If you don’t buy at Duty Free, there is a cigar store on calle 7; exit Hotel Presidente, turn left, walk to corner, turn right across Avenida Central and walk most of a block uphill. On your right will be a tobacco shop. I stopped by there last month and saw some very nice authentic Habanos. A suggestion from their inventory would be the H. Upmann Mag 46 or the Partagas Serie D #4.
Counterfeit Cuban cigars are abundant in San Jose. To give you an example, here is a web site that sells everything you need to dress up the dog-turd and pass it off as a Habano.
http://www.justfakes.com/ . To help understand and help identify fake Cubans, take a look at
http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/count ... index.html. The information is a little dated about the packaging, bands, boxes and such. But, scroll down to the part about looking at the cigar cap. They explain how to inspect cap of each cigar. All Havana parejos (straight sided/ traditional cigars) have a triple seam that is very visible. You can actually see three fine lines from the flagging of the cap as it was wrapped around the head of the cigar. If you do not see this…..you are looking at a fake. If it does have this….. you still may be looking at a fake. But, most likely if it has a triple seam, it is authentic. Cuban Torpedo or “figurados†(Monte Cristo #2 etc.) do not have a triple seam.
The one place without a doubt has the real deal is at the only Licensed (LCDH) Cuban Retailer in San Jose -
http://www.habanoscr.net/.