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Cigar Aficionado Guide To Counterfeit Bands
#1
I had seen this article before and it took me a while to find it today.
I thought it was helpful.

 

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Counterfeit_Gallery/0,3390,,00.html#content
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#2
The information on that page is great but the bands on Cuban cigars is one of the easiest things to counterfeit..their is a website that sells the original bands, box seals and other authenticity markers. The best way to protect yourself from fake products is knowing your source, and being intelligent about what Cuban cigars smell and taste like.....if it doesn't have that twang, its most likely fake.
Not only do I not know what's going on, I wouldn't know what to do about it if I did.
George Carlin
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#3
Identifying is a progression:  Construction, look, band, the seal, how the seal is placed on the box, the box, and the paper lining the box.  All can be good but at least one of these is always off when it comes to counterfeiters. 

For money's and time's sake they make it as authentic looking as possible but still have to cut corners in the process.

I go to Mexico twice a year and do not even buy from street vendors.  I only acquire my Cubans from the hotel or La Casa del Habano in Cancun.  Even some of the nice storefronts have some good Cubans and decent prices.  But they also have some excellent counterfeits.

One misstep that I have seen most is this:  The paper that lines the box on counterfeits is too thin and has a finger cut at a 45 degree angle in the corner.  Authentic Cubans are packaged with a thicker paper with a rounded corner cut.  I never call them on it though as its a common mistake and I don't want to alert them that I know it.  I just say "no thanks".

Cohiba's label is also a common counterfeit and there are ton's of articles regarding those issues.  I love Esplendidos and I buy the real deal from the hotel.  I have bought, smoked, then kept the band when shopping to help in comparisons.

I have only seen a handful of street vendors with the same Esplendido band as I had but they rarely produce a box for me to see.  Again I just pass but its a fun game to play as  let my wife shop for her trinkets.

 

Daryn

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#4
Great info. I wish they would show them on a white background.  There is more reading here than my brain can handle. Awesome read though.

http://www.cigarnexus.com/counsel/counterfeit/
.

We cross our bridges when we come to them and burn them behind us, with nothing to show for our progress except a memory of the smell of smoke, and a presumption that once our eyes watered.

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#5
i was more intrigued with the Dominican (Padron & Opus) fakes. My brain is not yet geard to watch for fakes in these lines. Although I only get them from well known stores.
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#6
[user=35]Skipper the cigar aFISHinodo[/user] wrote:
Quote:i was more intrigued with the Dominican (Padron & Opus) fakes. My brain is not yet geard to watch for fakes in these lines. Although I only get them from well known stores.

imho you would spot the fake immediately, skip. i've only smoked a fraction of the time you have, and i'm pretty darn sure i could tell if a padron or opus was fake. they can put the best labels on the best constructed sticks... it's still gotta burn and taste like the real deal.
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#7
great info here...thanks for the Link dude
I love when people think I'm psychologically disturbed cause it means I overloaded their neurological nerves
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#8
Bungalowbill Wrote:[user=35]Skipper the cigar aFISHinodo[/user] wrote:
Quote:i was more intrigued with the Dominican (Padron & Opus) fakes. My brain is not yet geard to watch for fakes in these lines. Although I only get them from well known stores.

imho you would spot the fake immediately, skip. i've only smoked a fraction of the time you have, and i'm pretty darn sure i could tell if a padron or opus was fake. they can put the best labels on the best constructed sticks... it's still gotta burn and taste like the real deal.

BB, I still think I would more likely just assume I got a bad egg or didn't store the stick properly....but I am the trusting sort.

Still, I don't buy too many Padrons from strangers in dark alleys...
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#9
Thanks- good info!
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