Well I give you a lot of credit for accepting our advice about the cigar being fake. A lot of people are too proud to admit they smoked or have a fake when people here bring it to their attention, so good for you wanting to seek out the truth rather than blindly believing.
Regarding that Siglo with the new band... if that came from the same guy that gave you the barber pole, that's all you should need to know. That band is brand new and I have yet to see anyone with those yet besides being on the Piramides Extra. But hey, someone has to be the first person getting the new bands. But do you really think it's from a guy that just pawned off a Cohiba barber pole as real?
And regarding your comment about cuban farmers that aren't connected to the big brands shipping off tobacco. That story is as bad as your barber pole fake. Firstly, cuban farmers have absolutely no control of what happens to their tobacco once it's grown and most definitely they are not connected with any brands. They have no idea what cigars their tobacco goes into. The best and most well-known farm (Robaina) in Cuba doesn't even know where their tobacco goes. Because of their fame and connections they have an idea, but they do not know for sure. Alejandro Robaina is the only farmer to ever have a cuban cigar named after him, but their tobacco probably doesn't even go in the Vegas Robaina cigars. The government literally comes in and takes their tobacco and that's the last the farmer sees and knows of it.
And cuban people cannot simply mail tobacco overseas... they can't simply go to the post office and mail off whatever they want. The Gov't controls EVERYTHING. It's definitely possible that there can be some rogue farmers who smuggle a bit of tobacco out, but that would be crazy to do so. The farmer has a certain "quota" of tobacco to grow and if they start smuggling a bunch out, there would be questions to answer about low harvest. What do you think would happen to someone that gets caught at the airport leaving Cuba with loose leaf tobacco in their bags? I can tell you it wouldn't be good. It's probably been tried/done, but I can't imagine that working out too well in the long run.
From everyone I have met related to cuban farms/tobacco, I have heard one story about anything tobacco related getting smuggled out. That was cuban tobacco seeds that can fit inside a pop bottle cap. It was very hush hush and the farmer in cuba risked a lot to get this out.
