Does anyone have a phone number for Dongabriel.net?
There web site seems to be down.
Thanks
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Does anyone have a phone number for Dongabriel.net?
There web site seems to be down.
Thanks
International Call Center & Customer Support Numbers*
Spain - Call Center (Main)
Badajoz : (++34) 924 286 314
Portugal - Customer Support Numbers
Lisboa : 707 300 350
United Kingdom - Customer Support Numbers
London : 0121 288 1586
United States of America - Customer Support Numbers
New York : (845) 228 - 8728
Washington : (206) 801 - 1898
California : (510) 962 - 5485
Florida : (407) 278 - 5156
Pennsylvania : (215) 543 - 6382
Texas : (214) 556 - 5915
Australia - Customer Support Numbers
Sidney : 02 8011 3945
Thanks Kevin,
Got it squared away when web site came back up.
Would NOT reccomend them...
Still waiting on order from First week of June!
No phone calls returned. Two emails answered very slowly but have not followed my instructions to cancel order.
For those who are considering making a purchase from Don Gabriel, I've copied and pasted a thread I wrote at another forum.
The saga of my relationship with Don Gabriel, Gabriel Nogueira de Matos, has been going on for over a year. I bought a box of his "full" coronas over a year ago. They were very typical clear Havanas. I ordered another box of "full" but received the medium, which were advertised as having binder and filler of Cuban tobacco, but a Connecticut shade wrapper. They had no semblance of a Cuban profile. It was pretty obvious that there was no Cuban tobacco in this cigar. I emailed Don Gabriel and expressed my displeasure. He was apologetic, but unable to provide any explanation for the difference in his ad copy and the cigar, itself.
I let a year go by, then, recently, sent the following email.
I received the following reply.Quote:
Original Message ----- From: "Steven Rossellini" <srossellini@yahoo.com>
To: <cigars@dongabriel.net>
Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2006 3:27 PM
Subject: A free sampler, shipped free?
"Would you like to have a sampler shipped free? Send your address to cigars@dongabriel.net"
Is this correct? I've purchased two boxes of Don Gabriel coronas previously. One box was superb; the other was not satisfactory. In fact, a friend who is a chemist, ran the acid test developed by Lay-Keow Ng, a scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, and found no Cuban tobacco in the blend of the second box. I see from your website that this "medium" blend is no longer offered. I would like to become a regular customer, but I want to be certain that the cigars I receive are blended of Cuban tobacco and the quality of the first box I received from you.
Best wishes.
Steven Rossellini srossellini@yahoo.com
I sent the following repy:Quote:
Dear Steven,
If you buy the Full line, the only one that is now available you will be buying a 100% cuban tobacco cigar. The acid test can't work in this situation and it's not accurate, you need to inform your friend about this.
We've done several tests in several laboratories both in USA and UK and they can't say, or confirm anything, do you know why ?
Is very simple, the tobacco that is now being grown in Nicaragua is from 100% cuban seeds, thus the DNA would be the same. Anyway, I guarantee you that the cigars now available are 100% Cuban Tobacco, maybe you bought your second box of our Medium Blend.
Please, do not hesitate to let me know if I may be of further assistance,
Best Regards,
Gabriel Nogueira de Matos
Since this last email, I have received no response from Don Gabriel, nor have I received a free sampler, as promised. I would suggest that one tread cautiously before ordering anything from his site. I think the prospect of having his 100% Cuban tobacco Don Gabriels tested via the Lay-Keow Ng acid test, he may find unappealing.Quote:
From: Steven Rossellini <srossellini@yahoo.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 27, 2006 10:44 PM
To:cigars@dongabriel.net
Subject:Re: A free sampler, reply...Lay-Keow Ng Acid testDon Gabriel....
First, thank you, sincerely, for your very prompt reply. I do not wish to be argumentative, but I am consulting with a friend who is a cell biologist at the University of Minnesota Agricultural Research Station in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The Lay-Keow Ng test is not DNA based, but, rather is based on the acid profile in the tobacco, which is solely determined by the chemical composition of the soil where it was grown. Cuban tobacco has an acid profile which has never been replicated outside of Cuba. It has nothing to do with DNA or native seed origin. Below is the URL for a short article from Cubanet which describes the test. The acid test has been very successful and, as I understand from my colleague, 100% accurate since 2001.
http://www.cubanet.org/CNews/y01/apr01/06e8.htm
Lay-Keow Ng first presented her findings, "Solid Phase Extraction and GC/MS for the Analysis of Cigar Tobaccos" at a conference at the University of Waterloo, Canada on May 2, 2000.
Conference Extract: To aid customs officials in their efforts to prosecute smugglers of suspect Cuban cigars, Lay-Keow Ng a research scientist at the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency and colleagues use a technique called principle component analysis. Findings: Tobacco contains a very, complex mixture of chemicals, Ng explains. "All cigars are made from leaves of the same tobacco plant species, but the levels of various chemicals, especially certain organic acids, vary greatly depending on where the plant was grown and how the harvested tobacco was cured before being made into cigars." Ng's team has identified eight organic acids that occur in a very specific characteristic ratio in Cuban cigars. "It is impossible for acid proportions in cigars from non-Cuban grown tobacco to reflect the Cuban signature," Ng says. Although many imposter Cuban cigars can be identified based on their external appearance and packaging says Ng, "This scientific test results in evidence that is 100% reliable, valid and fully acceptable in Canadian courts."
J. Agric. Food Chem., 49 (3), 1132 -1138, 2001. 10.1021/jf001210y S0021-8561(00)01210-3
Published 2001 American Chemical Society, Characterization of Cigar Tobaccos by Gas Chromatographic/Mass Spectrometric Analysis of Nonvolatile Organic Acids: Application to the Authentication of Cuban Cigars, authors-Lay-Keow Ng,* Michel Hupé, Micheline Vanier, and Dennis Moccia...Laboratory and Scientific Services Directorate, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, 79 Bentley Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0L5
Received for review October 3, 2000. Revised manuscript received December 21, 2000. Accepted December 26, 2000.
Abstract:A reliable method based on gas chromatographic/mass spectrometric (GC/MS) profiling of nonvolatile organic acids is described for the characterization of cigars. The method involves an aqueous extraction of ground tobacco and selective isolation of the acids by simply stirring strong anion exchange (SAX) disks in the aqueous tobacco extract. The acids are then directly silylated on the disk with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyl-trifluroacetamide (MSTFA) in acetonitrile in an autosampler vial. Elution of the derivatized acids in situ allows the sample to be directly analyzed by GC/MS without further sample handling. Compared to the conventional disk-extraction technique using a vacuum manifold, this method is much less labor intensive, and is desirable for multiple sample analysis. Nicotinic acid, succinic acid, glyceric acid, malic acid, pyroglutamic acid, threonic acid, citric acid, uracil, and an unidentified acid were reproducibly quantified in tobacco samples. Principal component analysis (PCA) of the acid profiles of the tobaccos of Cuban cigars and non-Cuban cigars shows an absolute separation of the two groups, indicating that the acid profiles are invaluable for the authentication of Cuban cigars.
Hmmm-I see it is late in the day, but I have to say avoid Don Gabriel. I ordered 2 boxes of his house cigars a month ago-no sign of the cigars, no response to the emails. I've requested that the funds are returned, but so far, nothing. Watch this space....
Check this out: http://don-gabriel-fraud.110mb.com/
Aloha, msq!
Been doing some business with the DG outfit, with varying success, always delivered though big problems in keeping promised schedules, and got curious about what is said on the site mentioned. But - blank page! Opens, but shows nothing. What the hey?
Is there any other way of getting to it?
Cool breezes, warm smokes,
Grim up North
Wtf???
'The' thread for one post, it seems :smiley16:.
The page described a problem some guy had with DG (they published his details and accused him of theft). The page is removed apparently.Quote:
Originally Posted by Grim up North