Reason to believe I have a fake Cuban...

brainfrz

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

KCW

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

Yes. Some of the lettering on some of the counterfiets have the glossy gold. On that band, if it were a legit. Cuban Cohiba, it would have the three rows of dots and the spacing verticle & horizontal should all be even (no dots should have any more or less white under, over or between them). If it were me, I would want to know its a fake.

Dustin1981

One other thing to check for is if there is a thin white line that separates the bottom solid from the dots on top. The real ones dont have any white in the line.

brainfrz

KCW:

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

Yes. Some of the lettering on some of the counterfiets have the glossy gold. On that band, if it were a legit. Cuban Cohiba, it would have the three rows of dots and the spacing verticle & horizontal should all be even (no dots should have any more or less white under, over or between them). If it were me, I would want to know its a fake.

Well, I let him know- he doesn't really care since his friend gave it to him however he said "on the box it had a Cuban Stamp." I told him I'd let it rest in my humi until he's ready to smoke it but I think he's just going to let his buddy keep on believing. Wah wah wah......

KCW

brainfrz:

KCW:

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

Yes. Some of the lettering on some of the counterfiets have the glossy gold. On that band, if it were a legit. Cuban Cohiba, it would have the three rows of dots and the spacing verticle & horizontal should all be even (no dots should have any more or less white under, over or between them). If it were me, I would want to know its a fake.

Well, I let him know- he doesn't really care since his friend gave it to him however he said "on the box it had a Cuban Stamp." I told him I'd let it rest in my humi until he's ready to smoke it but I think he's just going to let his buddy keep on believing. Wah wah wah......

Yeah. Some of the fakes are actually pretty good (if you don't know what to look for). They have the Cuban Label that looks pretty good. They're in boxes that look legit (again, unless you know what to look for). I had a fake when I was in Mexico. It wasn't necessarily that bad but, it was no Cuban. One sure fire way to tell is to sacrifice one and see if it has little peices of tobacco inside as opposed to actual leaves rolled up.

Diamondog

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

ABSOLUTELY NOT CHANGED BANDS YOU HAVE FAKE, all Cohiba ISOM have 3 rows of dots without deviation...throw it out because of that as well because its ruined anyways

fla-gypsy

As others have pointed out, without the 3 rows of dots it is a fake.

bacon.jay

Diamondog:

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

ABSOLUTELY NOT CHANGED BANDS YOU HAVE FAKE, all Cohiba ISOM have 3 rows of dots without deviation...throw it out because of that as well because its ruined anyways

fla-gypsy:

As others have pointed out, without the 3 rows of dots it is a fake.

This is only true if the "COHIBA" lettering is embossed gold. The old style genuine COHIBA labels had black lettering on a white field, and they only had two rows of white dots above the COHIBA.

Diamondog

bacon.jay:

Diamondog:

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

ABSOLUTELY NOT CHANGED BANDS YOU HAVE FAKE, all Cohiba ISOM have 3 rows of dots without deviation...throw it out because of that as well because its ruined anyways

fla-gypsy:

As others have pointed out, without the 3 rows of dots it is a fake.

This is only true if the "COHIBA" lettering is embossed gold. The old style genuine COHIBA labels had black lettering on a white field, and they only had two rows of white dots above the COHIBA.

Here is a old style Cohiba band:

Thewelder

*** sucking, ****, son of a ***, *** rejecting *** guzzling ****.
Alright got that out of the way. They are getting really good at making fakes. After reading this article I went home and checked out my box of Cubans that I purchased in Dubai. I bought them when we pulled into port for a few days. Well they didn't want 4000 drunk sailors roaming around so they made an area that had little shops, fast food and beer for us, called The Sandbox. Well inside they had a shop that sold "legit" Cubans. So what do I do, a 19 year old kid with money to burn. I buy a box of Romeo Y Juilettes. Has the stamp, tubes and labels all saying Havana Cuba. Well find out today the four I have left are fake. I actually have 3 others from a duty free shop in england to compare to. Oh well

zeebra

Sorry to hear that bro!, but can I post a picture and tell me if its real or not?

JZ

Sometimes ignorance is bliss. I'm not sure what I would do if in your shoes.

brainfrz

Not to thread jack my own thread........but...... I've never had a Cuban before- closest I could say I've had is the Cuban CCom label which I did not enjoy nearly as much as the Corojo or Brazilian. Mind you I managed to hype this up to myself thinking this could posibly be one of the better tasting cigars I would smoke- I was kinda dissapointed. Is it worth trying to get an authentic one or is my money spent better on other sticks? Edit- I bought a churchill and robusto of the Cuban label today with my order jsut to give it another try. There must be something I'm missing.

Diamondog

brainfrz:

Not to thread jack my own thread........but...... I've never had a Cuban before- closest I could say I've had is the Cuban CCom label which I did not enjoy nearly as much as the Corojo or Brazilian. Mind you I managed to hype this up to myself thinking this could posibly be one of the better tasting cigars I would smoke- I was kinda dissapointed. Is it worth trying to get an authentic one or is my money spent better on other sticks? Edit- I bought a churchill and robusto of the Cuban label today with my order jsut to give it another try. There must be something I'm missing.

Absolutely you should try authentic Cubans....I have the luxury of having them legal where I live so easier said than done.....there is no question Cubans are some of the finest in the world....Two I would reccommend are any authentic Cohiba I am partial to the Siglo VI I like big cigars and also any Trinidad again I am partial to the Robusto Extra...

bacon.jay

Diamondog:

bacon.jay:

Diamondog:

brainfrz:

So a buddy of mine asked if he could "rent" some space in my humidor of the weekend but would not tell me what he got. So he stopped by later in the evening with a big 'ol Cohiba and said his buddy bought a box but neglected them- let them sit in his garage for a long time... So the 'gar is dried out pretty bad and I'm working on getting it back up to snuff however I was thinking to myself about an article I read about there being more fake's than real ones out there... Long story short I pull up http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Page/0,3391,93,00.html which is identical to the band he has (lower one obviously) however, the COHIBA lettering is in glossy gold. The difference to me though is there are only 2 dots above COHIBA where as the "real" one as 3. Have they switched bands? Is this a fake? If so, should I bother telling him?

ABSOLUTELY NOT CHANGED BANDS YOU HAVE FAKE, all Cohiba ISOM have 3 rows of dots without deviation...throw it out because of that as well because its ruined anyways

fla-gypsy:

As others have pointed out, without the 3 rows of dots it is a fake.

This is only true if the "COHIBA" lettering is embossed gold. The old style genuine COHIBA labels had black lettering on a white field, and they only had two rows of white dots above the COHIBA.

Here is a old style Cohiba band:

This is a fake. Sorry

This is the genuine old-style band: