Fake Habanos

jsnake

My brother-in-law went to Cozumel and of course bought "Cubans" from some guy on the beach. He isn't into cigars like my other brother-in-law and father-in-law our so I guess he didn't know any better. All the classic signs of a counterfeit. The box of 5 had a glass lid, the tobacco stamp was a smooth sticker and not well done, the band colors bled together and instead of dots on the band in the logo there were solid lines (Romeo Y Julietta). Didn't want to make him feel like crap so I told him I just didn't know and I put the one he gave me in a case and separate from all my other cigars. While the cigar smells good, isn't Cuban, I am not so sure I would let my dog smoke it. A cigar is a cigar but where and under what conditions are these rip offs made?

fla-gypsy

My brother brought me a couple of sticks from mexico (he is a smoker, not as astute as I would like) and they were nice looking fakes but they were fakes. The dots on the Cohiba label were a little off. The fake Cohiba actually smoked well and had good flavor but it did not taste like the legit Cuban Cohiba's I have smoked in the past. The RYJ fake was awful and I did not make it half way through.

poypoyking

I have had decent fakes, and I have had bad fakes. One fake Cohiba I had wasn't too bad, but another one was just awful. I quickly put it out and then cut it open, and all that was in there was seeds, stems, and junky filler tobacco.

It really can go either way.

phobicsquirrel

Fake Habanos are like fake boobs, most are horrible but a few are just as good as the real ones!

sightunseen

This is a good primer on how to spot fakes. Link.

I've heard that often times, a lot of counterfeits are made by the same rollers in the factories during their off-time, but with inferior tobacco (underfermented, scraps, etc).

KCW

phobicsquirrel:

Fake Habanos are like fake boobs, most are horrible but a few are just as good as the real ones!

+1. I learned this lesson. Some were'nt so bad. Others were aweful. I would tell him though. Just so he knows.

kuzi16

jsnake:

A cigar is a cigar but where and under what conditions are these rip offs made?

i have heard that many "fake" cuban cigars are actually using cuban tobacco. people at the factory will smuggle out scraps and roll some of their own or sell the tobacco to others that then make the "fakes" the quality will be lower because the tobacco is nothing but scrap and often they use a wrapper that is not cuban but sometimes you can end up with a good counterfeit Cohiba.

of course there are others that use whatever tobacco they can find and use their at home computer printer to run off a few bands and call it a day. if it smells good, i say light it up. it may not be 100% cuban tobacco and almost certainly not the real cuban brand, but it may actually be good. if it is...
score

Amos Umwhat

poypoyking:

I have had decent fakes, and I have had bad fakes. One fake Cohiba I had wasn't too bad, but another one was just awful. I quickly put it out and then cut it open, and all that was in there was seeds, stems, and junky filler tobacco.

It really can go either way.

seeds and stems? Um, were you hungry after smoking this?

Fourtotheflush

KCW:

phobicsquirrel:

Fake Habanos are like fake boobs, most are horrible but a few are just as good as the real ones!

+1. I learned this lesson. Some were'nt so bad. Others were aweful. I would tell him though. Just so he knows.

Best Analogy EVA!!!!!!