WINNER ANNOUNCED!! Potential Fakes in Cuba : your stories

[nKostyan]

great discussion... but there are no photos ‍

[shippers]

Got caught out on a few fake Cohibas when visited - thankfully not many. Luckily didn't get any issues at the airport. I did see some Cohiba Talismans in the Habana Libre casa but they were only available in singles and I decided not to chance it. Glad I didn't now...

[mbflash80]

56 minutes ago, nino said:

 

 

 

I am no gourmet - just like decent, good food.
My first culinary experiences in Cuba were terrible as I was eating in Hotels and state restaurants. Miserable food.

Then I discovered the recently allowed Paladares - private restaurants. Best eating experiences, never looked back.

If you do some research and look out for private restaurants you will have good to memorable meals.

I look forward to eating in Havana now ....

 

We had some decent to good meals for sure...el Aljibe was good chicken...starbien was decent enough...and actually had a really tasty pork dish near the port but the restaurant name escapes me...

I think I was traumatized by some nasty shrimp (no need to de-vein at this place)  and chicken (could have not been chicken if you know what I mean) at the restaurant next to the LCDH at 5th and 16th...one of the worst meals in my life...maybe the absolute worst...that combined with not having the type of breakfast I am accustomed to and the absence of easily accessible decent food led me to be miserable...but the cigars and beers made up for it for the most part.

[havanaclub]

Correct.

Yeah... figured it was more of a HAV airport thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Capt. Corona]

Was handed this as a gesture of appreciation by a legit shop owner in Havana after making a purchase at his place.

Was told later it is a fake. It matches everything I believe to be in a Sig VI.  [burning it will be the final tell tale]

My feeling is, if it is a fake, we are all in for some big trouble. ?

But I am by no means any type of a cigar expert.

[Nino]

2 hours ago, mbflash80 said:

We had some decent to good meals for sure...el Aljibe was good chicken...starbien was decent enough...and actually had a really tasty pork dish near the port but the restaurant name escapes me...

 

El Aljibe is always good despite being a state run place. 
Starbien was closed 2017 - it was excellent but corruption made it a political scandal.

You have a PM with a list of the best Paladares in HAV for your next trip.

[bpm32]

6 hours ago, nino said:

My problem with the bribery at the airport concerns air safety/security. If you can bribe an airport official to let pass something, who guarantees the next thing he lets pass is not a danger ...

You are quite right, of course. Man, I wonder how much that bribe is? 

[helix]

3 hours ago, Capt. Corona said:

Was handed this as a gesture of appreciation by a legit shop owner in Havana after making a purchase at his place.

Was told later it is a fake. It matches everything I believe to be in a Sig VI.  [burning it will be the final tell tale]

My feeling is, if it is a fake, we are all in for some big trouble. ?

But I am by no means any type of a cigar expert.

looks legit.

[Fugu]

2 hours ago, helix said:

looks legit.

Close but no (legit) cigar

[Corylax18]

On 9/12/2019 at 5:02 PM, Monterey said:

Huh?  So you are okay with government officials extorting money.  Every time I go down I bring a lot of donations and make sure that the people get them.  I visit independent places and make sure hard working people get money they need.  There is no justification for corrupt agents shaking down people in the bathroom stall.  Your response amazes me.

If these people where spending the money on Mercedes and Rolex I would agree with you 100%. But they aren't. This money puts food on the table, clothes on their children's backs, etc. As others mentioned, this type of activity is the rule, not the exception, across all facets of Cuban society. Its a matter of survival, not luxury. 90% (or more) of government employees didn't all decide to start stealing because they wanted to, they have to. Everybody has their hussle, fake cigars, shakedowns at the airport, stolen fuel for your taxi, you name it. Most of the Cuban of the economy happens "off the books."

Anger with the system is understandable, I don't understand how anybody could be mad with the people forced to live and work within in. Seeing how the sausage is made is ugly, no doubt. I continue to eat it despite the facts, but its not for everybody. 

On 9/12/2019 at 5:45 PM, Monterey said:

They are not taking that money and sharing it around with the populous.  

But the government is? If socialism worked, and the government was distributing the hundreds of millions spent by tourists (you and me included) to the populous, than this thread wouldn't exist. I'm not saying you have no reason to be angry, just that your anger is a bit misplaced. 

[Ritch]

There is of course a statistical beauty to extremes.

Communism breeds the most enterprising capitalists through nessecity. And extreme capitalism breeds communism through idealism.

As with anything in life it is not about the extremes but rather about the centre ground.

[Viva Vegas]

Every one says a fake cigar, they are not fake. They are cigars and Cuban at that ,What you might have is a counterfeit cigar to the brand it is labeled. Maybe just a play on words I guess. Just my 2 cents.?

[Hookmaker]

looks legit.

I see a Taino head wayyy off


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[NYMets01]

1 hour ago, Hookmaker said:

 

I see a Taino head wayyy off


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

Agreed. That was the first thing that stood at to me as well. 

Still a nice gesture though albeit counterfeit. 

[Capt. Corona]

For our educational purposes....  all who say counterfeit, can you point out the detail of what you are looking at for our future experiences?

With the counterfeiters sharpening their game we all need to be right on their heels.

[bpm32]

2 hours ago, Capt. Corona said:

For our educational purposes....  all who say counterfeit, can you point out the detail of what you are looking at for our future experiences?

With the counterfeiters sharpening their game we all need to be right on their heels.

I'm not an expert, so take this with a grain of salt, but the bottom of the Taino head is running into the white box too much and I've never seen a legitimate band where the bottom of the chin is touching the two squares below it. The gold head is also misaligned, but then again I've seen legit Cohibas that were almost that misaligned. The printing in general looks a bit less crisp than it should be. There might be some other more obvious things I'm missing. Construction-wise the cigar itself didn't show any red flags for me.

[NYMets01]

4 hours ago, Capt. Corona said:

For our educational purposes....  all who say counterfeit, can you point out the detail of what you are looking at for our future experiences?

With the counterfeiters sharpening their game we all need to be right on their heels.

For me it was the misalignment of the Taino head. There was more white in some spots than others.

The hologram inside the head didn't look as crisp as you would expect but that's sometime difficult to tell with all the variables around the lighting, etc.

I have no comment on the cigar construction itself and will leave that to others with more experience than myself.

[Nino]

Reading the comments it might seem controversial - but I agree in that you cannot make yourself a "Cigar Sommelier" in 20 hours just paying the fees and getting a "Diploma" ...

Looks and smells like a scam ...

https://ministryofcigars.com/certified-cigar-sommelier-scam/?fbclid=IwAR0OFRoS3krNYvFGE8BAQxTujrZ7GFVfP1PVWSA5JDSOjINR_DUpksC6D7g

 

Certified Cigar Sommelier Scam

Sep 15, 2019 | 8 comments

Certified Cigar Sommelier Scam. The other day, we read about a Cigar Sommelier Certificate and people proudly claim that they are now an official Cigar Sommelier. It’s by a company called The International Association of Cigar Sommeliers, founded by the Cuban Yamir Pelegrino who calls himself ‘sommelier of the stars’.

Habanos sommelier

The cigar sommelier term became popular due to Habanos. Habanos introduced a sommelier competition as part of the Habanos festival. The competition was born out of the need to tell the true story of the cigar. And the competition made sure only the best of the best would compete and earn the prestigious title of Habanos sommelier. A deep knowledge of the Cuban cigars, each vitola, blend profile, history and perfect pairings is needed to participate and stand a chance at the stage. It takes years of smoking and pairing, years of listening to and learning from masters in their craft. And then you can compete for that tile. Even Habanos doesn’t offer courses to become a sommelier. They do offer courses to learn about Cuban cigars through the Habanos Academy.

But not anymore. For a few hundred American dollars and a few hours of your time you can call yourself a certified international cigar sommelier. And it’s appalling. An insult to every single expert in the world. A degradation of the world sommelier and a slap in the face to everyone in the cigar industry. A few hours of your time and a few hundred dollars doesn’t make you an expert, a sommelier. It makes you a gullible victim of a scammer. Nothing more and nothing less. A naive victim of a scam.

Years of knowledge

Tobacco and cigars are a complicated matter. Thousands of components need to come together. From the soil, the seed, the conditions to the blend, the vitola and the pairings. You can spend your whole life in the cigar industry and only have scratched the surface. Ask people who aren’t born in the industry but are now renowned brand owners like Pete Johnson and Litto Gomez. In the Handrolled documentary, both are modest. Johnson says that he’s in no way a master. And Gomez recalls his first steps in the industry, he compared learning about tobacco by drinking water from a fireman’s hose. There’s so much information yet you can only drink so little at a time. Another example is Rocky Patel, who worked the fields and factories for years, making thousands of blends before he dared to put his name on a cigar. It simply takes that long to learn the complicated matters of tobacco. It is simply impossible to learn in a few hours, for a few hundred dollars.

Of course, people learning more about tobacco and what it takes to make a great cigar is fantastic. But don’t line the pockets of a scammer. Buy a ticket to Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras or the Dominican Republic. Join the group tours that many factories are having every year. You will learn much more, you’ll have more fun and a first hand experience on tobacco plantations and in cigar factories. You can touch the tobacco, smell the fermentation rooms, and if you’re lucky even try to roll your cigar. Instead of a useless, meaningless certificate that isn’t accepted anywhere, you’ll have a stamp in your passport and priceless memories. Don’t fall for this Certified Cigar Sommelier scam.

Photo credit: Casey Aldulaimi/XS Cigars

[Cigar Surgeon]

On 9/12/2019 at 9:15 PM, mbflash80 said:

My one trip was enough for me for this very point...the food is the main reason I will likely never go back...call me spoiled or a baby I dont care...way too far for me to travel to be miserable when my plate of food arrives...

I hear that feedback a lot. But think of it like this: If you were to visit any major North American city and just pick restaurants at random, what would you encounter? Subway as a representation of great American cuisine? McDonald's?

The same is certainly true in Havana. I took a good friend down after he had a poor experience with restaurants and showed him the time of his life.

[Cigar Surgeon]

On 9/13/2019 at 9:54 AM, havanaclub said:

Yeah... figured it was more of a HAV airport thing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have two local Canadian friends that were shaken down on their last trip through Varadero over ashtrays. I've been lucky, but it seems like it's just random chance.

[mbflash80]

23 minutes ago, Cigar Surgeon said:

I hear that feedback a lot. But think of it like this: If you were to visit any major North American city and just pick restaurants at random, what would you encounter? Subway as a representation of great American cuisine? McDonald's?

The same is certainly true in Havana. I took a good friend down after he had a poor experience with restaurants and showed him the time of his life.

I would argue that if you walked through San Francisco (jumping over bums, human waste, and used needles mind you) and picked random restaurants you would have an experience that is exponentially more enjoyable than Havana...not even in the same universe. 

[El Presidente]

34 minutes ago, mbflash80 said:

I would argue that if you walked through San Francisco (jumping over bums, human waste, and used needles mind you) and picked random restaurants you would have an experience that is exponentially more enjoyable than Havana...not even in the same universe. 

Maybe 8-10 years ago.

Today you can eat an excellent meal ( lunch and dinner ) for a week (different place each time) with no problem in Havana. 

Everyone has that option today. It certainly wasnt always so. 

[mbflash80]

51 minutes ago, El Presidente said:

Maybe 8-10 years ago.

Today you can eat an excellent meal ( lunch and dinner ) for a week (different place each time) with no problem in Havana. 

Everyone has that option today. It certainly wasnt always so. 

prez I think we will have to agree to disagree here...if I hadnt seen it with my own eyes I would take your word for it...but having been there and having eaten there you can't convince me that Havana is anywhere approaching any major US city when it comes to quality of food...sure you can get a good meal if you know where to go...I had some good meals while there...but boy oh boy can you get some absolute travesties just as easily...

[mbflash80]

2 hours ago, db13 said:

Isn't this true in just about any major city in the world?

Its a simple comparison for me...the overall quality and consistency of food in Havana is not on par with that of any major US city. If you feel otherwise than we have a difference of opinion...I'm not about to go into food supply or lack thereof...but when you see 5000 flies hovering over a piece of meat that is going to be sliced to put into a sandwich its a visual that isn't very common in the good ole U S of A...

[MD Puffer]

37 minutes ago, mbflash80 said:

Its a simple comparison for me...the overall quality and consistency of food in Havana is not on par with that of any major US city. If you feel otherwise than we have a difference of opinion...I'm not about to go into food supply or lack thereof...but when you see 5000 flies hovering over a piece of meat that is going to be sliced to put into a sandwich its a visual that isn't very common in the good ole U S of A...

Could be worse...

 

NOM NOM NOM!!