Gavin
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- Oct 30, 2009
- Messages
- 3,349
About a month ago, I dropped into a local B&M, just looking to buy a few singles to try out some new brands, and treat myself to a couple of brands, that while not mainstays of my humidor, I knew I liked. After perusing the contents of the humidor, I picked up a Fuente, and was about to head out with only that when I noticed a great deal on Cohibas. I think it was something like six dollars for the toro size, so I grabbed one of those as well. Now, I consider myself relatively savvy, and always use extreme caution when buying a cuban cigar. I brought a couple of articles with me on my last trip overseas that gave pointers on spotting Cuban fakes so I could be sure that my investment would be a wise one. But for some reason, it didn't occur to me that: a.) I needed to be on the lookout for fakes at my local B&M and b.) Dominican cigars were faked to such a large degree, that I walked off that day with my two cigars quite happy with my purchase.
I took my Cohiba to a friend's house one evening with the intention of smoking it, but he was kind enough to provide me with something from his humidor instead. But having it out and in my hand, it struck me that the Dominican Cohibas have two black bands and a red dot in the 'O', and not the yellow with black and white checkering like the Cuban ones have on their bands. It began to gnaw at me, and I realized that not only had I bought a fake, I had purchased a really really bad fake. Was there the 'R' after Cohiba denoting that it was a registered trademark? No. Was there the red dot in the 'O'? No. Was the band at least embossed and not just printed?? Again...sadly, no, just printed on there.
So now I have the embarrassment of being duped by a really bad fake, the ire of being cheated out of my hard-earned money, and a crappy dog-rocket to console myself with. I'm tempted to go down there and make a stink, but perhaps I should write it off as a lesson learned to once again trust people less. Needless to say, I will never shop there again, and before any of you ever buys a cigar at a smoke shop in Murrieta, CA, please PM me and I'll tell you which one to steer clear of.
Below is a slightly blurry picture of this really bad fake Cohiba...
I took my Cohiba to a friend's house one evening with the intention of smoking it, but he was kind enough to provide me with something from his humidor instead. But having it out and in my hand, it struck me that the Dominican Cohibas have two black bands and a red dot in the 'O', and not the yellow with black and white checkering like the Cuban ones have on their bands. It began to gnaw at me, and I realized that not only had I bought a fake, I had purchased a really really bad fake. Was there the 'R' after Cohiba denoting that it was a registered trademark? No. Was there the red dot in the 'O'? No. Was the band at least embossed and not just printed?? Again...sadly, no, just printed on there.
So now I have the embarrassment of being duped by a really bad fake, the ire of being cheated out of my hard-earned money, and a crappy dog-rocket to console myself with. I'm tempted to go down there and make a stink, but perhaps I should write it off as a lesson learned to once again trust people less. Needless to say, I will never shop there again, and before any of you ever buys a cigar at a smoke shop in Murrieta, CA, please PM me and I'll tell you which one to steer clear of.
Below is a slightly blurry picture of this really bad fake Cohiba...
