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Which one of these is not like the other one?

moki

moki

el Presidente
How many discrepancies can you name between the two cigars pictured here (both are purported to be Cohiba Reserva Robustos)? A closer up picture may help too.

Just thought it would be fun to see how many things people could distinguish from the photograph. Feel free to chime in on your opinion of the authenticity of each as well. No fair if you've read a thread on another board that gives things away. :)

For coherency purposes, the cigar on the left should be referred to as Cigar #1 and the cigar on the right should be referred to as Cigar #2.
 
Let me have a shot,

Cigar #1 is real because Cigar #2:
1) is too long
2) top band has only 2 rows of dots
3) top band has bad gold leafing
4) top band has wrong font for COHIBA (too wide and short)
5) top band has wrong color on bottom (orange opposed to yellow)
6) has a wrapper that's too rough, dark, and veiny (one prominent vein on top)
7) doesn't have a triple cap
8) has the wrong spacing in the top stripe of the Reserva band
9) has a Reserva band that is too wide
10) has the wrong color of gold on the Reserva band
11) Reserva band is not embossed (it doesn't look that way)
12) Reserva bad has the wrong font (too wide again)
13) is too wide (ring guage)

I think that's it. I'm gonna look really stupid if Cigar #2 is the real one though.
 
I'd say that the one on the right, #2 has gold lettering that is gold foil-stamped but not embossed. Foil stamping can be done cheaply using a rubber die but some embossing processes require matching, engraved plates. A far costlier option unlikely to be employed by counterfeiters.

The "Habana, Cuba" font on the #2 stick is also much cruder than the one on the left. Note the lower loop on the "H" and the belly of the "b"

Also, the "dots" on #2 are not actually squares, they are rectangular.

The wrapper on #2 just doesn't look like Cohiba quality. It doesn't look rotten, just doesn't look suitable to this stick. The wrapper on some PAMs I have are freakin ugly but that's "right" for them.

All in all, I'd say #2 is likely to be the knock-off.

Wilkey

edit: typo
 
Moki - This is great stuff... I wish there were more closeup details like this on the site so people can become more educated. This clearly gives us something to look out for. Thanks.
 
Oh I would also like to point out one detail....

The one on the left has a thick gold line that seperates the cohiba yellow and the dots that goes all the way around back to where to logo is... the one on the right only has a very thin gold line.

I hope this makes sense :)
 
well aside from the bands neither cigar has a good triple cap and neither cap is flat enough to be cuban
wrapper one is to shiny and slick and wrapper two is too dark

sans the bands they both look like fake cohibas to me



edit:clarity
 
Know your vendor and none of this matters. There are tons of discrepancies with any product from cuba.

That saying, the one cigar on the right is way too long, if the cigar on the left is the right legnth.

Bands, rows of dots, coloration means jack S--t. Know your vendor.
 
Both are fakes. The Reservas were released in 2002, so should have the old style Cohiba bands.

Cigar #1:
- has the new style band released in 2003 with 3 rows of dots above the Cohiba title
- the Hababa, Cuba font is too thick
- the Cohiba font itself, looks to be too thick
- the dots seem too large
- overall the band looks to be a pretty good counterfeit band
- can't tell from the picture, but the cigar seems to be a little long


Cigar #2:
- bad counterfeit band because it is a juxtaposition of both old style and new style bands
- 2 rows of of dots from the old style
- embossed gold lettering of the new bands instead of plain black
- Habana, Cuba of the new style instead of La Habana that is on the old band
- cigar is definitely too long from for a Robusto (ratio of cigar to quarter is way too much)
- band of cigar #2 would have made a better fake band except they made the mistake of putting 2 rows of dots instead of 3

suspect characteristics on both cigars:
- I could be wrong, but the ring gauges of both cigars seem slightly bigger in comparison to the quarter, maybe a 52 ring instead of 50
- Reserva scripting on both are not very crisp, but this can be attributed to Cuban printing
- Colors of both bands are also slightly off, but this can be attributed to age
- bad triple caps on both cigars.

So in short, both cigars are counterfeits.
 
#1. band looks embossed while #2 does not. as well, 3 rows of dots are normal.

#1. if length is 150 mm (5-7/8") then looks legit. other is not same.

#1. cap looks better than in #2 which is round

#2. wrapper looks off.



i would pick #1 to smoke out of the two. Cohiba seldom deviate in length.
 
Now for the second part of our little game here; I took apart each cigar after smoking them for a bit. Can you figure out which filler goes with which cigar?

Filler A

Filler B

What do you think?
 
Well due to the way Moki named the filler pictures... at least one of the cigars was real lol :whistling:
 
Here's a slight oversimplification of the construction of each:

Real Cohiba Reserva: This was constructed as you'd expect, wrapper, concentrically followed by binder, followed by numerous long filler leaf that had been folded accordion-style, each piece of filler leaf making a different part of the blend.

Fake Cohiba Reserva: This exhibited construction similar to other fake Cubans I've dissected, wrapper, concentrically followed by binder, concentrically followed by numerous wrappings of "filler", which was wrapped and wrapped again to make up the bulk of the cigar, and then inside, short filler.

This simple illustration shows what I mean:

real_fake_cuban_diagram.jpg


...and yes, Cigar #1 goes with Filler B, Cigar #2 goes with Filler A... and Cigar #1 is genuine, and Cigar #2 is fake
 
Key empirical differences between the two cigars:

-- Note only two rows of white dots above "Cohiba" on the suspect Cohiba Reserva

-- Note the difference in length of these two cigars

-- Note the gold "Cohiba" is not embossed on the suspect Cohiba Reserva... though it is gold, it is flat, like the older-style Cohiba bands

-- Note the color differences between the orange parts of both bands

-- Note the difference in distance from the "Habana, Cuba" script to the top part of the gold box around "Cohiba"

-- Note that on the known-good Cohiba SR, there is subtle embossing on the second "Reserva" band that is absent from the suspect Cohiba Reserva

-- Note that on the suspect Cohiba Reserva, the "squares" on the upper part of the band are actually rectangular (taller than they are wide)

-- Note that on the second Reserva band, above the first gold ring, there is no black ring immediately above it as there is on the real deal (this is subtle, you need to look at the close up picture to really see it)

-- Note the darker, rough, veiny of the wrapper on the suspect Reserva, something not characteristic of Cohiba wrappers

-- Note that the "Habana, Cuba" script is fairly sloppy on the suspect cigar (especially look at the curly flourish on the top of the right stem of the H in Habana)

-- Note the sloppy cap on the suspect Reserva, which is all made from one piece of tobacco wrapped around, rather than 3 individual pieces of tobacco.

There are other minor differences too... good job to everyone here with an eagle eye. :)

Something you can't really see from the photos: the paper the bands were printed on was thicker, stiffer, and of inferior quality on the suspect cigar.
 
GREAT POST!!!! This is excellent information. You should do other brands as well :)
 
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