Real? Fake? Can't be sure?

[LeafLegionWW]

[Eric05]

The tabacuba seal is correct, i dont see anything that would say fake. Without seeing the cigars

[LeafLegionWW]

missing green authenticity seal isn't a red flag at all?

[alloy]

Did you get them from a LCDH?

[NSXCIGAR]

Not enough info here, but I'll tell you this is not a cigar that would be faked in general. Cuaba is niche brand and rolling a fake figurado like the Distinguidos or Salomones would be unlikely. 

What's leading you to suspect these may not be legit?

[LeafLegionWW]

7 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Not enough info here, but I'll tell you this is not a cigar that would be faked in general. Cuaba is niche brand and rolling a fake figurado like the Distinguidos or Salomones would be unlikely. 

What's leading you to suspect these may not be legit?

missing green warranty seal sticker pretty much....

[LeafLegionWW]

47 minutes ago, alloy said:

Did you get them from a LCDH?

The person who wants to sell them to me says they did but who knows........ 

[CanuckSARTech]

Agreed that this all looks proper for Cuaba packaging.  In those pictures, nothing looks off.

Granted, there is the following:

• ONLY two pictures, and not overly zoom-in quality there.
• Just pictures of the tops of boxes - nothing around the perimeter, underneath / box codes, more pictures of the rest of the dressing labels, etc.
• Yes, just the Tabacuba internal / factory-to-factory seal, and obviously missing the Cuban warranty seal (screaming "grey-market" cigars right there, by being a back-door swipe, perhaps).
• NO pictures, at all, of any of the cigars - the packaging can be fake or legit, but the cigars can be either/or as well; one doesn't necessarily make the other one the same.

There's lots of discussions on here, over the years, about the pros / cons of trying to determine if something is real or fake or not, simply by a few limited pictures in a forum thread.  As to that, the general consensus is that someone with knowledge of the brand / cigar really needs to get them in his or her hands, and inspect in-person, feel and smell, etc.

But with all these limitations as described, nothing seems to scream "fake" per say, rather than grey-market / non-Habanos-legit.

That, and others have asked the OP about source / whether obtained at LCDH.  I don't see an answer on that yet (never mind, just updated).  So, it depends on facture / receipt providing proof (and in all honesty, that "proof" can be shady too perhaps).

[BrightonCorgi]

Do they have receipt or ledger entry on the CC from that transaction at LCDH?  Not saying in a way to diminish their profit, but show they are on the level...

If I were in the fake Habanos business, Cuaba would be near the bottom of the list of marcas I would fake.

[joeman]

Faking these is like counterfeiting 5 dollar bills.  I think you're pretty safe in assuming they are real.  Sure the missing seal is a red flag, but if figurados are inside and not robusto parejos, I think you're good to go.

[LeafLegionWW]

1 hour ago, CanuckSARTech said:

Agreed that this all looks proper for Cuaba packaging.  In those pictures, nothing looks off.

Granted, there is the following:

• ONLY two pictures, and not overly zoom-in quality there.
• Just pictures of the tops of boxes - nothing around the perimeter, underneath / box codes, more pictures of the rest of the dressing labels, etc.
• Yes, just the Tabacuba internal / factory-to-factory seal, and obviously missing the Cuban warranty seal (screaming "grey-market" cigars right there, by being a back-door swipe, perhaps).
• NO pictures, at all, of any of the cigars - the packaging can be fake or legit, but the cigars can be either/or as well; one doesn't necessarily make the other one the same.

There's lots of discussions on here, over the years, about the pros / cons of trying to determine if something is real or fake or not, simply by a few limited pictures in a forum thread.  As to that, the general consensus is that someone with knowledge of the brand / cigar really needs to get them in his or her hands, and inspect in-person, feel and smell, etc.

But with all these limitations as described, nothing seems to scream "fake" per say, rather than grey-market / non-Habanos-legit.

That, and others have asked the OP about source / whether obtained at LCDH.  I don't see an answer on that yet (never mind, just updated).  So, it depends on facture / receipt providing proof (and in all honesty, that "proof" can be shady too perhaps).

Excellent insight, im going to try and get pic's of the back of the boxes and tos it up here when i do.  If i decide to pull the trigger ill open the boxes before handing over the cash 

[LeafLegionWW]

1 hour ago, BrightonCorgi said:

Do they have receipt or ledger entry on the CC from that transaction at LCDH?  Not saying in a way to diminish their profit, but show they are on the level...

If I were in the fake Habanos business, Cuaba would be near the bottom of the list of marcas I would fake.

no other documentation avail.....

[LeafLegionWW]

13 minutes ago, joeman said:

Faking these is like counterfeiting 5 dollar bills.  I think you're pretty safe in assuming they are real.  Sure the missing seal is a red flag, but if figurados are inside and not robusto parejos, I think you're good to go.

Roger that! thanks

[GrouchoMarx]

Green seal.

[kalibratecuba]

Wonderful! I knew everyone would not question the authenticity of my fake Cuabas, simply because of the low demand for this brand.


The real question is why you are buying a cigar with a reputation for being habitually plugged?



Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

[garbandz]

these need to be frozen if you buy them..........

[canadianbeaver]

Where is this occurring? In a hotel on your bed?

Gee, you are from Toronto, like many of us, you like huntin'/fishin'/watches and Real Estate. But you have four boxes in bed.

Oh my goodness. And my name is funny.

CB

[LeafLegionWW]

1 hour ago, kalibratecuba said:

Wonderful! I knew everyone would not question the authenticity of my fake Cuabas, simply because of the low demand for this brand.


The real question is why you are buying a cigar with a reputation for being habitually plugged?



Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk
 

Prob because I horribly addicted to collecting, smoking cigars and continuously growing my collection. 

[LeafLegionWW]

1 hour ago, canadianbeaver said:

Where is this occurring? In a hotel on your bed?

Gee, you are from Toronto, like many of us, you like huntin'/fishin'/watches and Real Estate. But you have four boxes in bed.

Oh my goodness. And my name is funny.

CB

No idea where the pic was taken but it does look like it's on a bed

I don't know that 1 or more boxes in bed is ever a bad thing 

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, kalibratecuba said:

Wonderful! I knew everyone would not question the authenticity of my fake Cuabas, simply because of the low demand for this brand.

The vast majority (like 95%) of fakes are the global brands as they are the most recognized and consequently likely to be bought by a know-nothing. Cuaba is not a well-known brand worldwide at all and additionally its unique shape might turn the layman off straight away. Also, these vitolas--particularly the Distinguidos and Salomones--requires great skill to roll and would require a roller who would be far too busy rolling real cigars. The few NC figurados produced in the world are likely rolled without the use of the rolling machine which means only the top rollers would be rolling them and it's highly unlikely they'd be rolling fakes. Cuban rollers must achieve level 7 or 8 to roll them of which there are only a few hundred and they are very, very busy not to mention nearly half of them are travelling worldwide or rolling at the Cuban LCDHs. 

The bottom line is that you will almost never see a fake box of Cuabas, particularly the larger vitolas. I would challenge anyone to even give an example of ever seeing one. 

2 hours ago, kalibratecuba said:

The real question is why you are buying a cigar with a reputation for being habitually plugged?

I think in general Cuaba's construction has been far less of an issue in the last 5-7 years. In fact, the Distinguidos have been simply outstanding over the last 3 years. I've had several boxes including most recently a LGR JUN 17 that had absolutely perfect construction which is no small feat for a figurado. I'm picking up more boxes with no hesitation and would encourage others to do so. Can't speak to the Salomones but if the same rollers are making them there should be no worries.

[canadianbeaver]

I thought that was your room and you were traveling. That is why I made the fun.

Never mind! Lol

[Habana Mike]

1 hour ago, NSXCIGAR said:

 

The bottom line is that you will almost never see a fake box of Cuabas, particularly the larger vitolas. I would challenge anyone to even give an example of ever seeing one. 

I think in general Cuaba's construction has been far less of an issue in the last 5-7 years. In fact, the Distinguidos have been simply outstanding over the last 3 years. I've had several boxes including most recently a LGR JUN 17 that had absolutely perfect construction which is no small feat for a figurado. I'm picking up more boxes with no hesitation and would encourage others to do so. Can't speak to the Salomones but if the same rollers are making them there should be no worries.

I was in a cigar shop at the Port Lucaya marketplace several years back and they had Cuabas that were definitely not legit. They were also not figurados. They also all had the same serial number as many other boxes did as well. Packaging looked fairly well done however.

[NSXCIGAR]

24 minutes ago, Habana Mike said:

They were also not figurados.

Well, that would certainly be a tipoff! 

They were probably legit Cuaba boxes with non-Cuabas inside. So I would barely call these fake Cuabas. My point was more that good fakes, i.e. cigars that looked like Cuabas in Cuaba boxes would be very rare indeed. Sticking parejos in a Cuaba box is about as bad as the glass-top Cohiba. 

[LeafLegionWW]

14 hours ago, canadianbeaver said:

I thought that was your room and you were traveling. That is why I made the fun.

Never mind! Lol

All good!

[LeafLegionWW]

14 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

The vast majority (like 95%) of fakes are the global brands as they are the most recognized and consequently likely to be bought by a know-nothing. Cuaba is not a well-known brand worldwide at all and additionally its unique shape might turn the layman off straight away. Also, these vitolas--particularly the Distinguidos and Salomones--requires great skill to roll and would require a roller who would be far too busy rolling real cigars. The few NC figurados produced in the world are likely rolled without the use of the rolling machine which means only the top rollers would be rolling them and it's highly unlikely they'd be rolling fakes. Cuban rollers must achieve level 7 or 8 to roll them of which there are only a few hundred and they are very, very busy not to mention nearly half of them are travelling worldwide or rolling at the Cuban LCDHs. 

The bottom line is that you will almost never see a fake box of Cuabas, particularly the larger vitolas. I would challenge anyone to even give an example of ever seeing one. 

I think in general Cuaba's construction has been far less of an issue in the last 5-7 years. In fact, the Distinguidos have been simply outstanding over the last 3 years. I've had several boxes including most recently a LGR JUN 17 that had absolutely perfect construction which is no small feat for a figurado. I'm picking up more boxes with no hesitation and would encourage others to do so. Can't speak to the Salomones but if the same rollers are making them there should be no worries.

Much appreciated!!!