Luca Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Hi Guys, I recently bought a Behike 54 and a Behike 56 whilst on Holiday in Brisbane in January. As excited I was to buy these I had second thoughts after leaving the vendor. I was surprised that they had so many boxes of Behikes which seems quite odd considering a lot of the major/reputable shops in Australia that I know of - don't have or are having a lot of trouble sourcing due to the bad crops experienced in Cuba recently. Maybe I am just crazy and loosing my mind but I thought I'd show you some pics to see what you guys think. These Behikes both were manufactured in 2016. Points/Observations: - The Behike 54 looks like it wasn't cut 100% straight and as you can see in the pictures; it is on a bit of an angle. - The Behike 56 sports the old Cohiba Hologram (not the new "chequered" hologram) which is pretty odd noting this cigar is from 2016... (I believe the old hologram was discontinued in 2014?) - The Behike 54 has the new hologram but the words "Cohiba" and "Behike" are difficult to see. I compared this to my genuine BHK 52s (I bought a box recently) and the words look much clearer. Sorry for the huge photo dump. I hope the pictures come out ok. Any thoughts and insights is much apprecaited! Luca P.S - Please note that the picture of the foots of the cigars - The BHK 54 is on the left and the BHK 56 is on the right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyBoulevard Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 Quick question...and not asking name of source...since you were on vacation in Brisbane, where the host of this site and purveyor of cigars is located, why would you buy cigars from anywhere else in Brisbane? The only sure fire way to avoid fakes for me is buying here. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strikethebox7 Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 The bands and the wrapper look good to me. I have always relied on the old does it stand straight up on its own? Then review the wrapper then the band. Sometimes cuts can be angled or even bands can look off but if it is packed correctly and rolled the right way with the right wrapper it still should stand straight up. The differences in the holograms on the band could be that 54 was from an newer box. Otherwise they fit the criteria for correct banding. But again like Harvey said, the one sure way to avoid fakes is to find a source that you trust. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 6 hours ago, HarveyBoulevard said: Quick question...and not asking name of source...since you were on vacation in Brisbane, where the host of this site and purveyor of cigars is located, why would you buy cigars from anywhere else in Brisbane? The only sure fire way to avoid fakes for me is buying here. Hi Harvey, thanks for your reply. I did actually pay a visit to the FOH Premises too! I met Smitty who was a great guy to talk to. Unfortunately I could not purchase any singles at that time. Ended up buying some FOH hats though I did do some research and I did think that the vendor in Brisbane was "reputable". I was speaking to another vendor in the Gold Coast about the shortage of Behikes and he even said he was having a lot of trouble getting Behikes from PCC. I told him the place that I bought these 2 singles and he mentioned that he had no idea how or where that vendor sources their cigars from and had commented on issues with regards to the provenance of their cigars. Obviously he could be trash talking a competitor but looking at the cigars it started to get me thinking... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 2 hours ago, strikethebox7 said: The bands and the wrapper look good to me. I have always relied on the old does it stand straight up on its own? Then review the wrapper then the band. Sometimes cuts can be angled or even bands can look off but if it is packed correctly and rolled the right way with the right wrapper it still should stand straight up. The differences in the holograms on the band could be that 54 was from an newer box. Otherwise they fit the criteria for correct banding. But again like Harvey said, the one sure way to avoid fakes is to find a source that you trust. The pack looks and feels very much the same to my 52s. I guess I may have to just light one up and see! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyBoulevard Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 16 minutes ago, Luca said: Hi Harvey, thanks for your reply. I did actually pay a visit to the FOH Premises too! I met Smitty who was a great guy to talk to. Unfortunately I could not purchase any singles at that time. Ended up buying some FOH hats though I did do some research and I did think that the vendor in Brisbane was "reputable". I was speaking to another vendor in the Gold Coast about the shortage of Behikes and he even said he was having a lot of trouble getting Behikes from PCC. I told him the place that I bought these 2 singles and he mentioned that he had no idea how or where that vendor sources their cigars from and had commented on issues with regards to the provenance of their cigars. Obviously he could be trash talking a competitor but looking at the cigars it started to get me thinking... I am jealous sir. I'd love to make it to Czar Central one day. I apologize for the brevity of my first comment. I was on my phone and have fat fingers so I type a minimal amount and it may have come off harsh. Even with a shortage of Behike's, I'd guess there are lots of singles floating around at B&M's. I am far from an expert so I will let others comment on the authenticity of your sticks. I hope they are real and I hope they meet your expectations. Edit: I love your avatar 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 9 minutes ago, HarveyBoulevard said: I am jealous sir. I'd love to make it to Czar Central one day. I apologize for the brevity of my first comment. I was on my phone and have fat fingers so I type a minimal amount and it may have come off harsh. Even with a shortage of Behike's, I'd guess there are lots of singles floating around at B&M's. I am far from an expert so I will let others comment on the authenticity of your sticks. I hope they are real and I hope they meet your expectations. Edit: I love your avatar Well if you ever come to Aus I hope we can enjoy a cigar together! No need to apologise. I usually find myself doing the same when on my phone. I'll let you know when I decide to smoke the Behikes. Haha thanks Laurence Davis is a unique character and an industrial cigar smoker (smokes 12 - 14 cigars a day). Check him out on YouTube! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shunamaji Posted January 24, 2017 Share Posted January 24, 2017 The bands look good to me. Maybe someone with more experience will chime in soon.Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kinglingcheng Posted January 29, 2017 Share Posted January 29, 2017 (edited) Hey Luca , when u said u talk to some vendor on the coast,i assume u take to [moderated]. just couple points from me : 1) Cohiba Behike been the major disaster during later 2014, and discontinue in early 2015 til 2016 (especially BHK 54,56). correct me if I'm wrong, but i remember between Nov 2014- May 2016, the market get the major fail/shortage on BHK. i check different websites. All BHK was out of stocks 2) i didn't see any angles on that BHK 54. but yeah it's little bit different between the BHK i smoked year ago, and impurities with tabacoo Edited January 31, 2017 by Fuzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 Hi Guys, I smoked the BHK 54 last night. It wasn't very nice. Bitter and bland is the only way I can describe it. Did not smoke or taste like a Behike at all... What to do next? Smoke the BHK 56 and hope for the best? Or Cut it open? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luca Posted January 30, 2017 Author Share Posted January 30, 2017 On 30/01/2017 at 9:34 AM, kinglingcheng said: Hey Luca , when u said u talk to some vendor on the coast,i assume u take to [moderated]. just couple points from me : 1) Cohiba Behike been the major disaster during later 2014, and discontinue in early 2015 til 2016 (especially BHK 54,56). correct me if I'm wrong, but i remember between Nov 2014- May 2016, the market get the major fail/shortage on BHK. i check different websites. All BHK was out of stocks 2) i didn't see any angles on that BHK 54. but yeah it's little bit different between the BHK i smoked year ago, and impurities with tabacoo Hey kinglingcheng, Thanks for commenting. Just letting you know that we are not allowed to name other vendors on the forum. PM's are preferred if you need to mention certain vendors names. Cheers, Luca Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb360 Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Even with shortages a lot of retailers had singles available just complete boxes where harder to find but If you new the guys at the store they alway had a few boxes available at any given time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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