I came across these faux Cohibas and had to laugh, so I thought I'd share:

http://havanajournal.com/forums/viewthread/466/

The real horror is when he takes one apart.

:S

oh man.. I don't think I have seen a band as bad as that one...

and when he takes it apart, you'd think there was a beetle infestation in there, and all the tabacoo is full of holes.. then you realise it's tobacco shreds....

oh yeah.. great looking esplendido.. and I think from one of the pics, it looks like a glass-top....

what a joke

I just got back from the Dominican Republic and you could buy these babies at every street vendor to be found. I don't know the price as I didn't want to look interested in them. Definetly bad fakes.

Damn! Sucks to see someone get duped like I did. Those bands were just horrible though...looks like someone's kids colored in the boxes with crayons!

WOW....those bands look like they were hand painted or something.

By far the worst fakes I've ever seen

I think whoever makes these fakes isn't hoping to sell them to real aficionados. He's best customers are probably the guys who do not smoke but know Cohibas are the best, or more common, a smoker's cousin/brother/brother-in-law/father-in-law etc.. buying them as a gift for someone who smokes back home. And of course it'd be rude to tell him/her that what he brought is fake, so you end up having them sit in your humi for years.

Whoever sells these would be an idiot to think they can pass on a real aficionado. There are much better fakes that still won't pass.

"of course it'd be rude to tell him/her that what he brought is fake, so you end up having them sit in your humi for years. "

i have been fighting this one for the last couple of days...
my brother in-law showed up with two monte #2's and i was stoked.

for the most part my brother in law is pretty good with the getting cigars from reliable sources; however, these are terrible...

i guess, as the story goes he picked them up in costa rica from a "merchant"... the bands are so terrible, my 4 year old spotted the difference between the fakes and my petite edmundo's i have in my humi ... as did my wife who really tries to ignore my cigar "hobby".

what do you do? tell my nice, kind, brother in law that he bought 25 dog rockets?, or play the fool?

Just play the fool but try to point his attention that the cigars he got "weren't fresh" or anything of that sort, to discourage him from buying from the same source again.

I had my first fake cohiba robusto about 2 weeks ago. I bought it at a B&M in toronto. It seemed like an up and up place. I was sceptical right away the prices were too low.

When I sweezed the cigar it was under packed very spongy. That was my first indication. Second was smoking it, burned way too fast and the ash was just black, with almost no grey, and the last think was the taste. No flavour whatsoever.

I'm not going back there.

I was only able to bear smoking not even half of it and then I had to take it apart to check what was in the rest.

If you want the name of the place you can email me.

I used to get a lot of crappy cigars because my friends and family know that I like cigars. I used to play the fool, but about four years ago I stopped. Now if someone brings me a cigar that I know is fake, I simply thank them in my most gracious tone with a big smile - they deserve that.

Then I look at them with an eyebrow raised and in a dead pan tone I ask, "Do you know that it's fake?" - see, they kind of deserve that too. The thing is I was a catalyst for these poor people to go and give good money to jerks who make counterfeit cigars.

So now they are afraid to buy me cigars, which is fine by me, OR they have been receptive and interested to learn a bit about the faux cigar "industry."

i think they gave a child with tourettes a paint brush and had him paint those cohiba bands! lol
(i oppoligize in advance if i offended any children with tourettes here at ca)

quote:

Originally posted by Chris Alexander:
"of course it'd be rude to tell him/her that what he brought is fake, so you end up having them sit in your humi for years. "

i have been fighting this one for the last couple of days...
my brother in-law showed up with two monte #2's and i was stoked.

for the most part my brother in law is pretty good with the getting cigars from reliable sources; however, these are terrible...

i guess, as the story goes he picked them up in costa rica from a "merchant"... the bands are so terrible, my 4 year old spotted the difference between the fakes and my petite edmundo's i have in my humi ... as did my wife who really tries to ignore my cigar "hobby".

what do you do? tell my nice, kind, brother in law that he bought 25 dog rockets?, or play the fool?

I'd tell him. No point in letting make the same mistake twice. I'd be subtle about it though, no need to make him fell like an ass. He'll probably thank you.
I would never buy any cigar in Costa Rica, they are know for having tons of fakes.

Don't see anything wrong with telling a good friend or close relative the real deal about fake cigars gifts.

Educating them is the key. I make it clear to all my family and friends, if they wanted to buy me smokes, regardless of country of origin, then they needed to run the source through me. I also provided them plenty of online resources. I took the opportunity at all family gatherings and get togethers to "talk" about my cigar hobby. It took a few years, but I've been able to properly educate my family on how to give proper cigar gifts. To the displeasure of a few sister-in-laws, I am now not the only cigar smoker in the family, and have three TRUE BOTLs!

So don't think your going to hurt there feelings or seem ungrateful by telling them the real deal. Just be tactful and give them the straight scoop, and provide some education. Trust me they will appreciate the truth, and so will you when that next box of Cohibas is legit!