My First Aged Habano Box Purchase! Help?

[Sizzle310]

Hey brothers! So I read alot of cigar reviews and one of the sticks that has always stood out to me among all others was the Trinidad Short Robusto T 2010 Edicion Limitada.

I hear they can be hard to come by and i decided to finally pull the trigger.

I know there are tons of fakes of pretty much everything out there and I am no expert but everything seems to be in perfect order as you can see from the pics below.

What concerns me is the sticks themselves. Now of course some are in better shape than others but i snapped a few pics below.

Construction doesnt seem to be too flawless as I would expect, they do seem a tad dry, but definitely not crispy. Granted I do prefer a good amount of "squish" and Ive never had one before to compare. Theres also tons of fuzz or dust which im guessing is either great signs of age or just the years of cedar dust from long term storage inside the box. Do these look like what youd expect from an aged box or is it possible I may have some sticks that may be less than ideal to smoke?



Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Mr. McSquirelly]

I'm no expert in ELs, but I will say that the caps do not look like traditional triple caps which are the hallmark of authentic Habanos. However, the rice-paper insert is the type that was used in 2010. My other question arises from government seal? Why is there a new one stuck atop an old one? How do they smell? The aroma should make your mouth water. Really get one of the feet up in your nostrils and take a long whiff. If you don't get that 'twang,' I might be a little concerned.

Here's a link to the brand details, if you scroll down to the short robusto el 2010 and click on the image, you will see that the caps are similar.

http://cubancigarwebsite.com/brand.aspx?brand=Trinidad

Conclusion: Genuine

 

[Trackmyer]

Im guessing these were either grey market purchase or private seller. Sticks just look like they had a bit of a rough go storage wise. Which seems common from either listed above. It would surprise me if from a Habanos SA dealer.
I took a few shots so you can compare.



I think they would all smoke fine, but Id let them acclimate to your storage a couple months. Flavor wise is unknown at this point. I agree with you that yours looks a little dry so they may have lost some of the oils and flavor in process.
Good luck bud, hope they smoke good for you.

 

[Pharmpro]

Im in the poor storage camp of thought. All other signs shown in OP point to legit box. Also, the double seal was seen around 2009/2010 when the government seal was updated to the current seal with holograms. Many boxes went out with double seals as in your case.
Give them a little TLC and they will be good to go. Enjoy them .

 

[Sizzle310]

awesome! thanks for your responses guys.... hopefully with some time in my humi they will regain some luster...

Trackmyer, yours look flawless! hopefully these taste better than they look, i look forward to giving them a whirl

 

[Trackmyer]

awesome! thanks for your responses guys.... hopefully with some time in my humi they will regain some luster...

Trackmyer, yours look flawless! hopefully these taste better than they look, i look forward to giving them a whirl

Just have patience, which I know firsthand is easier said than done. I would let these sit in proper storage for two months minimum before trying one. Then perhaps another at 6 months to see if they are rebounding. Good luck, box purchases of CC's are always exciting stuff.

 

[Jfire]

Just make sure to light with a triple torch to ignite those EL wrappers!!!!!

 

[AlohaStyle]

Just curious about the warranty seals. Does the seal with the hologram have a UPC bar code on the other end not pictured? And also, the seal that's under and shows a serial code on the bottom of the box... is that a small warranty seal or a large one?