Fake cohiba?

[DFLguy]

Hey all,
I recently got a few cohibas, but they look different wrapper wise as they don't have the same lettering and don't have that kind of shiny hologram stuff on them. Also, the wrappers slide off pretty easily and aren't 100% lined up.

Posting a side by side for thoughts. I smoked one and it felt like it almost had a flavored taste, nothing like the ones on the left hand side have been like.

Thanks for any help!
Mike from STP

 

[Mossome]

The one on the right is definitely fake.

 

[DFLguy]

The one on the right is definitely fake.

Thank you! Sad thing is I've been getting good real ones from this guy for a while and then these turned up. Good thing I only got four!
Again, much appreciation to you and the fine folks here at BOTL.

 

[DFLguy]

Ok another quick question. The same guy gave this to a coworker as a birthday present. Is it fake too?


Thanks a ton!

 

[Xavier Dredo]

Oh boy. I don’t know shite about CC’s but I know that’s prolly fake


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[DFLguy]

Thanks Xavier,
Can anyone speak to the second one? Just trying to figure out if he's either taking us for a complete ride here or maybe if it's a one off mistake.
Thanks a ton!
Mike

 

[Boudie]

I don't think you'll find the small squares cut of at the top of the band and the maiden doesn't seem to be embossed.

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/counterfeit-cigars

 

[cwant]

New to CCs myself. The Belicoso looks like it could be legit, as far as I can tell. The others are fake for sure.

 

[DFLguy]

I don't think you'll find the small squares cut of at the top of the band and the maiden doesn't seem to be embossed.

https://www.cigaraficionado.com/counterfeit-cigars

Boudie,
That's super helpful. It's clearly no embossed to start with. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate your, and everyone else's, help.

 

[Lok17]

Ok another quick question. The same guy gave this to a coworker as a birthday present. Is it fake too?
View attachment 120486

Thanks a ton!

Ya, thats not legit either

 

[Mossome]

Agreed. The maduro is fake as well. In the first picture, the band on the one on the left appears to be legit. It could be a legitimate Cohiba Piramedes Extra, or it could be a counterfeit that they put a real band on. It’s hard to tell without seeing the whole cigar, or the box it came from.
I don’t know if this guy is necessarily “taking you for a ride”. It’s quite probable the guy doesn’t know they’re fake, and thinks he is giving you the genuine article.

 

[DFLguy]

Thanks you all. Mossome, you've been a great help from the first reply to the last. I'm really appreciative of the help here.
Mike

 

[Master Shake]

@DFLguy are you purchasing these or are they gifts?

As for the cigars themselves, they're all fake. The Pirex band looks ok, but its suppossed to be a 54 RG stick. Unless those Rocky sticks are 58 rg or that fake is some new rg size like 54.5, its a fake.

 

[DFLguy]

@DFLguy are you purchasing these or are they gifts?
As for the cigars themselves, they're all fake. The Pirex band looks ok, but its suppossed to be a 54 RG stick. Unless those Rocky sticks are 58 rg or that fake is some new rg size like 54.5, its a fake.

Hey Master Shake,

Thank you! Yeah, unfortunately, I did purchase them. I didn't look at the "Cohibas" on the right when I bought them, considering he's a friend/colleague and I had what I thought was good luck with a couple ~8" Partigas and a couple of the Cohibas like the one on the left. The one I smoked of those on the left was delightful. Then the one I smoked of the one on the right tasted as if it had been flavored, which made me take a look at the wrappers more carefully and ask you guys.

The Maduro was a gift to a friend and he tends to give out a fair amount as gifts to people.

I have to assume he knows he's selling and giving away fakes, and not that it's simply human error. What a sad realization when it comes to a well-liked associate. Just need to be more careful I guess.

 

[Boudie]

Did you pay retail price or did he give you a deal? One of the things I learned when researching how to purchase CCs, they never go on knock the door down sales. 10% if you are lucky. If you paid near retail he screwed you. If you paid much less then retail you learned a valuable lesson.

 

[DFLguy]

Did you pay retail price or did he give you a deal? One of the things I learned when researching how to purchase CCs, they never go on knock the door down sales. 10% if you are lucky. If you paid near retail he screwed you. If you paid much less then retail you learned a valuable lesson.

Above retail for the robustos ($15). He responded to me by saying he'll check with his guy, but he doesn't believe they would BS him. I don't know if I can believe he didn't know he was selling fakes.

 

[Boudie]

I'd be surprised if he didn't tell you "Well what do you think? If I was selling real Cubans I could get in big trouble!!"

 

[WestCoastIPA]

If he is a friend/colleague, and he is CLAIMING he didn’t know they were fakes, he should give you your money back. I know that’s not how the real world always works but it would be the right thing to do.

 

[Master Shake]

I'd have to imagine the guy knows. If he's giving them away I'm assuming he's getting them for dirt cheap and making a killing off them. Cheapest current retail on CoRo is $370/box of 25, and thats a great price. Theres no such thing as deals on non-maduro Cohiba and certainly no deals to be had on one of the most in demand cigars in the world.

Even if he didn't know he was selling fakes, its still scummy. He's selling and making money off a product that he knows nothing about? Even the most basic knowledge of CCs would send red flags off when seeing those bands. A brief look at the cubancigarwebsite.com page will show that the belicoso vitola you have there doesn't even exist. His line about "not thinking his guy would BS him"...give me a break. You think legit Cohibas have 2 completely different bands? If he doesn't offer you your money back, hes an asshat, simple as that.

However, and I mean no offense to this, this is what happens you jump into something with zero knowledge. You leave yourself open to get hustled, and thats what happened here. Look through the CCW site I mentioned above, lots of good info on bands and marcas, it's a great starting point for new folks and a great reference even for guys who have been in the hobby for years.

 

[Master Shake]

I'd be surprised if he didn't tell you "Well what do you think? If I was selling real Cubans I could get in big trouble!!"

The kind of individual who would say that has essentially made the assumption that you are a sucker who will bend over and take it. Thats a horrible person through and through and deserves a lot of negative karma, the kind I would be more than happy to deal out.