No idea what is happening

[CoventryCat86]

That's what I was thinking. Maybe they're rejects that had imperfections or something and didn't make it into the boxes that go up for sale.



I saw the mention they were unsmokable, I was just speaking generally.

If a buddy went to Cuba and came back with some cigars he bought off some dude on the beach or in the hotel, I'd try one for sure. It's still likely to be made of actual Cuban tobacco. Heck, it could very well be a second or reject or whatever you call them in which case it could be a downright decent cigar. If it tasted like sh*t or burnt lousy, I'd toss it. But you never know until you try right........lol

As much as I hate to admit it, I may have 5 fake RyJ Churchill's coming home from Mexico with my wife later on this week. She didn't buy them at LCDH so I suspect they are fakes. Since I smoke a lot of those and have two I know for sure are the real McCoy sitting in my humi, I'll be able to tell if they're fakes fairly quickly and easily. She paid $20/each for them too. So unless they're rolled up dog turds, I'm likely to smoke them just 'cause the thought of throwing $100.00 into the garbage can galls me badly. I might save them and give them to people I don't like too if they are really gross, but if they're half way smokable, I'll choke them down.........*sighing*

It's worth noting that I told my wife not to buy Cuban's anywhere in Mexico but at the LCHD store. She told me they were over $30 USD at the LCHD.....which is what I pay for them here in Canada at my favorite B&M........she got the ones she did buy at another tobacconist that only charged $20 per stick (yes, I know, that alone screams FAKE) but hey, she was thinking of me and trying to do something nice for me so I'll say nothing if they are fake except "Thank you" and if worst comes to worst, I'll flush them down the toilet and never breathe a word of it to her for risk of hurting her feelings.

Yes, absolutely the right thing to do. Even though you told her up front to buy ONLY from a LCDH, the bottom line is she was trying to do something nice for you so you graciously accept them and smoke them. I hope in your case they can indeed be smoked which is not the case with the guy who started this thread.

[CptnBlues63]

Yes, absolutely the right thing to do. Even though you told her up front to buy ONLY from a LCDH, the bottom line is she was trying to do something nice for you so you graciously accept them and smoke them. I hope in your case they can indeed be smoked which is not the case with the guy who started this thread.

I'm hoping they're smokable too. If not, she'll never find out from me! I'll know soon enough, she's back tomorrow afternoon.

Just remember to deep-freeze possible fakes to kill the inevitable beetle eggs.

I never thought about that. Thanks for the reminder. I have a couple cigar bags and humi packs. I'll pop them in one while looking them over and trying one. If they're smokable, I'll freeze em for a few days (guess I could just stick them outside too.........LOL) before sticking sticking them in my humi with the rest of my meager stash.

If she remebers the name of the Tobacco shop in Playa del Cramen, I can give you the odds on weather or not it's real. I would guess that if it is fake it's smokeable. It's the shit you buy on the street or beach that you need to watch out for. I've bought many fakes ( knowing they where fake) for $5.00 each. they are all Mexican tobacco ( they don't have access to dominican tobacco) in fact outside of Cubans you can not get anything but Mexican cigars in Mexico. You could not get a Dominican cigar if you life depended on it in Playa del Carmen or Cancun for that matter.

All I know for sure at the moment is she did buy them in a shop. I'll ask her if she remembers the name when she gets back but I'd wager she doesn't. I know they went through many different stores that day.........lol. If she does remember I'll check that PM from you which listed the names of the reputable places and see if it's in your list. If not, well, I'll just try one and see how I like it........lol

[b.read]

Had a similar situation while in Cozumel recently. My wife ended up buying me a "Cohiba" robusto while we were there. I have the "quotes" there as I am not sure if it was real or not, I'm guessing not. Either way, it turned out to be a pretty good smoke so it didn't keep me from enjoying it...

[CptnBlues63]

So the wife made it back from Mexico and the 5 RyJ Churchill's were actually real ones. I suspect she bought them at the shop you mentioned Paddy and will confirm when we go in March.........together this time..........lol..........as I'll be going to that same shop the day after we arrive to purchase some cigars to smoke while there. I plan on trying out as many different Mexican cigars as I can in hopes of finding a few I like enough to bring some home and stash in my humi.

On a different note.............a fellow I work with was just in Cuba. He had gone last year and after returning I mentioned to him if he went again and was willing, I'd like it if he picked me up some cigars. He remembered and bought a box of Cohiba Esplendidos from "a guy at his hotel"

ROFLMAO

As soon as I heard that I knew they weren't the real McCoy but since he went to the expense (he paid $60.00 for a box of 25 - again, FAKE ALERT!) I bought 20 off him (he was giving the other 5 away to someone else) for $50 and said thank you and wasn't going to bother him with the fact these weren't what he was told they were. He then mentioned his daughter is getting married there in a month or two and asked if I'd like him to bring me some more cigars back. I said "You bet" and asked him to get me two boxes of RyJ Churchills.

I also confessed to him his were fakes and why I knew it because I wanted him to go to a LCDH store to buy my Churchills.
Reasons I knew they were fake:
1) The box had nothing on the outside, no seal, no "Habanos" sticker across the top right corner, no hologram
2) there was a seal but it was inside the box
3) the Cohiba bands we all messed up. Some weren't on straight. Some only showed 2 rows of dots above the Cohiba name and on quite a few, the Cohiba name was off centered

However, as I said earlier in this thread, I would try them and I did. First I took them home and pulled out the one and only Cohiba Esplendido I have in my possession and did a side-by-side comparison. Color, texture, cap, and smell all matched up pretty darn good so I smoked one. It was goood!

Are they Cohiba Esplendido I wondered, perhaps seconds or rejects!?!? Beats the heck out of me. Having only ever had 2 of those before I can't tell. I do know I enjoyed it so I figure at $2.50 each I did ok..........at least I'm not making them into fertilizer or tossing them out, and they are decent and smokable........lol........just goes to show, sometimes you can get lucky!