Counterfeit Cubans from supposedly reputable places

[theEpiphany]

Oh damn apparently it's my turn.


I bought some "CC" supposedly from a reputable place while I was on my honeymoon out in Cozumel. I had my doubts on a few of these sticks and my suspicions were in fact true once I joined CP and did a little searching.

Having just lit up a much suspected "Cohiba robusto" and gagged...it was probably the worst thing I'd ever smoked in my life. After a little smelling and then a disection of the 2ce puffed cigar, the entire thing was rolled with cigarette tobacco, STALE and disgusting cigarette tobacco.


I'd messaged Rod on the matter of my suspected sticks, as I didn't want to make a public case out of it, and unless it's ok to post the shop I bought them at (in person) I won't go into details, but DAMN this has ruined me for the evening and I don't wish this on anyone. I can't even taste the Padron 6000 I just lit up, I still taste the fake CC.


Anyway, if you ever happen to visit Cozumel....no matter what the shop..Beware. I wish I had the information and knowledge I have now when I bought these things. Luckily it was only 4-5 sticks so it wasn't a huge hit to the wallet.


Damn I wish I could get this taste/smell out of my mouth/nose.

 

[JHolmes763]

Without discussing the source too much, I'm curious as to what lead you to believe the place was "reputable".

Sucks you got screwed into fakes, but at least you know what to do now, I hope.

 

[theEpiphany]

it's a shop you hear about a lot with a logo/font very familiar to us all...This wasn't just a local Cigar shop. I don't think so anyway. Unless the whole shop was counterfeit heh .

 

[JHolmes763]

Interesting... :thumbs:

 

[theEpiphany]

yeah it threw me for a loop....

my padron tastes something awful...I can't get the stale tobacco out of my nose. My wife says it even smells terrible because of the lingering scent of the crap tobacco around the balcony....Normally she's ok with Cigar smoke..

Tonight is my worst smoking experience to date....

 

[moki]

yeah it threw me for a loop....

my padron tastes something awful...I can't get the stale tobacco out of my nose. My wife says it even smells terrible because of the lingering scent of the crap tobacco around the balcony....Normally she's ok with Cigar smoke..

Tonight is my worst smoking experience to date....

You're basing the decision of whether the cigar is real or fake based on the fact that you thought it tasted bad? Or are there other reasons as well?

Cuban cigars can taste bad too...

 

[Mike33]

yeah it threw me for a loop....

my padron tastes something awful...I can't get the stale tobacco out of my nose. My wife says it even smells terrible because of the lingering scent of the crap tobacco around the balcony....Normally she's ok with Cigar smoke..

Tonight is my worst smoking experience to date....

You're basing the decision of whether the cigar is real or fake based on the fact that you thought it tasted bad? Or are there other reasons as well?

Cuban cigars can taste bad too...

BLASPHEMY!!! :laugh:

 

[Dozerhead]

Cozumel is known to be rife with fake cc's, just like any other touristy destination, especially in the Carribean. But, I also agree with Moki, just because the cigar didn't taste good doesn't necessarily make it a fake.

 

[tone-ny]

yeah it threw me for a loop....

my padron tastes something awful...I can't get the stale tobacco out of my nose. My wife says it even smells terrible because of the lingering scent of the crap tobacco around the balcony....Normally she's ok with Cigar smoke..

Tonight is my worst smoking experience to date....

You're basing the decision of whether the cigar is real or fake based on the fact that you thought it tasted bad? Or are there other reasons as well?

Cuban cigars can taste bad too...

What do you know? The taste you have in cigar girls is off scale :laugh:

 

[buzzed]

Oh damn apparently it's my turn.


I bought some "CC" supposedly from a reputable place while I was on my honeymoon out in Cozumel. I had my doubts on a few of these sticks and my suspicions were in fact true once I joined CP and did a little searching.

Having just lit up a much suspected "Cohiba robusto" and gagged...it was probably the worst thing I'd ever smoked in my life. After a little smelling and then a disection of the 2ce puffed cigar, the entire thing was rolled with cigarette tobacco, STALE and disgusting cigarette tobacco.
I'd messaged Rod on the matter of my suspected sticks, as I didn't want to make a public case out of it, and unless it's ok to post the shop I bought them at (in person) I won't go into details, but DAMN this has ruined me for the evening and I don't wish this on anyone. I can't even taste the Padron 6000 I just lit up, I still taste the fake CC.


Anyway, if you ever happen to visit Cozumel....no matter what the shop..Beware. I wish I had the information and knowledge I have now when I bought these things. Luckily it was only 4-5 sticks so it wasn't a huge hit to the wallet.


Damn I wish I could get this taste/smell out of my mouth/nose.

That would be an indicator of it being fake wouldn't it? Short filler in a Cohiba Robusto?

 

[tone-ny]

Cuban Cigar Box Codes

For a full list of box codes, please visit our list which
is updated every month: http://www.cigarpass.com/box_codes.shtml

PLEASE DO NOT DISCUSS SOURCES
(THAT MEANS, DON'T TALK ABOUT CUBAN CIGAR RETAILERS)


This is posted at the top of this thread. A friendly reminder to our newest members

 

[Dozerhead]

Oh damn apparently it's my turn.


I bought some "CC" supposedly from a reputable place while I was on my honeymoon out in Cozumel. I had my doubts on a few of these sticks and my suspicions were in fact true once I joined CP and did a little searching.

Having just lit up a much suspected "Cohiba robusto" and gagged...it was probably the worst thing I'd ever smoked in my life. After a little smelling and then a disection of the 2ce puffed cigar, the entire thing was rolled with cigarette tobacco, STALE and disgusting cigarette tobacco.
I'd messaged Rod on the matter of my suspected sticks, as I didn't want to make a public case out of it, and unless it's ok to post the shop I bought them at (in person) I won't go into details, but DAMN this has ruined me for the evening and I don't wish this on anyone. I can't even taste the Padron 6000 I just lit up, I still taste the fake CC.


Anyway, if you ever happen to visit Cozumel....no matter what the shop..Beware. I wish I had the information and knowledge I have now when I bought these things. Luckily it was only 4-5 sticks so it wasn't a huge hit to the wallet.


Damn I wish I could get this taste/smell out of my mouth/nose.

That would be an indicator of it being fake wouldn't it? Short filler in a Cohiba Robusto?

Yes, it would. I somehow missed that when I first read it this morning. Thanks.

 

[mmburtch]

Not the first instance I've heard of where a central American La te da was selling fakes and even obvious fakes. Just a guess, but I'm thinking the profit margin is higher.

 

[golfgar]

I was just in Cozumel myself and opted not to go into ANY of the cigar shops, they are just a waste of money and it ends up leaving a "bad taste in my mouth". :laugh:

 

[wavescrashing]

Yeah, I've got family in Mexico, and whenever I go, I bring my own sticks. I once bought a "Partagas short" from a convenient store, just so I could see how hard they try to pull the wool. The answer: Not very hard. Epiphany's opinion of the Fohiba comes to mind regarding the taste.

 

[Infinity]

Where are the pics?

My niece's husband gifted me about 20 sticks when he was in Mexico as a pay back gesture. There were 4 different Marca's with wrappers that all looked the same. That should have been a clue for him but
unfortunately he spent a fair amount on +- 70 cigars.

I waited a few days before telling him, it wasn't pleasant, some folks may take umbrage, even though it's the truth.

Moral of the story. Don't buy cigar's from just anyone.

Brian

 

[theEpiphany]

yeah it threw me for a loop....

my padron tastes something awful...I can't get the stale tobacco out of my nose. My wife says it even smells terrible because of the lingering scent of the crap tobacco around the balcony....Normally she's ok with Cigar smoke..

Tonight is my worst smoking experience to date....

You're basing the decision of whether the cigar is real or fake based on the fact that you thought it tasted bad? Or are there other reasons as well?

Cuban cigars can taste bad too...

Other reasons. I was simply giving an example for this particular cigar I had last night that was sour and smelled / tasted like stale cigarettes.

This was one particular Cigar that I had last night was not even close to tasting like a cigar..even a bad cigar. The smell was something awful etc etc etc. The band had misaligned blackspace on the top and one end of the band. The Cohiba name was slightly overlapped on the third row of dots. I had suspicions about this cigar before I even lit it. The roll and foot look different than some of the others that I have in my humi. I dissected the cigar and smelled the tobacco which smelled like Burnt cigarettes as opposed to anything even remotely cigar related.

Having not had the knowledge of things a few weeks ago I also fell victim to purchasing some Lovely limited Edition 2007 Cohibas.

This shop ALSO had an entire section dedicated to Counterfeit boxes of Cubans (not what I was even remotely interested in purchasing) which were being sold for 20 bucks a box and had really misaligned labels, fonts coloring etc.

Cuban Cigar Box Codes

For a full list of box codes, please visit our list which
is updated every month: http://www.cigarpass.com/box_codes.shtml

PLEASE DO NOT DISCUSS SOURCES
(THAT MEANS, DON'T TALK ABOUT CUBAN CIGAR RETAILERS)


This is posted at the top of this thread. A friendly reminder to our newest members

Thanks Tony...Much appreciated. Unfortunately this was before I became a member of CP going back about a month ago or so...Wish I had the knowledge I have now back then.

 

[theEpiphany]

Where are the pics?

Brian

Hi Brian,

I sent Rod some pics a few days ago. Rod if you read this I'm not being impatient, last night's cigar was just something awful and figured I'd post.


Give me a few to download the images from my mail account and I'll go ahead and post them in a gallery.

 

[theEpiphany]

Ok...I make no claims to know anything and like many people I'm still in the learning process (and will be for years to come) so if I need to be set straight on something, feel free.

I think my understanding about the shop itself might have been a little skewed and the shop itself might have been a fraud. I'm in the middle of reading and understanding things a bit more so bare with the new guy .


FROM LEFT TO RIGHT

COUNTERFEIT: Cohiba Limited Edition 2007
?????: Monte Cristo Number 2 (Very different in color and roll (based on a box of #2s that I'm in possession of)
?????: Cohiba Siglio VI
?????: Cohiba Siglio VI
?????: Bolivar petite corona
COUNTERFEIT: Cohiba Cigarello (Band was poorly cut (looks like a pair of scissors and glued with a stick. This was a freebee)
?????: Cohiba Maduro 5 (though from my uneducated eyes it seems to check out ok).
?????: Cohiba Siglio VI (Tubo) (pretty sure it's a true CC..but someone's eyes may catch something mine doesn't)

 

[okiesmoke]

I've never bought CC's and am the first to tell you I have no knowledge of them...but I thought the only "authorized" dealer by LCDH in that area was in Cancun?

For that reason, I also stayed the hell away from the shops on Cozumel. Feel free to set me straight on this.