Let's play "Real or Fake" (Davidoff edition)

[Bruce T.]

A friend was in the Dominican Republic and bought this for me in a cigar shop. He is not likely to spend more than $10 on a cigar so I have my doubts. I can spot a fake CC no problem but I have no experience with Davidoff. I have never even tried one. What do you think ?

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[Merovius]

Would like to see the back of the band.

 

[ZippoGeek]

At first glance, it seems legit. The label's font looks razor sharp and isn't too garish / blingy. It also looks like it has the correct Davidoff raised bump ring. The paper itself looks to be of the same semi-gloss, high quality type that I've seen with most Davidoffs. But like @Merovius said, let's see the back...it should read GENEVE (with the first E accented) on the left and GENEVA on the right.

 

[bwhite220]

Looks like someone took a basic cigar and fit an authentic Davidoff band and foot on the stick. So, authentic band on a non-Davidoff stick.

 

[ZippoGeek]

Looks like someone took a basic cigar and fit an authentic Davidoff band and foot on the stick. So, authentic band on a non-Davidoff stick.

You might be right; I recall that the Millennium I had was maduro. I don't think they make it in natural, as the stick in question looks to be...

 

[bwhite220]

You might be right; I recall that the Millennium I had was maduro. I don't think they make it in natural, as the stick in question looks to be...

Yeah, that doesn't look like the typical perfect Davidoff stick plus the band is pretty grungy looking.

 

[VeLoRoK]

The two bands being different colors sense suspect to me.

 

[Xavier Dredo]

I vote fake

 

[ak2000]

No way would Davidoff sell a cigar as a first with the head looking like that, and the wrapper color is too light for a Millennium, assuming the color in the picture is accurate. Fake!

 

[ZippoGeek]

and the wrapper color is too light for a Millennium,

I think you're right. El fake-o!

 

[Bruce T.]

Thanks for playing. I assumed it was a fake but I wasn't familiar with the brand details so rather than study it too hard I thought I'd post it to see what came up. I appreciate the help.
Davidoff does make a "Natural" in the Millennium Series. Here are the main errors in the cigar as I have now noticed.
The wrapper is not a consistent color. I find this to be extremely common in most fakes.
The construction was good, but not great. Not what I assume is Davidoff quality.
The band detail looks fine to me but the two bands are a different shade. That's a big no-no.
Here's the easiest one. When I looked at the back of the cigar the bands were not glued in a perfect line. They were slightly crossed. That would never pass quality inspections.
The guy who gave it to me is just starting his cigar journey so even though it was a gift I think I'll tell him to help him in the future. Before he left for Dominican he asked my advice. I gave him names of good Dominican cigars and told him to only purchase cigars from a store or from someone you watch rolling. He went on a guided tour of a city and the tour guide brought them to a store and said everything was legit there. He bought several fake CC's as well as the fake Davidoffs. The cigar world is a tricky place.

 

[Merovius]

Here's the easiest one. When I looked at the back of the cigar the bands were not glued in a perfect line. They were slightly crossed. That would never pass quality inspections.

Thats what I wanted to see because the bands are different shades; I wanted to see how sloppy the glue application was. Davidoff is usually immaculate, Fuente Opus not so much. Also, that wrapper looks pretty bad, its claro and the Millennium is colorado+

FYI - fairly common to see fake Davidoffs in the DR
http://cigarpress.com/fakes-arent-just-for-cubans

Btw, saw a guy in Roatan rolling cigars on a dock in town. He was applying Cuban bands to them and people were still buying them. Most tourists dont care about leaf grade/quality they just want a cheap stick.