Our first interview has been made with an expert in Cuban cigars,
a merchant specialised in the Middle East and the Gulf market,
Mr. Georges Mouawad.

      Cigars-of-Cuba.com : What do you think about the quality
of Cuban cigars produced in 1997 ? And what do you foresee for 1998 ?

      Georges Mouawad : Globally, since 4 or 5 years, quality control
is not being very well applied. You can have a great difference
between two boxes of the same brand and size, both authentic
and both made in Cuba. You know that different factories
may produce the same cigar. There is a lot of demand especially
for great and legendary cigars such as Romeo Y Julieta Churchill *,
Hoyo Double Corona and Churchill, Punch Double Corona,
Partagas  8-9-8,  etc.  and  the  capacity  of  producing  more
with a very high quality is limited, therefore to increase production,
they are not always requiring the same level of excellence
and  they  are  producing  two  or  more  level  of  quality
at different factories.

      You can read in some magazines that 1998 will be a good year,
and I hope that it will be, but I'm not so optimistic.

      Cigars-of-Cuba.com : For our members, quality is an obsession,
so can you give them a piece of advice to avoid bad quality and counterfeit boxes ?

      Georges Mouawad : First of all, you must know that there are different quality levels even for authentic boxes. So a medium quality level doesn't necessarily mean that the box is counterfeit.
You must also know that there are two kind of counterfeit boxes :
          - some rollers make cigars at their home, with Cuban tobacco (sometimes  the  same  used  at  their  factory);  these  cigars are often less filled and they are easy to recognize.
          - other boxes are made with different kinds
of tobacco (Cuban and non-Cuban); these cigars are usually
very "hard on touch", and it is impossible to take a puff.

      A lot of details must be considered to avoid counterfeit boxes.
You also need some experience.
So the best way is to buy your cigars at renowned cigar shops
or from Habanos official retailers around the world, even if prices
are usually slightly higher.

* In the Middle East, the Romeo Y Julieta is a legend, for many people it is THE cigar.
Many smokers don't choose anything else. It is very renowned and you can find it everywhere (restaurants, hotels, pubs, nightclubs, supermarkets and even some mini-markets). But beware, not all boxes are first choice !