Quote Originally Posted by Silencei2 View Post
Thanks for the input guys. I definitely agree the wrapper is not up to my expectations either but everything else looks good. After some more web scouring, some of the pictures of their maduros look to have the same qualities. But then again, I'm tricking myself into thinking what I want to believe. Oh well.
The Esplendidos were not Maduros. You should take that as more evidence they are fake, not that they are authentic.

It's easy to delude yourself... it's harder to recognize it. You've taken the first step.

As Stjohnroe said... don't beat yourself up. We all have gotten duped at one time or another. It's estimated that 95% of the "Cuban" cigars in the world are fakes. Some of them are done so well it's impossible to know they're fake until you smoke them (CC's have a very unique taste.) There is a huge market for CC's and the mark up makes it an extremely profitable enterprise. Somebody went through a lot of effort to make that box look good.

If you enjoy them, smoke them with a smile.