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Fake Bolivar

R

Rural Guy

Esquire
Joined
Nov 24, 2008
Messages
740
Location
Eastern ON, Canada
I was sorting some cigars today to give a few to a buddy along with a tuppador I used until I got my new xikar travel case and noticed I had a couple of Bolivars (different vitolas...don't ask me which ones, I didn't pay that much attention when I got them and one my wife got) with different labels. I did some research (hey fellow noobs - google is neat) and found the one my wife got was a fake. Luck of the draw, I would have easily grabbed it too. Here are some pics. For those of you wondering it was from a tobbaconist in Kingston, ON. PM me for the name.

gallery_9072_1009_47804.jpg


gallery_9072_1009_53301.jpg


gallery_9072_1009_104975.jpg


gallery_9072_1009_27613.jpg


I think KingAntz (hope it's right) aka Greg (hope that's right too :) ) likes the Boli's, your take Greg?

Mike

Edit: 'cause I'm dumb and can't learn to post pics the first time.
 
That's all there is to it. The pictures you see are of the cigar the wife got me from the store in Kingston which was different than the tag on one I had bought from a LCDH in Montreal. I noticed it today when I was in the humi, wondered what was up with the difference. While I was looking up the info I found several pics of fake and real Bolivar labels. The one from LCDH was clearly legit according to what I could find and this one that I posted matched the pics I found of known fakes. If I'm wrong I'd love to know as this store is in a town I frequent but every thing I could find online says this is a fake label.
 
I can tell. He has too much make-up on. J/K I don't think I have seen too much info between fake Boli's. Much like that of Cohiba's. Good Luck. Only one way to find out, fire it up....
 
Looks like a Boli RC. I'm not really seeing an indication in the band that it's fake, however the pics aren't very clear. What specifically do you see that tells you this one is fake?

Pic1.jpg

Pic2.jpg

Pic3.jpg
 
There's a photo floating around of about 10 or 15 legitimate Bolivars of varying sizes with many differences in the bands.

I would advise against being so quick to judge especially on band alone. There doesn't seem to be any major flaws that scream fake right away along the lines of a Cohibo, if you get my drift.
 
Just the band, there is nothing unique or alarming about the construction. My wife bought 2 at the time, I smoked one already and it was good but other than "good" or "bad" I don't have much of a taste range. The bands on those 2 she bought from the shop looked different that the one I bought from LCDH (don't know the vitola of that one either but it's about a 44 guage and about 6 + inches) and when I went looking for info on why it might be different I found pics of two bands just like the 2 I had before me. The one I posted matched bang on the pics of fakes that I found (i.e. in the Aficionado site as well as a site that sells fake Bolivar bands) although it looks just like the one you have posted here. I'll trust you for sure if this type of band is a real Bolivar. Is there 2 different band designs for Bolivars in use? I clearly have 2 Bolivars with 2 different band designs, one from this shop and one from LCDH. I never did get the dates on them but they both seem fairly new to me. I appreciate your input and will add to my original post that if that's the case. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
 
Well how about posting pics of your "real" and "fake" bands side by side, so we can get a clearer picture of the mistakes you might be seeing. That might help a bit. The "fake" ones you posted look good to me. All of mine look like the ones you and Greg posted.
 
Rural Guy said:
Just the band, there is nothing unique or alarming about the construction. My wife bought 2 at the time, I smoked one already and it was good but other than "good" or "bad" I don't have much of a taste range. The bands on those 2 she bought from the shop looked different that the one I bought from LCDH (don't know the vitola of that one either but it's about a 44 guage and about 6 + inches) and when I went looking for info on why it might be different I found pics of two bands just like the 2 I had before me. The one I posted matched bang on the pics of fakes that I found (i.e. in the Aficionado site as well as a site that sells fake Bolivar bands) although it looks just like the one you have posted here. I'll trust you for sure if this type of band is a real Bolivar. Is there 2 different band designs for Bolivars in use? I clearly have 2 Bolivars with 2 different band designs, one from this shop and one from LCDH. I never did get the dates on them but they both seem fairly new to me. I appreciate your input and will add to my original post that if that's the case. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Click to expand...

Here's the photo I was talking about:

bolis836.jpg


Courtesy of a well respected member on another board with no legitimacy questions whatsoever. Look at all the variations!
 
gpugliese said:
Rural Guy said:
Just the band, there is nothing unique or alarming about the construction. My wife bought 2 at the time, I smoked one already and it was good but other than "good" or "bad" I don't have much of a taste range. The bands on those 2 she bought from the shop looked different that the one I bought from LCDH (don't know the vitola of that one either but it's about a 44 guage and about 6 + inches) and when I went looking for info on why it might be different I found pics of two bands just like the 2 I had before me. The one I posted matched bang on the pics of fakes that I found (i.e. in the Aficionado site as well as a site that sells fake Bolivar bands) although it looks just like the one you have posted here. I'll trust you for sure if this type of band is a real Bolivar. Is there 2 different band designs for Bolivars in use? I clearly have 2 Bolivars with 2 different band designs, one from this shop and one from LCDH. I never did get the dates on them but they both seem fairly new to me. I appreciate your input and will add to my original post that if that's the case. Thanks for taking the time to respond.
Click to expand...

Here's the photo I was talking about:

bolis836.jpg


Courtesy of a well respected member on another board with no legitimacy questions whatsoever. Look at all the variations!
Click to expand...

Oh m'gosh! Don't do that to me! :laugh: BOLIS!!!
 
I see what you mean and it looks like there are 2 main bands there, same as the 2 I have. I may have to tuck my tail between my legs and add a little disclaimer to my original post, oh well, chalk it up "Look at me and what I know" exuberance. What I was thinking is, if he'll be so kind, is after smoking the two I have, sending the bands to Greg to take a look and let me know. Would you mind Greg?

Mike
 
Rural Guy said:
I see what you mean and it looks like there are 2 main bands there, same as the 2 I have. I may have to tuck my tail between my legs and add a little disclaimer to my original post, oh well, chalk it up "Look at me and what I know" exuberance. What I was thinking is, if he'll be so kind, is after smoking the two I have, sending the bands to Greg to take a look and let me know. Would you mind Greg?

Mike
Click to expand...

Don't mind at all!
 
Okay thanks,

Once I finish them I'll PM you and let you know when they are on the way.

Mike

Edit : and for the addy of course! And yes all, I realize I probably should have done that first :blush:
 
Wow Mike, you're probably ready to kill me huh?? :laugh: I got your letter with the bands, put it on the counter, and the wife moved it to the top of my winedors. I just happened to look up there this morning and HOLY COW I completely forgot about your Boli bands! Sorry about that! I'm actually surprised they weren't tossed!

Anyways, I went digging and pulled out a handful of old Boli bands and did some comparison. I had numerous bands that matched both the one you thought was real and one you thought may have been fake.

The first pic is of your two bands sent with the top one having a note "Real?" and the bottom one "Fake?"

09-13-09Bolibands001.jpg


Again, I pulled out a ton of Boli bands and found several just like the top band. I added a couple in the below pic, the two on bottom are the ones you sent.

DSC01028.jpg


I also had several that matched the bottom band, the below pic has yours on top and mine on bottom.

DSC01065.jpg


What is strange, but I don't think uncommon, is the difference between the two. The font, shade of color, and even Bolivar himself looks different. I can't say 100% whether any of these are fake or not, however I'm fairly confident the Bolis I have are 100% legit and there are definitely differences in the bands which again, I don't think is uncommon at all with CC.

DSC01054.jpg
 
Even the font is different, though. If I saw two cigars with those two very different bands, I'd be 100% sure one was a fake, too.

Did Bolivar change bands slightly at a certain time? Those aren't just color, print alignment issues.

Thanks for the discussion guys. Very interesting.
 
Hey Greg,

Thanks for the post, I was debating pming you and asking if you'd gotten my mail or not. Either way thanks so much for taking the time to look. You can see how I'd be a little confused. I leave it to those much more knowledgeable than I to weigh in and put in their $.02 on this.

Is it possible both bands are legit?

Thanks,

Mike
 
gpugliese said:
There's a photo floating around of about 10 or 15 legitimate Bolivars of varying sizes with many differences in the bands.

I would advise against being so quick to judge especially on band alone. There doesn't seem to be any major flaws that scream fake right away along the lines of a Cohibo, if you get my drift.
Click to expand...

After two years of being on CP, how about an introduction? :thumbs:

As to the bands, would the good ol' Cuban quality control be a possible explanation? I agree there is a marked difference between the two bands, but if they taste like Bolis....
 
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