An introduction and some questions about fake cigars

[kleefurd]

Hello everyone. I am Clifford, a Singaporean who lives in China for the past decade and have been smoking for years, but only recently became serious and invested more into it. When I said invest, I mean buying proper desktop and electronically controlled humidors to age and stock up nicely across various brands and primarily stocking on my personal favorites. And living in China, this means my primary source of cigars are Cubans, and occasionally I get some nice Nicaraguans and Dominicans.

Personally I enjoy coffees and cigars tremendously, and nothing gives me more pleasure than a good stogie with a nice Baileys + Kahlua + coffee combo.

My Top 10 Cigars are as follows :

- H.Upmann Magnum 46 *
- H.Upmann Magnum 50
- Oliva Serie V Torpedo *
- El Rey Mundo Special Seleccion No.2 *
- Trinidad Reyes *
- Partagas Serie D No.4 *
- Partagas Serie D No.2
- Montecristo No.2
- Trinidad Robusto Extra *
- Gurka Liga VH-7 Micro Batch

The cigars you see listed above with (*) are great with coffee. Though I do occasionally indulge myself with a nice single malt like Yamazaki 17 yrs or a cognac like Otard XO Gold. My wife smokes cigar with me sometimes, and her favorite is the Trinidad Fundadores which she matches with a Korean Plum wine or Australian South West (Margaret River) fruitty wines. We have different preferences for tastes, therefore her stock occupies 1/3 of my humidor with her selections, including Hoyo Epicure No.2, Castle Hall, Montecristo No.4, and the likes. She seeks out those mild cigars signs of fruittiness and cheese. (that is why Fundadores is her favorite).

Being here in China, means that while we get blessed with loads of Cubans, we are short of everything else. From cigars to good accessories to being exposed to a lot of fake cigars. I have had my fair share of bogus stuff. Almost made hate Partagas because the first two purchases I made were fakes and I hated them and was wondering why the rest of the world rated them so high. But fortunately, I believe in second and third chances and when I finally bought a legit batch, and smoked them, fell in love, and bought two boxes the very next day.

This brings me to the question... how to spot fakes? By touch, by smell? By packing labels? How does one prevent getting ripped off?

Do you have your own favorite online stores that you buy from? Who are they? Do they ship internationally? Have you ever had your delivery of cigar all banged up?

My apologies for asking so many questions. I want to explore more different cigars, having read up Alex Bradleys, CAO, NUBs, etc online but frustrating that I can never find them in China. Believe it or not, it can quite funny to some, my CEO is my personal cigar concierge who brings me cigars everytime he passes by here for meetings. Without him, I would not have been exposed to Cain, Gurkas, Predomo Lot 23, Yestor Miranda, etc.

Hope to learn more from fellow smokers, and friends. Glad to find a pretty good mix of people in here.

[CoventryCat86]

Most people here are from the United States so they don't like to talk about purchasing Cuban cigars because they are illegal there. There are many reputable on-line sources for Cuban cigars but just about every USA based cigar board has either written or unwritten rules regarding open discussions of those sources so no one is going to answer that question for you here.

There are thousands of bits of information across the internet on how to spot fake Cuban cigars and if you search here you might find a few as well. Buying from reputable dealers is the key and so is experience which you are learning about first hand yourself.

If I were you, I'd try and track down a copy of the Min Ron NEE book "An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Post-Revolution Havana Cigars" It's a little dated at this point but its' a great resource for Cuban cigars.

[craig]

Welcome from Ottawa, Canada, where I just got some fake Cohiba Esplendidos for Christmas.

I was in Singapore this summer - the cigar prices are high there!

Best bet for you would be Hong Kong.

There are a number of US retailers that will ship internationally; however the issue is how the Chinese government handles imports, and nobody here would know about that.

I agree with the Cape Bretoner - Min Non REE's book is an excellent resource and what could only have been a labour of love, albeit opinionated in parts. My copy is dog-eared from wear.

[badwhale]

Welcome from Bitterville.

There's been many good discussions with and without pictures of spotting fakes.

Do not discuss sources.

Will

[CoventryCat86]

Welcome from Ottawa, Canada, where I just got some fake Cohiba Esplendidos for Christmas.

I was in Singapore this summer - the cigar prices are high there!

Best bet for you would be Hong Kong.

There are a number of US retailers that will ship internationally; however the issue is how the Chinese government handles imports, and nobody here would know about that.

I agree with the Cape Bretoner - Min Non REE's book is an excellent resource and what could only have been a labour of love, albeit opinionated in parts. My copy is dog-eared from wear.

"Min Ron Nee" there sparky. I ignore his insistence on capitalizing the two "E" in "Nee" because it's grammatically incorrect.

[craig]

Capital 'S' on "Sparky," Islander. ;-)

Having the family name in capitals is the usual form for non-Latin-alphabet names when the name is used in English documents intended for international consumption. MRN isn't American, so he, and his book, use non-American-English spelling and grammar.

[CoventryCat86]

Capital 'S' on "Sparky," Islander. ;-)

Having the family name in capitals is the usual form for non-Latin-alphabet names when the name is used in English documents intended for international consumption. MRN isn't American, so he, and his book, use non-American-English spelling and grammar.

Well in America he's "Nee"

[Grey]

For me cuban cigars are the best too.
My top 5
1. Montecristo - No. 2
2. Partagas - Serie D No.4
3. H.Upmann Magnum 50
4. Romeo Y Julieta - Churchills
5. Jose La Piedra - Brevas


I think it is not allowed to say or advice online shops here)
So I will just say in general. You see, most shops cut barcodes to protect their business so now it's kinda difficult to check authenticity. I personally read a lot of articles and reviews before purchasing, but now many of good reviews are paid and bad reviews are deleted... So I guess you can only purchase... smoke and feel is it cuban or not.

[CptnBlues63]

Hi from Alberta, Canada!

[CoventryCat86]

For me cuban cigars are the best too.
My top 5
1. Montecristo - No. 2
2. Partagas - Serie D No.4
3. H.Upmann Magnum 50
4. Romeo Y Julieta - Churchills
5. Jose La Piedra - Brevas


I think it is not allowed to say or advice online shops here)
So I will just say in general. You see, most shops cut barcodes to protect their business so now it's kinda difficult to check authenticity. I personally read a lot of articles and reviews before purchasing, but now many of good reviews are paid and bad reviews are deleted... So I guess you can only purchase... smoke and feel is it cuban or not.

You are so fucking stupid it's amazing. You see, any shop that has boxes with cut barcode IS SELLING FAKES. God damn boy, you are about as dumb and gullible as the day is long.....