Hey peoples

So this weekend I visited my parents (in beautiful Collingwood, ON) and entered a golf tourney/fundraiser for the local high school football team. It was tons of fun, I spent time with a lot of freinds I haven't seen in a long time and smoked some beautiful cigars.

One thing I noticed was a HUGE number of folks smoking cigars (which was odd because 2 years ago my Dad and I were given 'looks' each time we took something else out of the travel-dor).

Anyways, I know up here (in Ontario) it seems like everyone I know (and their uncle) has been to Cuba in the last year. It's just becoming really popular, both for young (and poor) people and older folks looking for a great vacation in an interesting country. Everyone seemed to have also brought back 'Cubans' and had taken to smoking them as vigorously as my Dad and I had at previous tournaments.

I would have been surprised if someone showed me a band that wasn't Cohiba or Montecristo, but it wasn't until I started talking to a few other people that I realized, almost everyone bought their cigars from sources other than government shops (mostly off the street, one way or another).

A few even had their boxes with them.

I have two questions for the board:

What is the FIRST thing you look at when analyzing a potential fake (Cohibas especially). Obvious fakes aside (glass top box, dog poo in a banana leaf, etc.)

AND with the exception of when someone specifically asks if their smokes are real: Do you tell them if they are fake if and when you spot them?