the cruise ship, and the hostess came over , asked me where I got them, and asked if she could keep the ring. She was going to go get some , as she thought they had a great aroma, and I thought they tasted pretty darn good at the time.
Well...yeah, you DO know. They are not authentic Cuban cigars. In fact, it's safe to say that there are NO authentic Cuban cigars in Jamaica or anywhere near any cruise ships (yes, there are exceptions, but this is a generalized rule of thumb for travelers who have little or no experience with the authentic product and who throw good money at what vendors purport to be authentic Cuban cigars).
The problem is not MERELY flavors and tastes. It's that people are getting ripped off. Repeatedly. And we keep these ripoffs in business. Then, some of those people come on this board and have questions about why their cigars are plugged; what's the big deal with Cuban cigars; and a variety of other questions. Then, we experts give them all the benefit of the doubt, suggesting the lowering of humidity, the use of power tools...it's absurd.
So...here you go. Pictures of the real, live thing that is the basis of the counterfeit cigar market. If you have widespread construction problems, here is where the cigars are from, and no adjustment of humidity or use of power tools is going to change things.
___________________ Santa Cabilla...patron saint of Quericæstan. VIVE COULTER (not Ann)! VIVE CPD! Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go...(Oscar Wilde)
Posts: 10611 | Location: Avenida de las Nalgas, Quericæstan | Registered: May 02, 2002
