Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 In recent trips to Cuba, I got some Cohibas from different sources. I personally bought these SIGLO II in La Casa del Habano in the Meliá Cohiba hotel, so no doubt they are original. They cost $9.50 CUCs (1 CUC = 1 dollar) After 2 months, these Robustos were bought by my sister in La Casa del Tabaco in the Hotel Riviera (beside the Meliá Cohiba), she used a credit card to buy these along with some HDM and Bolivars; so legit. They cost $13.50 each one. I asked her to buy a couple of fakes, curiosity and would be fun to have a fake Cohiba. During her tour, the guide, after visiting one of the factories, once they were on the street, offered to my sister and her friends 4 Siglo III for only $20 CUC, only $5 each one, he said, the government gives them 25 cigars a month to help in their expenses (??). My sister keep only one. They look legit to me, but @ $5 each one? Finally, walking on the Habana Vieja (old town) my sister got this fake for free: So... what do you think about the Siglo III and others? Fake or not? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CigSid Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 They all look like fakes to me... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Presidente Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 So... what do you think about the Siglo III and others? Nicoli do you know the answer or are you sincerely inquiring. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Nicoli do you know the answer or are you sincerely inquiring. I am sincerely asking, Do you think La Casa del Habano in the Meliá Cohiba Hotel is selling fakes? I personally picked up 5 Siglo II from a box inside the store. I am a photographer, by the way, when I returned home, I made some pro shots to sell on stock photo sites, here are some of my cigar pics: Pic 1 Pic 2 H Upman Factory (blue building) Here is a photo I made inside of LCDH, the Cohibas are in the lower right corner, a crop of this follows. So? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CigSid Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Since you are inquiring (I actually thought it was a contest), I looked again closely. IMO, the top picture looks semi legit, except for the bands, the rest do not... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Since you are inquiring (I actually thought it was a contest), I looked again closely. IMO, the top picture looks legit, the rest do not... On the invoice of La Casa del Tabaco the saleswoman wrote (something like this): 2 Hoyos..., 2 Bolivar... 2 Robustos, she did not write 2 Cohibas Robustos, only 2 Robustos.. so there it is... I guess we must be more careful buying Cohibas. Fortunately, Cohibas are not my preferred Cigar. If anyone has more comments about this I will apreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallclub Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Damn, I thought I went through a tear in the space-time continuum that had dropped me in the middle of CA forum! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Damn, I thought I went through a tear in the space-time continuum that had dropped me in the middle of CA forum! ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverdst Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 All of them look fake to me. After picking them in Melia did you keep your eyes on them the whole time? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverdst Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Damn, I thought I went through a tear in the space-time continuum that had dropped me in the middle of CA forum! Lol. True. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MIKA27 Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 For me the bottom picture is surely a fake. The other's I haven't a clue as I only purchase from well known sources. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LLC Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 My only comment is you need to be careful buying singles in Havana, even from legit stores. I tend to buy customs or 3/5 packs for cigars I plan to smoke while there. Or if your with a group buy a box and split them up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xtcat9k Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 They all look fake to me. Cutoff or missing squares, very poor embossing, and missing holograms. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
busdriver Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 My only comment is you need to be careful buying singles in Havana, even from legit stores. I tend to buy customs or 3/5 packs for cigars I plan to smoke while there. Or if your with a group buy a box and split them up. I agree with this. I have seen and purchased singles being sold in legit shops that are fakes. The boxes seem to be safe but singles out of open boxes are not. They may be good but i consider them to be "customs" and not worth spending cohiba prices on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 They all look fake to me. Cutoff or missing squares, very poor embossing, and missing holograms. Could be, however, I already tried 2 of them and no complains, in my humi, the Cohibas developed plume, while the other cubans HDM, Bolivar and R&J do not. I have not tried the tobustos yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordAnubis Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Never been to havana, but i would assume the same thing happens there that happens to every single other exporting country of products. you well your highest quality products overseas to the markets you get the most money from. The lower quality products you sell in country. This happens for coffee as well quite regularly. There is quality control issues with any hand made product. The cigars in question are terribly ugly. However if they are from a reliable source then don't bother questioning their legitimacy. Accept it as "manufacturing variances". It would be very poor form to accuse a business about selling fakes unless there was clear evidence to support it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stogieluver Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 IMHO, all fake. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
santela Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 The CoRo looks fake as hell. The Siglo3 actually looks the most legit to me. The Siglo2 doesn't scream fake but seems a little off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smallclub Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 in my humi, the Cohibas developed plume, A young cigar doesn't develop plume. What you're seing is mold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Never been to havana, but i would assume the same thing happens there that happens to every single other exporting country of products. you well your highest quality products overseas to the markets you get the most money from. The lower quality products you sell in country. This happens for coffee as well quite regularly. There is quality control issues with any hand made product. The cigars in question are terribly ugly. However if they are from a reliable source then don't bother questioning their legitimacy. Accept it as "manufacturing variances". It would be very poor form to accuse a business about selling fakes unless there was clear evidence to support it. Agree, but remember that they ugly in these pictures because the way they were shot, if you look at my stock photos, the cohibas look very nice, this is because the light is soft, depth of field is nice and they look tasty. Any cigar shot with bad light conditions will look ugly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverdst Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 It would be very poor form to accuse a business about selling fakes unless there was clear evidence to support it. Mus, I partially agree with you. Based upon the pics they look fake to me. There is no other way besides looking at them to say they are fake or not. If we could smoke them we would have a solid opinion but we cant, so all we can do is to jump on conclusions like we have already done many times here. And - with all respect, Nicoli - we really even dont know if they were really bought there. Again, they look fake but I cant say it for sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 A young cigar doesn't develop plume. What you're seing is mold. I am not an expert but I have read that plume is white and mold is blue/green and it will not brush off as easily as the dust-like plume, so what I see is plume. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverdst Posted October 20, 2015 Share Posted October 20, 2015 Agree, but remember that they ugly in these pictures because the way they were shot, if you look at my stock photos, the cohibas look very nice, this is because the light is soft, depth of field is nice and they look tasty. Any cigar shot with bad light conditions will look ugly. Nicoli, the first thing I look at is the band; second, the cigar itself. All bands look bad to me. As I don't have the cigars on my hand I cannot say for sure about them but do not look good as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicoli Posted October 20, 2015 Author Share Posted October 20, 2015 Mus, I partially agree with you. Based upon the pics they look fake to me. There is no other way besides looking at them to say they are fake or not. If we could smoke them we would have a solid opinion but we cant, so all we can do is to jump on conclusions like we have already done many times here. And - with all respect, Nicoli - we really even dont know if they were really bought there. Again, they look fake but I cant say it for sure. That is why I posted the pictures I shot, If you look at my photo portfolio you will see I was in Cuba in August. I see no reason to start this post but to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oliverdst Posted October 21, 2015 Share Posted October 21, 2015 That is why I posted the pictures I shot, If you look at my photo portfolio you will see I was in Cuba in August. I see no reason to start this post but to learn. Welcome aboard! We ALL here were/are begginers one day. Keep on posting, do not lose contact with the forum and in few months you will have 90% of the question you have nowadays answered. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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