Thanks for the PM...your boy needs a new vendor. Bad news...stay far away.
Need you experts to chime in please..
- Thread starter BORIStheBLADE
- Start date
Ahh, I hope you have this figured out, but I have a sinking feeling that I know which vendor this is. Not firsthand, but enough secondhand. The best advice one can have when dealing with habanos, imo, is know your vendor, but even that may not always be enough. It is however one of the easiest ways to avoid risk.
Hey J...yea you have heard of this shadey vendor. And you are money...it's about knowing your source. Nothing worse than paying good money for fakes.
Yup, thats why I come to this place and ask before I do anything. I just have to figure out how to tell my buddy to ditch that vendor without hurting his feelings.:dunno:
I think he needs to talk to me about his purchases instead of listening to these other people he smokes with.
Anybody want some Bolivars??? HAHAHHAHHHAHAHA!
I think he needs to talk to me about his purchases instead of listening to these other people he smokes with.
Anybody want some Bolivars??? HAHAHHAHHHAHAHA!
It's been my experience that this is a true statement. Bolivar is a brand I've tried many times to enjoy but I just can't seem to acquire a taste for them.
BTW, I hope this is not a violation of board policy. I have a couple of CC sites I have used but for price comparisons, I'd like to see a few more. Send me (PM) some of yours you've used and I'll show you some of mine. :hysterica
Hear hear. More and better pics followed by smoking is the safest option.
Mitch
BOM 2/09-Keeper BOTtLe
There are some amazingly good fakes out there. It's easy to spot short filler crap cigars, but I recently had someone who should have been reputable try to sell me some boxes of fakes. Had a nice selection, maybe 20 different brand/profiles to pick from, tripple caps, long fille (although more stems), nice boxes, seals, stamps, holograms, etc. These were made to fool people who were used to seeing the real deal! I RyJ #4 that I tried wasn't bad and could have passed, if he hadn't mentioned that he had some Cohiba 40th aniversery barber poles I might have been had. I went back, did the research and took it to the guy. Caused a big blow up between him and his boss, the guy selling them was obviously thinking they were real. All of these had the "Comintur" stamp on the bottom, they are fake, and the 40th barber pole was never made.
I'm still a realtive newby myself, trust the FOG's brother.
I'm still a realtive newby myself, trust the FOG's brother.
Kurtdesign1
The Thinker
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2004
- Messages
- 1,415
Thank you. You remind me of a good point.
Sign #1; Holograms are a typical fake giveaway.
Holograms are only applied to a small bracket of cigars (on typical production) if sold in Cuba.
Now, it should be stated that some distributors apply different stickers, i.e. the authorized Mexican Importer will apply a Mexican Hologram but this is not the typical Habanos version that is often applied to counterfeits. It's a different sticker altogether.
Keep all of this in mind & file it in the bank of "possible" giveaways.
Kurtdesign1
The Thinker
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2004
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Oops, forgot to add #2.
Red Flag #2: The "Tiendes Coracal" (sp?) stamp on the bottom of boxes.
My understanding is that these are a chain of sundries stores in Cuba that DO sell cigars but are not La Casa's. I've been told that some have very little integrity, if you will, or quality control ensuring that what's actually sold on their shelves is legit.
So, even if this stamp was authentic & not applied by some overzealous counterfeiter, your cigars may even be fakes. That's not to say that they are, just another thing I'd avoid if ever considering a purchase of a box stamped with it.
Red Flag #2: The "Tiendes Coracal" (sp?) stamp on the bottom of boxes.
My understanding is that these are a chain of sundries stores in Cuba that DO sell cigars but are not La Casa's. I've been told that some have very little integrity, if you will, or quality control ensuring that what's actually sold on their shelves is legit.
So, even if this stamp was authentic & not applied by some overzealous counterfeiter, your cigars may even be fakes. That's not to say that they are, just another thing I'd avoid if ever considering a purchase of a box stamped with it.
Kurtdesign1
The Thinker
- Joined
- Dec 12, 2004
- Messages
- 1,415
I could go on all day:
Red Flag #3 - Odd size variations. Your cigars should be identicle within a box. Size variations of a few MMs are allowable but nothing more.
Red Flag #4 - Wrapper variations from box to box IS NORMAL!!! I don't understand why some people always say that "...X cigar has claro wrappers". Very rarely is this the case & often not with normal production cigars.
Now, wrapper variations WITHIN a box are not kosher. Run & run away fast if cigars vary greatly. I don't know if i've ever heard of a box where the cigars had perhaps more than a single shade difference. Very minute variations are acceptable but all cigars go through a sorting process for like coloring & should be very similar.
Has anyone seen large variations on authentic boxes? I would love to see this - Thanks in advance.
Red Flag #3 - Odd size variations. Your cigars should be identicle within a box. Size variations of a few MMs are allowable but nothing more.
Red Flag #4 - Wrapper variations from box to box IS NORMAL!!! I don't understand why some people always say that "...X cigar has claro wrappers". Very rarely is this the case & often not with normal production cigars.
Now, wrapper variations WITHIN a box are not kosher. Run & run away fast if cigars vary greatly. I don't know if i've ever heard of a box where the cigars had perhaps more than a single shade difference. Very minute variations are acceptable but all cigars go through a sorting process for like coloring & should be very similar.
Has anyone seen large variations on authentic boxes? I would love to see this - Thanks in advance.