Monte #4 Concerns

Concern/Question #1

I have a friend who found a partial box of Cuban Montecristo #4's in his dad's basement. He said his dad has probably had them for 3 or 4 years and they have not been in a humidor since he has had them. He gave them to me to see if they could be restored. I am doubtful his dad has a reliable source and I can't find a date code on the box so I know the chances of them being real are slim to none. I live in a very humid area and they were stored in a basement. The wrappers were not brittle when I got them. I looked them over for signs of beetles and mold, didn't see any so I put them in my coolidor a few weeks ago that stays at 65rh. I was concerned about wrappers splitting but I checked them this morning and they look good to me.

Concern/Question #2

Whether they are genuine or not, assuming they are still good after not being properly maintained for several years, they may still be good smokes. They seem to be well constructed and they smell good. I just don't trust my noob expertise to any of this. With all that said, I would like to send a couple of trusted members of this board (1000 post minimum) 1 to inspect or even smoke (if you're brave enough I guess), and let me know what you think. If they are real or not, if they are worth smoking or not. If you are willing to be my expert guinea pig I will send a bonus cigar with it, one that I know is good. :smiley37:

If there are any willing let me know and I will get them out to the first two responders with 1000+ posts.

Thanks. :smiley20:

Can you post pic's of the box?

Also, get a couple clear close ups of the bands.

The following thread offers some views of legit and non legit Montecristo bands. There's a few others here too if you care to search for them.

http://www.cigarsmokers.com/threads/...ht=fake+cubans

Also, on the cigar afficiando website they had an article about fake cubans that showed a bunch of legit and not legit bands but I couldn't find it.

I don't have a closeup of the but here are the pictures I have with me at the moment.

Attachment 3322Attachment 3323Attachment 3324Attachment 3325Attachment 3326

I will try to remember to get a closeup of the band tomorrow.

Thanks guys. :smiley1:

Give them a few more weeks and fire one up.

Real or fake don't matter as long as its a good tasting cigar.

Gregg, I love your simplistic approach.

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Originally Posted by kingbeefy

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Originally Posted by Mangyrat

Give them a few more weeks and fire one up.

Real or fake don't matter as long as its a good tasting cigar.

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Gregg, I love your simplistic approach.

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I agree. A friend went to Cuba and while there remembered I smoke cigars. Nice guy that he is, he bought a box of Cohiba Esplendidos off of "a guy that worked at his hotel" Needless to say, I knew immediately they were not real Esplendidos. But, they were real Cuban tobacco and decently rolled. I suspect most fakes bought in Cuba are rolled with floor sweepings or perhaps tobacco the roller grew in his backyard, they can still be a decent smoke. At $2.00 per cigar, I wasn't unhappy about buying the fakes and smoked them as "yard 'gars" while doing yard stuff. Just remember though, there's no guarantee you won't find a dog turd rolled in the middle of your fake Cuban.

The following link shows a comparison of fake as vs real cuban boxes.

http://havanajournal.com/cigars/cohibas-box

Have a look at the page and then you will have an idea what to look for on this box to see if it's real.

One of the best "cheap" Cuban cigars (~$10.00 each) I've ever had was a counterfeit Montecristo #2. Oddly enough - they even labeled the cigar box as "counterfeit", even though all the other markings looked like a Cuban Montecristo box. I'd say the flavor profile seemed to be Cuban - though it could have just as easily been some other blend that closely resembled a Cuban flavor profile.

The killer for me - once I smoked them all, I could not find the source to get more... :smiley19:

The other funny thing - I recently would have said the cigars KingBeefy is showing were too "rough" looking to be a legit Montecristo. But - one of the biggest collectors I know recently said aged Cuban cigars often look "rough" like that - and that he was not willing to automatically write them off.

If those are fake Cubans and they came from Cuba - chances are they will taste and smoke very good. However - if they're fake Cubans that came from Jamaica - I'd immediately toss 'em! :smiley11:

Intriguing it has a CUBATOBACcO stamp on thr box

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Originally Posted by kevin7

Intriguing it has a CUBATOBACcO stamp on thr box

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What does it mean to have that stamp?

From some interweb place:
"This is the new stamp released in conjunction with the Cubatabaco Leaf logo stamp, and the introduction of stamped factory codes. The Cubatabaco Leaf logo stamp was replaced by the new Habanos s.a. logo in 1994."

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Originally Posted by ashauler

From some interweb place:
"This is the new stamp released in conjunction with the Cubatabaco Leaf logo stamp, and the introduction of stamped factory codes. The Cubatabaco Leaf logo stamp was replaced by the new Habanos s.a. logo in 1994."

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So that should be added to the list of reasons of suspicion I guess. If I had to assume I would say fake, all this info helps. Maybe they will still be good smokes though. Anyone want to take the offer to get one to take a closer look at? Like I said, even if it isn't worth smoking it will arrive with a friend that should make up for it. If not no problem, thanks again for all the help.

I thought you all were supposed to be a bunch of jerks here, you're going to ruin your reputation with helpful feedback like this. :smiley36:

Hell Im no uber expert but I will trade ya 2 for 2 blind from my stash

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Originally Posted by kevin7

Hell Im no uber expert but I will trade ya 2 for 2 blind from my stash

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I'm in.

Cool,PM replied to

Received Kevin's end today. This deal is done. Thanks man. :smiley20:

KB, I need an update on these "Cubans". This story is real intriguing - lots of ins, lots of outs imo.

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Originally Posted by kn1v3s0ut

KB, I need an update on these "Cubans". This story is real intriguing - lots of ins, lots of outs imo.

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Well, there is nothing conclusive that they are real, nothing conclusive that they aren't. The only thing I know for sure is they are really old and a really, really cool dude gave them to me. I have several left so I may try one this weekend. If I do I will let you and the rest of the board know.

Do any of these still exist, or have you dispatched them all KB?

I still have some. You want some or all? Some of the wrappers are cracked, but none are too bad. They are all smokeable and the last one I had a year or so ago smoked really well.

Throw some in with my FF winnings.

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Originally Posted by kn1v3s0ut

Throw some in with my FF winnings.

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Can do. Will do.

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Originally Posted by kn1v3s0ut

Throw some in with my FF winnings.

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What FF winnings? :smiley15:

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Originally Posted by ashauler

What FF winnings? :smiley15:

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I thought 1st place got 25, 2nd got 0, and 3rd got 5.

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Originally Posted by kingbeefy

I thought 1st place got 25, 2nd got 0, and 3rd got 5.

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Yes, I seem to remember something very similar. And, now, this box sitting in my office makes sense.
I'll fly it your way tomorrow.

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Originally Posted by ashauler

Yes, I seem to remember something very similar. And, now, this box sitting in my office makes sense.
I'll fly it your way tomorrow.

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Sounds very rad.

I'm going to bust (a similar) one out tonight for non-pictoral review / comparison.

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Originally Posted by badwhale

I'm going to bust (a similar) one out tonight for non-pictoral review / comparison.

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I hope there are maximum floor scraps in it for you. :)

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Originally Posted by kingbeefy

I hope there are maximum floor scraps in it for you. :)

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And we're off...

Done. My vote is counterfeit. Kevin, what was your assessment?

IIRC My assessment was that I couldn't tell if the were fake or not. I think they were old and the cubatobacco seal was legit. I enjoyed mine and since then I have a couple of old assed Cubans that smoked similar. Remember that through the years Cuba made a lot of cigars and all were not rolled by grade 9 rollers making every cigar look like a SigloVI. I have some hella old stuff that seems a lot different than they did in the early 90S,neither better of worse just different.

I finally tried one of these yesterday... and it was a turd. Maybe I got the runt of the litter, but yeah, bad. It burned fairly consistently but the draw was horrendous. This surprised me because the cigar was still a bit dry and crispy, esp the wrapper. The taste was just a blah kind of tobacco flavor, no real character or defining tastes to it. They look cool in the humidor, and that's about it. Thanks KB for trying to resurrect these and for giving me these latest two. I will think of you now, as you've read my review, reacting in this manner..

https://youtu.be/TKIFa7aBt0U?t=14

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Originally Posted by kn1v3s0ut

I finally tried one of these yesterday... and it was a turd. Maybe I got the runt of the litter, but yeah, bad. It burned fairly consistently but the draw was horrendous. This surprised me because the cigar was still a bit dry and crispy, esp the wrapper. The taste was just a blah kind of tobacco flavor, no real character or defining tastes to it. They look cool in the humidor, and that's about it. Thanks KB for trying to resurrect these and for giving me these latest two. I will think of you now, as you've read my review, reacting in this manner..

https://youtu.be/TKIFa7aBt0U?t=14

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Thanks for the review. I still am not sure about then being legit. If I had to lean I would lean to "no". Though, the blandness could be a product of age as well. As I understand it, cigars will age well to a point, but after that aging will result in less body and flavor. It could also be a way overaged fake.

I did my best!