Rare Cubans

[Gursey]

Anyone have any idea about the price range this guy is talking about when he states "making an offer?"

[LiLo]

Anyone have any idea about the price range this guy is talking about when he states "making an offer?"

i think around $6000- $7000 will get you that box

[Van55]

Someone posted a link to the same video at cA on-line. The post brought out the claim that the after-market Behikes are fakes. There was enough stir on the thread that Adam, the General Manager of HH joined the forum and posted in defense of the shop's bona fides.

I wouldn't have expected him to post that the cigars are, indeed, counterfeit if they are.

He also says that shop's website, which is currently listing Cuban cigars but not offering them for sale, is only for publicity and will not be used to sell Cuban cigars on-line.

[stargazer14]

He also says that shop's website, which is currently listing Cuban cigars but not offering them for sale, is only for publicity and will not be used to sell Cuban cigars on-line.

Yeah, mine aren't for sale either but the difference is I'd be more than happy to share some with ya!

[cigarros]

In this video on 06:40 when he tells about gifts for russian goverment I had doubts. I specially asked President of Moscow Cigar Club about this cigars Palmas Real. He has some friends in goverments who smoke cigars. If cigars have been produced in 2008 the President of Moscow Cigar Club would know about their existence. But he did not see this cigars though as I know he happens near the Kremlin

I not assured but it seems like a bluff))

[Gursey]

There is no way (IMO) that 6-7 grand would even come close. I think the original Cohibas are in the 20-40k range, aren't they? Am I missing something? I was thinking at least over 40k for the diplomatic ones? Am I way off?

[Gursey]

I think my worst nightmare would be to walk in, offer him a price, and have him immediately say "I'll take it!". LOL

[shortsqueeze]

i believe they are unique and were made for people involved in the production of the behikes like adam states in the video.

Doesn't this sound vaguely familiar? My cousin works in the Partagas factory ... These are Cohiba Salomones ... These are Davidoff blended custom rolls, etc., etc., etc. I will gladly eat my words if these turn out to be real, but I just don't believe it.

The guy uses too much hyperbole as well.

[LiLo]

There is no way (IMO) that 6-7 grand would even come close. I think the original Cohibas are in the 20-40k range, aren't they? Am I missing something? I was thinking at least over 40k for the diplomatic ones? Am I way off?

your paying for that special Elei bleu humidor made out of ivory and animal bone. That is worth a lot of the price.

[LiLo]

Doesn't this sound vaguely familiar? My cousin works in the Partagas factory ... These are Cohiba Salomones ... These are Davidoff blended custom rolls, etc., etc., etc. I will gladly eat my words if these turn out to be real, but I just don't believe it.

The guy uses too much hyperbole as well.

Haha believe me i am skeptical myself but i know the store and i know that adam doesn't peddle fakes. I just can't believe that he would do something like this knowingly.

[Colt45]

I'd have to think, that in Cuba, anything is available at a price.

In this video on 06:40 when he tells about gifts for russian goverment I had doubts. I specially asked President of Moscow Cigar Club about this cigars Palmas Real. He has some friends in goverments who smoke cigars. If cigars have been produced in 2008 the President of Moscow Cigar Club would know about their existence. But he did not see this cigars though as I know he happens near the Kremlin

I not assured but it seems like a bluff))

Again (especially concerning the Russian diplomatic humidor), I have to wonder how these things came to private collectors. The recipient gave them

away or sold them? They were stolen from the recipients? "Extras" (on top of extras) made? They're simply not what they're purported to be?

I have no stake, but am simply curious.

[android]

There is no way (IMO) that 6-7 grand would even come close. I think the original Cohibas are in the 20-40k range, aren't they? Am I missing something? I was thinking at least over 40k for the diplomatic ones? Am I way off?

I think I've seen some reported go for over 60K!!!

[Van55]

Very interesting.

This guy Adam has posted at cA that they had to roll more then 4000 of the original Behikes in order to make sure that they had 4000 cigars with sufficiently uniformly coloured wrappers to pack in 1000 humidors. Since the extra 1000 cigars were not to be put in the Elie Bleu humidors and individually numbered by hand, they decided to machine-number the bands, package the cigars in the leather and wood boxes and give them away to those involved in production.

So why is it, I ask myself, that the bands had to be individually numbered at all -- especially with Cuba being cash-strapped.

Back in the day there was a guy who went by the name of VitaSea. He signed up at CigarWise and elsewhere, peddling "genuine" Cuban cigars out of his home in Nebraska. We wanted to run him off, because it was alleged that some or all of his product was counterfeit. He offered to send me a few cigars to prove his legitimacy. Guess what one of the cigars was? A Cohiba Behike packaged in an individual leather tubo. Questioned, he insisted that more than 4000 Behikes were made and this was one of many rejected at the factory for inclusion in the sold humidors.

I'm not saying that Adam of HH is lying. I am pretty sure he is relaying what he has been told. But I'm not buying what he has been told.

[Gursey]

That is kind of what I was thinking. he might even laugh at that price. I guess nothing would surprise me. Actaully, 6-7 grand would surpirse me. $100,000 would not!

[Wil]

Just been reading up on this over at the CA forums. Makes me appreciate this place even more!

[mrcoin]

Very interesting.

This guy Adam has posted at cA that they had to roll more then 4000 of the original Behikes in order to make sure that they had 4000 cigars with sufficiently uniformly coloured wrappers to pack in 1000 humidors. Since the extra 1000 cigars were not to be put in the Elie Bleu humidors and individually numbered by hand, they decided to machine-number the bands, package the cigars in the leather and wood boxes and give them away to those involved in production.

So why is it, I ask myself, that the bands had to be individually numbered at all -- especially with Cuba being cash-strapped.

Back in the day there was a guy who went by the name of VitaSea. He signed up at CigarWise and elsewhere, peddling "genuine" Cuban cigars out of his home in Nebraska. We wanted to run him off, because it was alleged that some or all of his product was counterfeit. He offered to send me a few cigars to prove his legitimacy. Guess what one of the cigars was? A Cohiba Behike packaged in an individual leather tubo. Questioned, he insisted that more than 4000 Behikes were made and this was one of many rejected at the factory for inclusion in the sold humidors.

I'm not saying that Adam of HH is lying. I am pretty sure he is relaying what he has been told. But I'm not buying what he has been told.

You're probably right Van. He is relaying the story as it was "sold" to him. Key word there being story.

I can't wait to see how many duplicates of the #4001->5000 eventually turn up.

It's all about the money folks.

[Rogers72]

Both the diplomatic cigars and the Behikes in that video may very well be "real" but there is no way to be 100% sure of their provenance and Rob Ayala ain't the one selling them so I wouldn't pay more than $100/box for either. That's right...$100.

[Gursey]

Anything over $1000 is a risk IMO. There is just enough incentive at that price to make quality counterfeits. Imagine how well conterfeits could be made over 20K! I could make counterfeit diplomatic cigars taken from Clinton's desk still wet from monika lewenski for that much!

[Habanos2000]

I think I've seen some reported go for over 60K!!!

and I've been complaining about the price of the GR's....

[Van55]

I hope everyone here is keeping in mind the facts here.

1000 Elie Bleu humidors, each containing 40 Behike cigars with hand-written numbered bands were released at an asking price of about $18,000.00 per humidor. These were to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Cohiba brand.

I have no idea what the market price would be for a full or partial humidor of these would be today. Surely significant part of the value attached to these were the gorgeous humidors themselves.

What we have on the video and posts at cA is the claim that Cubatabaco (without sanction by Habanos s.a.) packaged another 1000 Behike cigars bearing printed bands numbered from 4001 to 5000 in wooden and leather boxes and donated them to 25 individuals involved in the production of the original Behikes. Whether this is true or not is at issue. Certainly no one that I know who knows anything about Cuba and Cuban cigars would pay tens of thousands of dollars for these cigars whose legitimacy and provenance are unknown.

Finally, it should be remembered that Habanos s.a. is said to be planning a regular production release of Cohiba Behikes in the near future.

[Vetteman]

The CA thread was very interesting. I was somewhat amused by the many "experts" who viewed the video & promptly declared everything fake. I found it even more amusing that many of them were from the USA. Just my opinion.

[ChanceSchmerr]

I highly doubt we will ever get confirmation from Habanos S.A. on the legitimacy of these cigars, so we'll never truely know, and here's why IMHO

It wouldn't make sense for Habanos S.A. to confirm the production of these additional 1000 behikes - they would tarnish the brand and upset those who shelled out the big bucks for the 4000 originals. Furthermore, it would confirm to a broad audience that there is many more cigars being produced than what we're generally told - and I think the'd rather keep that aspect of cigar production on the DL. It would also encourage even more counterfeiting, the thorn in Habanos' side already.

On the flip side, It also wouldn't make sense for them to deny publically the production of these 1000 behikes - for one thing, the people who actually own them (if they ARE legit) would be incensed that their gift for producing the cigar was not legit. Also, these cigars will then certainly be sold anyway, but now re-banded to appear as part of the 4000, fueling the counterfeit sales again.

Either way, Habanos S.A. has nothing to gain from confirming or denying the production of these 1000 additional Behikes. I definitely believe they will never publically say a word about them, so we'll never really know.

[Buch0]

Yer I agree with ChanceSchmerr, getting simple questions answered by Habanos S.A is hard enough, let alone something of this calibre.

It would still be interesting to see what some of the locals views on this were, hopefully Rob gets the chance to speak to a few people over there in regards to this matter.

[Deemancpa]

The store is Havana Humidor and it is located in the mall lobby of the Atlantis resort in Nassau, Bahamas. Adam is one of the sweetest guys I've ever met. Last New Year's Eve, we smoke all night long -- about 7 cigars. He has the most extensive collection of I've seen. Every EL ever made. The prices are ridiculous due to the Caribbean import taxes, but that's beyond Adam's control.

Tom is correct. Since I lived in Nassau, I met Adam a few years ago, he is real nice guy. I believe the shop use to be under the John Bull name a while back. Adam told me that his uncle owns it now.

I don't remember Adam being annoying at all in person.

Dee

[Colt45]

So many ways to look at it, and implications....... to me, if what the merchant said is true and these are "overruns", by banding and boxing them

as shown, cubatabaco is in essence bootlegging their own product.