What is Going on Here?

[NSXCIGAR]

2 hours ago, MrBirdman said:

The magazine stack makes me think this is a public area.

I'm familiar with the shop. That's right in the middle of the store. Fully accessible area.

[MrBirdman]

8 minutes ago, NSXCIGAR said:

I'm familiar with the shop. That's right in the middle of the store. Fully accessible area.

Yikes. 

[riderpride]

3 hours ago, El Presidente said:

To be fair, the picture is of one LCDH. 

I have never seen this before. I am more than open to receiving a reasonable explanation from them. 

Same contact info as LCDH Cancun which has always had an iffy rep. 

Cheers

[KavalanWhisky]

the IKEA model, saves costs if you build the box yourself!

[El Presidente]

1 hour ago, Taco said:

In my mind, this puts a premium on prez’s business.

Just to be clear. 

This is not a witch hunt. FOH members purchase from stores (online and B&M) all over the world. God bless you. 

Simply, this was an understandable "red flag" that may have an explanation. However, Cuban cigar lovers globally, rightfully, deserve that explanation. 

[Frozen North]

It was the store in La Isla mall. 

[DaBoot]

Wow , 

[bergstrom]

I’m going down there next weekend. I will poke around… 

Fwiw, in my experiance - Moises (the owner? Manager? Head honcho there for sure) has always been great to me- he gave me a tour of the storage once, showing me master cases etc. he’s held boxes for me (been down twice, purchased short de punch and galanes, both were unopened, he cut the seal allowed me to inspect and since one box had mold he grabbed another for me. The boxes check out, and aren’t sticks i am too worried about being faked..)

plus his in house roller Carlos Fernandez rolls some amazing stuff, but I keep hearing whispers of shady activity regarding cohibas at the Cancun and TJ LCDH, and now seeing this alarming photo, it’s a true bummer. 

i had no plans to buy cohiba but he did tell me over the phone last week he was getting some Dip2 and choix supreme boxes in which I was looking forward to. Aye yiy yiy. 🤦‍♂️😓

[Taco]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Just to be clear. 

This is not a witch hunt. FOH members purchase from stores (online and B&M) all over the world. God bless you. 

Simply, this was an understandable "red flag" that may have an explanation. However, Cuban cigar lovers globally, rightfully, deserve that explanation. 

As a consumer of any good, my money tends to go to businesses I trust and want to support. This isn’t a knock on any LCDH, it’s more of a nod of confidence to FOH. With CC prices going through the roof, trust premium is at an all time high and one I prioritize myself.

[Frozen North]

I’m not knocking anyone either. I have learned a lot about this obsession from people like you all. I am skeptical about buying from unknown or non recommended sellers.

[Ford2112]

Always trust your source. I have been burned before but only regarding singles. Lessons learned. 

 

 

 

[NSXCIGAR]

5 minutes ago, Ford2112 said:

Always trust your source.

If I was buying Cohiba (or any other high-end item), other than Rob and in Cuba I wouldn't know where to buy it. LCDHs are not precluded from acquiring product from third parties and even trusted gray market vendors are no better than us at recognizing fakes--fakes that are very soon going to be undetectable with the current security features. You have to have a vendor that sources exclusively from the distributor and you have to take their word they do. 

I hope HSA is able to come up with some kind of NFT security feature soon. Every dollar spent on fakes is a dollar they lose. 

[El Presidente]

21 hours ago, bergstrom said:

 

Fwiw, in my experiance - Moises (the owner? Manager? Head honcho there for sure) has always been great to me-

Feedback about Moises and team has been much the same. Great service. There have been issues raised but there are issues raised with all retailers including myself. 

The questions surrounding the photo are simply "why?". 

The Habanos loving public have a right to be confused. It is completely understandable. 

[Ford2112]

2 hours ago, Heels82 said:

Trust your source.

That's my face every day

[gormag38]

Wow. This photo completely amazes me. It's hard to think that they're not just re-banding other cigars with Cohiba labels. Why the boxes don't have the official mexico importer label and the Cuba Seal is interesting as well. 

As someone who has done business with Moises and his team somewhat recently, it makes me question their product. Answers should definitely be in order. 

[MrBirdman]

11 hours ago, El Presidente said:

However, Cuban cigar lovers globally, rightfully, deserve that explanation. 

I would add any LCDH owner in there as well. This could damage the value of a brand they’ve heavily invested in. Things are tough enough for them right now. 

[helix]

Think you can trust authenticity of anything in Mexico ? I mean its Mexico . 🤨

[ha_banos]

Yeah I mean really! 😁 Unfinished boxes all over the place!

[MrBirdman]

3 hours ago, therealrsr said:

@El Presidente top middle of the 3 tall stack of boxes missing stickers, have you seen a VI slb that poorly sealed make it into the wild?

To my mind it’s irrelevant whether the actual boxes are real or not - they’ve got unbanded cigars to the left, and to the right a pile of Cohiba bands next to a stack of banded “Cohiba” singles. 

The only possible reason I can imagine for even removing bands would be for a customer concerned with confiscation. But the totality of the evidence here makes that highly unlikely (and really who is buying all those Siglo VI just to take the bands off? Even if they’re real you can’t sell any of them that way.) If I owned an LCDH I’d be seriously pissed unless I got a damned good explanation. 

[jakebarnes]

I've gone down to PV every other year and never not felt safe. Never considered myself to be all that bold. 

[SCgarman]

16 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said:

Tijuana, Cancun & Cozumel have the same owner.

So what is your take on the image? Looks nefarious to me. All those siglo 6 boxes with no stickers of any kind on them? The optics are clearly horrible. 

[NSXCIGAR]

3 hours ago, SCgarman said:

So what is your take on the image? Looks nefarious to me. All those siglo 6 boxes with no stickers of any kind on them? The optics are clearly horrible. 

I have no idea. I can't come up with any reasonable explanation why any vendor should have naked boxes of anything. The loose bands, who knows. Looks bad but maybe they were selling unbanded cigars to a US buyer or something. That has more possible explanations in my mind than 20+ totally naked boxes of Cohiba. 

7 hours ago, gormag38 said:

Why the boxes don't have the official mexico importer label and the Cuba Seal is interesting as well. 

Do we know if IEPT is sending these boxes out like this? Are they aware of this? It's certainly worth asking. I would think the distributor would want to know about this. 

[El Presidente]

I am going to track down which idiot started going down this mexico/gun/violence rabbit hole .....and shoot him off the forum permanently. His playmates can leave with him. 

[El Presidente]

Enjoy the week off gents. 👍

Non relevant posts have been removed. Fair warning. 

 

[Chas.Alpha]

1 hour ago, El Presidente said:

Enjoy the week off gents. 👍

Non relevant posts have been removed. Fair warning. 

 

Why do I always miss those??? 😂