Here's a reprint of an interesting article:
Smoking Gun Found for Fake Cigars
Canada's chemists can now spot a counterfeit cigar.
30 March 2001, TOM CLARKE, © Nature News Service / Macmillan Magazines Ltd 2001
Only a genuine Cuban cigar passes the test.
A costly trade in counterfeit Cuban cigars may be easier to spot thanks to research by scientists at Canada's customs agency. The test looks for a characteristic chemical signature unique to tobacco leaves grown, processed and made into cigars in Cuba.
It isn't just cigar connoisseurs who care whether what's between their teeth is an authentic Cuban or a cheap rip-off from elsewhere. Governments, especially those bordering the United States (where the sale of Cuban cigars is banned) are becoming increasingly concerned that their tobacco tax revenues are going up in smoke.
To aid customs officials in their efforts to prosecute smugglers of suspect Cuban cigars, Lay-Keow Ng a research scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and colleagues use a technique called principle component analysis.
"Tobacco contains a very, very, complex mixture of chemicals," Ng explains. All cigars are made from leaves of the same tobacco plant species, but the levels of various chemicals, especially certain organic acids, vary greatly depending on where the plant was grown and how the harvested tobacco was cured before being made into cigars.
Ng's team have identified eight organic acids that occur in a characteristic ratio in Cuban cigars. Acid proportions in cigars from elsewhere do not reflect the Cuban signature.
Although many phoney Cuban cigars can be identified based on their external appearance and packaging says Ng, "the more scientific information you have the more easily evidence will be accepted in court".
Simon Chase, a Cuban cigar aficionado and marketing director for Hunters and Frankau, Briatin's sole importer of Cuban cigars agrees. "Every little helps," he says, "because this is a huge problem for the courts."
But, say the cigar experts, the method for spotting dodgy Cubans won't bring all counterfeiters to justice because many fake cigars are made with tobacco illegally exported from Cuba, assembled cheaply elsewhere and labelled as the most expensive Cuban brands.
"The test could well be positive," warns Tom Assheton proprietor of London's TOMTOM Cigars, but it doesn't tell you if it is in fact a Montecristo [a premier cigar brand] or not."
References
Ng, L-K., Hupé, M., Vanier, M. & Moccia, D. Charactierization of cigar tobaccos by gas chromatographic/spectrometric analysis of non-volatile organic acids: Application to the authentication of Cuban cigars. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 49, 1132 - 1138 (2001).
Here's another article:
Heather Sokoloff, National Post. Canada, April 6, 2001
Scientists at Canada Customs have developed a chemical test to detect counterfeit Cuban cigars.
The test to looks for a unique chemical signature in tobacco leaves processed and grown in Cuba and tests tells scientists which cigars are fakes brought in by smugglers. Cuban cigars range from $200 for a box of 25, to $1,500 for rare brands.
The test also enables customs officials to find cigars disguised to bypass duty and taxes. Smugglers roll real Cuban tobacco into fake containers, and repackage them once they have crossed the border.
Last year 1,400 boxes of suspect cigars were seized and sent to a customs lab in Ottawa, where scientists spent days trying to determine their authenticity based on appearance and smell.
The test does the job faster and more accurately, said Lay-Keow Ng, a scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, who spent a year developing it.
"Tobacco is a dirty, complex mixture. Sometimes we test it and see that it's from Cuba, but made from scrap tobacco leaves," Ms. Ng said.
Ms. Ng isolates acids in the tobacco leaves with an instrument similar to one used to detect drugs in athletes' urine. She compares acid ratios in the suspect tobacco with acids in real Cuban leaves.
The customs scientists may be the first to use science to determine the authenticity of Cuban tobacco, said Ms. Ng. They are expecting interest from U.S. officials, where the sale of Cuban cigars is banned.
Cigar retailers say much of the smuggling is done by Canadian tourists travelling to Cuba.
and this from Theo Rudman's Cigar Magazine, Published: 28 April 2001.
CANADIAN CUSTOMS CLAIM TO ACCURATELY DETECT FAKE CUBAN CIGARS
Scientists at Canada Customs have perfected a chemical test to detect fake Cuban cigars, using an instrument to detect the acid ratios, similar to one sporting officials have been using for years to detect drugs in athletes' urine, according to Smoke magazine.
The test compares the acid ratios in the tobacco used in suspect cigars with the acids in authentic Cuban tobacco leaves and does the job faster and more accurately than attempting to determine authenticity by appearance and smell alone. The test looks for a chemical signature that comes only from tobacco leaves grown and processed in Cuba.
It is believed that Canada Customs might be the first government agency to use science to determine the authenticity of Cuban tobacco.
Apparently, Habanos SA, Cuba's global marketer and distributor for cigars, has been working with Canada Customs for about four years to stop the flow of counterfeit Cuban cigars from Havana to Montreal and Toronto. Canada Customs inspectors also trained in Havana with their Cuban counterparts to learn how Cuba's fake cigar industry operates.
However, according to, Wilfredo Rodríguez of Cuban Customs, many of the counterfeit cigars came from places outside Cuba, particularly Jamaica, Mexico and the USA.
Counterfeit Cuban cigars are a huge and increasing problem. It is estimates that, "80 to 90 percent of all Cuban cigars sold in Mexico, for example, are counterfeit. It is believed that organised crime in North America is presently involved in cigar counterfeiting as it is a good conduit for laundering money, as counterfeiting knows no boundaries. It has been discovered that some cocaine cartels had moved out of the coke business and into cigar counterfeiting.
Fake cigars in Cuba have, for some time been a huge problem, as unsuspecting tourists are offered big brands, notably Cohibas, at US$30 to US$75 a box. These cigars can often be sold at home for around $400 a box.
In 1999 about 22 000 boxes of fake cigars were confiscated by the police and customs in Cuba. In the
It has been speculated that the US authorities might be interested in this test as a means of identifying genuine Cuban cigars that are prohibited imports into the USA.
