Traceability and Guarantee
How to know what is in the box
Cuban cigars are among the most counterfeited products in the world. This page explains how a genuine box identifies itself, how you can check yours in about a minute, and the conditions in which we keep our own stock.
The Cuban warranty seal
Since 2009, every box of Cuban cigars destined for export leaves the island under the Sello de Garantía Nacional de Procedencia — the green “Origin National Warranty Seal for Cigars and Cut Tobacco”, issued under Cuban law and pasted across the opening of the box.
It is meant to tear apart the moment the box is opened. An intact seal is therefore the single most useful thing to look at: it tells you the box has not been opened since it left Cuba, and it carries the code that lets you check the box against the official register.
Guilloche printing
The banknote-style engraving of the Cuban coat of arms and the tobacco field is very hard to reproduce cleanly. Flat, fuzzy or pixelated printing is a warning sign.
Holographic band
A repeating holographic strip runs down the right-hand edge of the seal and changes as you tilt it in the light.
Serial number and barcode
Printed vertically down the left-hand edge of the seal, next to the perforated edge.
Unique verification code
Every seal carries its own code, registered before the box leaves Cuba. This is the code you enter to verify the box.
Check your box in three steps
Find the code
It is printed on the warranty seal itself, next to the barcode. Have the actual box in front of you — never rely on a photograph someone else has sent you.
Open the official service
Habanos S.A. operates a free, public verification page. It is the only source we point our customers to, and it is entirely independent of us.
Enter it and read the answer
The service tells you whether that code corresponds to a genuine registered box. If it returns nothing, or something that does not match the box in your hands, stop — and go back to whoever sold it to you.
Other marks worth knowing
Underside stamps
A genuine export box normally carries, burned or stamped into the underside, “Hecho en Cuba” and — for hand-rolled premium Habanos — “Totalmente a mano” (entirely by hand). Machine-made products are marked differently.
Factory and date codes
Also on the underside: a short letter code identifying the factory, and a code giving the month and year in which the box was filled. This is what collectors mean when they talk about a “box code”.
Habanos S.A. mark
Modern export boxes carry the Habanos S.A. mark burned into the wood on the underside of the box.
The bands
Current Habanos bands use embossing, very fine printing and, on many brands, a holographic element. A soft, flat or blurred band deserves a second look.
What happens before a box is listed here
- Lawful channels. Our stock is sourced through authorised, lawful retail channels in Spain, within the European Union.
- Checked on arrival. Every box is examined when it reaches us: seal intact and legible, printing sharp, box code and factory code recorded.
- Sealed until sold. Boxes stay sealed in our humidified storage until they leave for a customer.
- Ask before you order. If you would like to see the code of the exact box we will send you, ask us first and we will photograph it for you.
The conditions we store in
Traceability is only half the story. A box with a perfect seal that has spent six months in a hot warehouse is still a disappointment. These are the conditions our stock is held in.
Why the grey market is a poor bargain
Unknown history
A suspiciously cheap box has usually travelled a long way through hands nobody can name, and has often been stored in whatever conditions happened to be convenient.
The tobacco beetle
Lasioderma serricorne survives in badly kept tobacco. A single infested box can work its way through an entire humidor.
No controls
Goods moved outside official channels skip the phytosanitary checks that exporting countries require.
No recourse
When a box turns out to be wrong, there is usually nobody left to go back to.
A cigar is not better because you paid more for it. But a fair price pays the people who rolled it, the people who carried it and the people who kept it properly until it reached you.
Our guarantee
- Sealed until you open it. Boxes leave us with the Cuban warranty seal intact. Verify the code before you break it.
- Failed verification, full refund. If a sealed box we sent you does not verify on the official service, return it unopened and we will refund it in full, return shipping included.
- Damage and condition. Report transit damage, or a box that arrives in poor condition, as set out in our Refund & Return Policy, and we will resolve it.
- Ask us anything. We would rather answer ten questions than sell one box you have doubts about. Write to us and a human will answer.
Sales are restricted to adults of legal smoking age. We do not ship products of Cuban origin to the United States — please read our Cuban Products & Sanctions Compliance Notice before ordering.