Hello all. I am new to this forum/site, and quite new to cigars.
Started with a friend's Monte Cristo #2, and was hooked.
Anyway, I sell sporting equipment, and was at a big event, and the Cuban national team were selling boxes of Esplendidos, for EUR100 per box (25) so I bought a shed load.
Some of the boxes were fully labeled up, and some weren't, but I bought them anyway.
This was August.
After a couple of weeks I wanted to know if I had been ripped off, so have had a look on the web and on this site.
In many ways they look the real deal. The bands are good, the seals look good, although without the barcode.
The boxes look a bit cheap, especially the latch and hinges, so I am expecting to be told they are fake.
I saw a site that showed what the insides are supposed to look like and what a fake looks like, but mine look something in between. Mostly big pieces of leaves, but with thick stems not cut out.
Taste wise, some have tasted fine, and a couple a bit bitter, but I don't have enough experience to know by taste alone.
Also these are the first/only Espendidos that I have smoked.
I have photos of the leaves and bands, boxes etc, if someone would be kind enough to take a look.
I guess that at EUR4 each, as long as most of them taste OK, I haven't lost out, but it would be good to know for sure.
And I will see the team again next year, so ...
Rgds
Gareth

Pictures would help, but just based on price alone, they sound fake to me. There shouldn't be any stems either. Post the pictures you have on a site like photobucket or flicker and post the link here.

If they were sold to you by the Cuban national team they are fake. Chances of them getting their hands on these are slim to none.

Were they the VolleyBall Team?
I remember them comming to Bulgaria this summer and selling Cohibas for even less than 100E, but I didn't buy any.
They might be real if Castro is givind then cigars instead of money for a victory
But anyway if the cigars smoke well you made a very good deal

When word gets back to the Big "C", he is going to open a can of whoop-ass on these boyz.

The cigars you got surely came from one of the players uncle whose brother inlaw has a cousin who works at El Laguito.

Sure sounds like they are fake to me, i mean if some of the boxes were labeled up and some weren't?

Cuban national teams have a habit of doing this. I highly doubt they're real... sorry.

being as we are located close to the island, we see lots of these boxes leave the island. typically they are made of cheap ply-wood and the clasps are nailed on with over-sized nails that are generally used to seal dress boxes. they are a standard currency/barter item for cubans(scientists, artists, atheletes) travelling to foreign shores.
typically 3/4 of these will be smokeable, 3rd rate tobacco. although they in no way resemble cohibas, or official habanos products they do have a street value as segundos of about $3 per stick.

cheers
drew p

Also, I would be concerned about what is inside of them. Some fakes can be decent enough but some can contain everything but tobacco.

Hello. Thanks to everyone for your thoughts. I will arrange to post the photos somewhere and let you know.
I am expecting them to be fake, but the boxes are pretty well made, and the one I pulled apart looks like reasonable tobacco leaves, I think, apart from the stems.
Bye for now.
Gareth

It would be in your best interests to keep them far away from any other cigars you may have unless you freeze them.
Fakes are notorious for being infested with the dreaded cigar beetle.
If you decide to freeze do a search on freezing cigars, the subject has been discussed here extensivly.

quote:

Pictures would help

No they wouldn't!! Whether it's a member of an athletic team, a doctor, or even the rollers that tour, you're not going to get what you think you're getting, and this is the "perk" that accompanies the privilege of travel. EVERYONE is on the take because the circumstances in Cuba are so difficult.

It's actually comical to see an athletic team return from international competition. They come back with stereos, cameras, pots and pans, air conditioners, fans, refrigerators, just about any durable good or appliance, and they get to bring it in pretty much unchecked.

Once I was in Havana when the Cuban baseball team lost to Japan, I believe it was, in the world baseball classic. The games were in San Diego, and I think it was roycigar who was hanging out with a few of the players in the hotel.

Even though they lost, they were received in Cuba as heroes, and Fidel brought the entire sporting community to the complex at Ciudad Deportiva. They marched the baseball team in to the cheers of hundreds (!!). Then Fidel greeted each of the players and gave them some sort of commemorative item, and then went to the podium to give a speech (this was before he died, of course).

As he was speaking, you could see the players in the background...not a one was paying attention to the speech. They were all talking and joking around with each other, admiring each other's sparkling new watches and necklaces and chains, playing with their new cell phones, digital cameras, and video equipment...all those "badges of capitalism" that the privilege afforded them by way of their ability on the baseball field.

Back to cigars - if you're content with 'reasonable tobacco leaves' then by all means, enjoy them! But remember that the packaging does not make the item. The boxes you're buying for $100 should fetch not a penny more than $50, and more likely, no more than $25. That's more than they're worth.

So - if you see a Cuban traveling abroad who tries to sell you cigars, max price should be $25. Start your negotiations from there.

Naturally, the Cubans, no matter their privilege, are not going to shell out $400 for a legit box of Esplendido, and then sell them to you for a bargain. As it stands, they have a deal where they get the cigars for about $10 a box, and everything above that is pure profit. So, $25 is still a great deal for them, although with people who don't know any better paying $100 and up, they might just do you the HUGE favor of walking away without any sale!! And it would be a huge favor.

ryj-

when they are smokeable, i believe they are worth between $2-3 per cigar anywhere outside of the island.

cheers
drew p

As I walked through the streets of Santiago Cuba with several locals, a gentleman approached me with a plastic bag full of "CC's". Of course I passed, they were obviously fake. The interesting thing is that the gentleman was formerly a member of the Cuban boxing team. He had been severely injured and kicked to the curb. Now he made money by having his picture made with tourists and selling fake Cubans. According to my hosts, amateur athletes in Cuba are used and abused and often sell cigars to have money.

Drew - what they cost and what they are worth are 2 different things. In Cuba, the black marketeers quite easily sell boxes of whatever for upwards of $100. If they get $25 a box, they're doing well. If you pay 2 or 3 times that much for cigars outside of Cuba, great.

Pupy - everyone in Cuba is pretty much cast aside and kicked to the curb, which is why everyone, regardless of gender, race, age, or location, is on the take. In Santiago, Trinidad, Niquero, Pinar del Rio...there's always a hustle. It's very sad. But what can the people do?

quote:

Originally posted by Pupy:
As I walked through the streets of Santiago Cuba with several locals, a gentleman approached me with a plastic bag full of "CC's". Of course I passed, they were obviously fake. The interesting thing is that the gentleman was formerly a member of the Cuban boxing team. He had been severely injured and kicked to the curb. Now he made money by having his picture made with tourists and selling fake Cubans. According to my hosts, amateur athletes in Cuba are used and abused and often sell cigars to have money.

Fake as they were represented as something else.
But i assume rolled with Cuban Tobacco none the less i have purchased these at $1.00 a piece and have been pleasantly surprised.

[/QUOTE]
Fake as they were represented as something else.
But i assume rolled with Cuban Tobacco none the less i have purchased these at $1.00 a piece and have been pleasantly surprised.[/QUOTE]

I agree. They are only fakes, if the purport to be an official marca. Otherwise, street cigars can be a pleasant treat and a good value smoke.

Cheers
Drew P

Sorry for the delay.
I have uploaded the photos here;
http://photobucket.com/
User name : GarethGruenB
Password: password1

From what everyone has said, seems these are fakes.
Some have smoked OK, so hopefully not a complete waste of EUR100 per box (times 10 boxes - ouch). My mates in China still think they are the real thing, so they are happy.
Does that make me an accessory to fakery :-)
I will be catching up with the guy who got me into cigars soon, so will let him try a few.
I just hope they are not poisonous!
Cheers
Gareth

quote:

Originally posted by itsgareth:
Sorry for the delay.
I have uploaded the photos here;
http://photobucket.com/
User name : GarethGruenB
Password: password1

From what everyone has said, seems these are fakes.
Some have smoked OK, so hopefully not a complete waste of EUR100 per box (times 10 boxes - ouch). My mates in China still think they are the real thing, so they are happy.
Does that make me an accessory to fakery :-)
I will be catching up with the guy who got me into cigars soon, so will let him try a few.
I just hope they are not poisonous!
Cheers
Gareth

Uh Gareth,

You really do not get this whole UN/PW thing do you? That UN/PW is your PRIVATE UN/PW, you do NOT give that out to anyone.

You provide us shmucks with a URL to each photo, like so: http://s238.photobucket.com/al...pyface2.jpg&newest=1