most counterfeited cigars?

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

perhaps we can all pool our resources to keep others from falling into traps some of us have stumbled into. my only nasty episode was getting a box of fake cohiba esplendidos from what I thought to be a stand up guy. price was right (not too cheap as most fakes are; "if it's too good to be true..."), and the box code checked out. he eventually refunded my money.

okay, these are some of the fakies I have personally seen:

- cohiba esplendidos (can you say glasstops?)
- cohiba piramide el
- cohiba siglo VI
- hoyo de monterrey piramide el
- hoyo de monterrey double corona
- cohiba millenium jar (fakes say "balboa" and have black ink at the bottom)
- montecristo millenium jar ("balboa")
- cohiba 35th anniversario jar (no such thing, but the bottom is nearly authentic)
- partagas piramide el
- partagas 8-9-8v (crappiest looking fakes, ever)
- montecristo no. 2

any others you have seen?

if there is enough interest, I might be able to build a fakes gallery to educate others.

 

[Black Dog]

I think a "fakes gallery" would be a great idea!

 

[tripp]

I agree with the fakes gallery. I saw that over at C/A, they have a pretty indepth one. Maybe just let people know about it.

 

[Embers]

Yes, great idea. I am light years away from being as well versed as many botls here on spotting fakes. A gallery or even pointers and warnings are always very welcome in my eyes.

 

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

I haven't visited cA in a while. has their fakes gallery been updated with info other than pictures of authentic and fake bands?

what I have in mind is a more compresensive gallery. one pitting fakes with their legitimate cigars side by side, so others can get a better visual.

 

[Newt]

My only concern for a "fakes" gallery would be that counterfiters would have better tools to do their job better

 

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

here's a bit of a teaser of what sort of information and pictorials will be provided:

fake is on the right, genuine article on the left. first you'll notice the obvious length differences.

upon closer inspection you'll notice some discrepancies on their bands

1. the golden arch bordering the top half of the authentic cigar is thinner than the counterfeit version. you'll also notice that it is also thinner than the bottom half of it. whereas, the fake one has the same width top and bottom.

2. the gray detailing on the genuine band is not the same width as it's golden continuation. you don't see this same transitional step on the fake cigar.

3. the authentic cigar has the correct spelling. you'll notice that on the fake one they left out an "n" in "millennium"

4. as pointed out earlier. the bottom half of the golden arch is wider at the bottom on the authentic cigar. it is the same lenght, both top and bottom on the rip off

5. although, not easily noticeable the habanos leaf logo on the authentic has dark blue veins on the top half of the logo, and the bottom half is black (just like the leaf logo on the chevrons in boxes!). the veins on the fake one are black and very thin and not very uniform.

6. the grey stripe under the "habanos 2000" logo on the counterfeit version is thicker than the genuine article.

hope this helps a bit.

 

[tripp]

I have not been over at C/A in a long long time so I dont know if they have updated it.

As far as the fakers studying the fakes online, I think they do that already and are probaly getting better at the bands but the easy way to spot will be by measuring them and checking the whole cigar out.

Buy from a reputable place and persons and that will help reduce it. It will not eliminate it. There will always be crooks out there.

:smt031

 

[Mad Dawg]

Add Cohiba Robustos to your list of faked cigars. My first "CoRO" was a fauxhiba. Mind you, despite the fact that the band was legit, I KNEW the cigar was a fake before I smoked it. It was made with Cuban tobacco, but was almost 1/4" too long and had several other obvious flaws. Dissecting the butt revealed the presence of short filler in the mix.

I think it's safe to say that Cohibas in general are faked more than any other marca, but that no cigar (well, aside from Guantanamera or a few other MMs) is immune from faking. ALWAYS deal with a trusted vendor!

 

[vewyphishy]

I saw some pretty amusing fakes in Cozumel. There was a box of Siglo VI with EL bands on them. I asked the guy at the counter to explain a little more about them. He said that these were produced exclusively for Cozumel. I knew he was full of it... so I just kept baiting him on. His story started running in circles and I could tell he was getting upset. He cut to the chase "do you want to buy or not?" No thanks!

Oh, they were also $40 a stick.

Another shop had a box of Cohiba Piramides ELs... except out of the 12 or so sticks that were left, no 2 looked even remotely the same. They were of different lengths (some were off by almost an inch), gauges, and wrapper color.

By far, the most counterfeited that I saw those few days were without a doubt Cohiba. I recognized a few Partagas and Monte fakes only once, but I'm sure there were plenty more that I overlooked.

 

[jerdog]

I would say mostly cohiba's and montecristos, always seem to be the most popular to buy, and counterfeited.

 

[DRL1211]

I would love to see more pics comparing the real and fakes.

 

[GuyMcBeerdrinker]

I would love to see more pics comparing the real and fakes.

if there is enough interest and if it's okay by the mods I'll do something similar to the one I did for the millenniums on a greater scale. pitting fakes and authentics side-by-side. but it would take a team effort to pull this off. I currently have 5 fakes in my reference collection and would need a lot more. and of course each picture will have a "botl" watermark to keep ebay/yahoo crooks from stealing our pictures of authentics and using them for their auctions.

 

[DRL1211]

I think it's a great idea!


Mods?

 

[stogies&hoagies]

Nice post Guy, Very helpful. In the case of the above picture, unless you are familiar with the real deal, it would be very easy to get screwed. Other than Millennium being mispelled (which I can't see in this case on my monitor) I probably wouldn't have known anything was wrong just by visual inspection.

 

[smokem94]

I'll second that motion.

 

[BobK898]

Definitely Cohiba because of the price it commands, more profit for them. I think it would be useful to publish a list of retailers who are known to sell fakes so others could avoid and not fall prey.

 

[CharterCaptain]

Guy, this is a great idea. The quality of fakes has come a long way since the days of CA's counterfeit gallery. There are many good resources out there but it would be nice to have them all in one place. A pictorial with side by side comparisons would help many newbie's and even some more seasonded smokers with identifying suspect stock. Along with the cigars, pics of boxes should be included with a list of obvious discrepancies, as many have been posted lately at various cigar forums. I'd be glad to help in anyway I can. The old saying "it's Cuba, anythings possible" is making it far too easy for vendors of fakes nowadays. Thanks for taking the initiative on this and I hope it pans out.

 

[hawkan2580]

I have no problem with such a gallery myself. The only thing I ask (not speaking on behalf of anyone but myself) is be careful to only include known and proven fugazis... I have personally seen many discrepancies between different batches of 100% legimit stock.. the printery ran out of the correct version of green and blended something close.. one factory ran out of boxes so they bought some from a nearby factory and the branding into the box of hecho amano was in another place than normal etc etc...

So all I am saying, sure, do the gallery but keep it real.

The funniest thing I have seen on a legitimit box was the word super corona with the following font discrepency.. SUper Corona..... and it was a 100% legitimit box.. I saw the documents for the mastercase and the shipment route..

Turned out that they had ran out of stickers and resorted to use a test run from the printery with this mistake on them....

Had I not known the vendor (a habanos sa distributer) personally, seen the documentations and seen the official habanos Sa explanation for it (they recommended the vendor to sell them as singles and had discounted the mastercase in the wholesale price)... I would have shouted fugazi until I smoked it...

 

[Mad Dawg]

I hear ya, Hawkan. I have a box of 100% legitimate Punch Monarcas that is missing a papeleta and the "25 Monarcas" paper on the side. As you say, these things happen. Cuban cigar manufacturers improvise, and expecting totral consistency from them is naive, at best.

I've also seen totally legitimate bands on obviously fake cigars. Hell, there's a web site that is a one-stop source for bands, seals, etc, - all real.

IMO, any gallery of fakes should include a disclaimer that sometimes, something that looks fugazi can be real....