San Cristobal de la H. El Principe

[jdizzle113]

A couple of months ago (before I found out about cigar czar of course) I bought a box of San Cristobal - El Principe online from a Hong Kong/Switzerland store called ...Deleted..

When they arrived - eventually - after being intercepted by customs and having duty charged etc. They were in a pretty sorry state. Very very soggy. I put them in the humidor for a few weeks to stabilise them.

When I eventually smoked them - they were just complete rubbish - just horrible. I don't really know how to describe it.

Anyway, I suspect they may be fake - but I had never tried them before and hence have no basis for comparison. Also, they did take a beating in transit from overseas to my home. Hence I wanted to get your opinion on them. I've attached some photos of the box.

Also - just thought I'd add. I only smoked a few of them - they were frankly quite unbearable. I've still got the majority in my secondary humidor. So if the box does not provide enough information, I can upload some photos of the sticks themselves.

[maalouly]

A couple of months ago (before I found out about cigar czar of course) I bought a box of San Cristobal - El Principe online from a Hong Kong/Switzerland store called ...Deleted... Other vendors web sites and names are not allowed to be posted on the forum. Tampa1257

When they arrived - eventually - after being intercepted by customs and having duty charged etc. They were in a pretty sorry state. Very very soggy. I put them in the humidor for a few weeks to stabilise them.

When I eventually smoked them - they were just complete rubbish - just horrible. I don't really know how to describe it.

Anyway, I suspect they may be fake - but I had never tried them before and hence have no basis for comparison. Also, they did take a beating in transit from overseas to my home. Hence I wanted to get your opinion on them. I've attached some photos of the box.

Also - just thought I'd add. I only smoked a few of them - they were frankly quite unbearable. I've still got the majority in my secondary humidor. So if the box does not provide enough information, I can upload some photos of the sticks themselves.

The box looks fine to me mate. From what I can see everything is where should it be from the note to the habanos logo to the date and the stamp on the back of the box. Upload some cigar images for us to get a better idea.

Also keep in mind depending on how long it took to arrive the cigars need to rest. So keep them in your humidor for few weeks or months before you try them.

Cheers,

Elie.

[FlyFishingDude]

Hard to tell from the photo but should the "habanos" sticker on the top right have a gold horizontal line top and bottom, not blank. Also I think the warranty seal should be dissected down the center of the coat of arms, it looks a little off to me. I'm by no means an expert, there are a lot more qualified people here to determine whether these are issues or not.

Mike

[Ryan]

Nothing about those pictures says fake to me. The warranty seal looks ok, serial number is in the right range. The factory/date code looks fine. EMA is a well known factory stamp for these cigars.

You probably need to give them time from their trip.

BTW you might want to remove the link to your source from your post. I don't think it's done here.

[jdizzle113]

Hard to tell from the photo but should the "habanos" sticker on the top right have a gold horizontal line top and bottom, not blank. Also I think the warranty seal should be dissected down the center of the coat of arms, it looks a little off to me. I'm by no means an expert, there are a lot more qualified people here to determine whether these are issues or not.

Mike

Sorry - poor photo - the lines are gold not black.

BTW you might want to remove the link to your source from your post. I don't think it's done here.

Done.

Also, I gave them several weeks to rest.

[FlyFishingDude]

They do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back......

[jdizzle113]

They do offer a 100% satisfaction guarantee or your money back......

Yeah - I did contact them and they offered an exchange - but then I realised that I would have to mail it back, and then potentially pay duty on the new order.

I only bought the El Principe because the box was something like $USD100 and I wanted to probe the service - see if it was a scam.

I'm always of the opinion that if it's too good to be true, it usually is. But I don't know how to assess this situation.

In any case I'm very happy with cigar czar and will just keep them as my source. I just wanted to know if these El Principles that are in my humidor are worth keeping or to be thrown out.

[FlyFishingDude]

I just wanted to know if these El Principles that are in my humidor are worth keeping or to be thrown out.

Keep em. Give them to the people you don't like......

[SofaKing]

From the pictures eveything appears fine. I would say that the trip had an impact on them, let them rest for a month or two and they should be fine especially since they were rolled in 2007.

If possible post a few pictures of a couple cigars and the interior packaging of the box.

[Tampa1257]

I have to agree that from the photos you provided, nothing looks wrong. The cigars were boxed in December of 2007, so they are still very young cigars with barely over 1 year. You said that they were "Very very soggy", it takes more than a couple of weeks to stabilize if the cigars were that wet. Sounds like they need a LOT more time in the Humidor before they will smoke alright. Try 3-6 months before you try again.

You tried a different vendor and found out what you wanted to know. Don't accuse someone of selling fakes unless you have undisputed proof, Please!

[Jimmy2]

Tampa is right and the others those are real 100% since they are so wet they will taste like crap just horrible flavor in some cases.

To bad they are wet as SCEP are great fresh just love the flavor but you have to let them dry out to hopefully wake them up.

You could maybe drybox one or two for a couple a days just to see how they perform with less moisture in them.

I have not smoked them in years as i use to have them in the humi all the time.

Hope you enjoy them down the road..

[maalouly]

Tampa is right and the others those are real 100% since they are so wet they will taste like crap just horrible flavor in some cases.

To bad they are wet as SCEP are great fresh just love the flavor but you have to let them dry out to hopefully wake them up.

You could maybe drybox one or two for a couple a days just to see how they perform with less moisture in them.

I have not smoked them in years as i use to have them in the humi all the time.

Hope you enjoy them down the road..

Exactly my thoughts Jimmy. If the the cigars are wet I wouldn't be putting them in the humidor straight away they're going ot stay wet. Put them outsde the humidor for few days and put them back in. Make sure you put them in a dry area and not a wet one.

Also as Tempa said we shouldn't accuse other suppliers of selling fake as that will affect their business. I am sure we dont want anyone posting about czar somewhere else saying they saell fakces because they dont so lets' not accus otehrs unless its' 100% true. I know there are alot of websites out there that sell fakes and alot of us have been the victims of buying fakes but I guess a simple triple checking before posting it will help.

Good luck withe your cigars and put some age on them

Cheers,

Elie.

[jdizzle113]

You tried a different vendor and found out what you wanted to know. Don't accuse someone of selling fakes unless you have undisputed proof, Please!

Thanks for the reply - but I think if you read my posts you'll find that I never accused the retailer in question of anything. I had suspicion - but since when is having suspicion/doubt or even healthy skepticism considered to be accusation?

Maybe when I said "when something seems too good to be true it usually is" that could be considered to be insinuation - but definitely not accusation.

Aside from the fact I don't feel I accused anyone - on the matter of "proof" - I felt that was the purpose of this thread - I had suspicions and I wanted the consultation of the knowledgeable members of this forum. Now, obviously these suspicions were incorrect - which I now see, but I feel I did nothing wrong by asking.

[Ginseng]

I have to agree that from the photos you provided, nothing looks wrong. The cigars were boxed in December of 2007, so they are still very young cigars with barely over 1 year. You said that they were "Very very soggy", it takes more than a couple of weeks to stabilize if the cigars were that wet. Sounds like they need a LOT more time in the Humidor before they will smoke alright. Try 3-6 months before you try again.

I fully agree.

Wilkey

[Tampa1257]

You are correct that this is the right place to ask for your thoughts to be answered. With the naming of the vendor and your comment that you suspected the cigars to be fake in your initial post is what I was commenting on. Its all good mate.

[El Presidente]

I suspect the overt moistness of the cigars has caused a problem in the flavour. I assume they tasted "Rank"

Dry them out and give them six months.

[jdizzle113]

I suspect the overt moistness of the cigars has caused a problem in the flavour. I assume they tasted "Rank"

Dry them out and give them six months.

That's the word I was looking for!

[Miami101]

These are real.................I should know I live in the land of fakes, fake cigars, fake ****, fake car, fake cloths, fake eyes, fake fake................

[jstixrud]

These are real.................I should know I live in the land of fakes, fake cigars, fake ****, fake car, fake cloths, fake eyes, fake fake................

Some things being fake I wouldn't neccessarily say are a "bad" thing.