Monte #2s Real or No, Opinions?

[electricprune]

I recently purchased a box of Monte #2s from a source I have been using for years. The was also one other box on my order. For this order, I had to agree that the Monte #2 box be opened so extra padding could be added. This was never required before, but I didn't have an issue with it.

The boxes arrived very quickly. I put them in the humidor, and went to get a #2 the next day. The extra padding was there, and the box looked fine. However the bands looked a little off to me. They looked darker than the usual faded purple/brown I am used to seeing. Also, the white lettering, etc. is embossed. I don't think it ever has been before.

Have the bands been changed/updated recently? I know it's impossible to draw any solid conclusions from this, but any opinions would be appreciated.

[Tonto]

Have you checked the actual length of the cigar? How about the rg? Is the foot cut straight? Can you post a closeup pic of the foot?

[NickDrista]

What is the box code?

[Mark]

Looks correct to me, but honestly there is only one way to tell. Light one up. If you have had a Monte 2 before you should be able to tell right away.

[electricprune]

Tonto, all those particulars look good.

Nick, MLO MAR 12.

Mark, yeah, that's what I'll do. I was just hoping to see if there are any obvious giveaways before I did.

Is anyone aware of the band info? Are more recent ones darker and embossed?

[Stormin]

If the box had been sealed, I would have just said go here:

Habanos Box Verification

But I will admit that the open boxes make that useless.

[B-Dub Cigar Ambassador]

I have no doubt that someone much more qualified than myself will soon be along to offer more educated assistance. However, I will go ahead and throw my two cents in, FWIW.

At this point, I am inclined to believe that they are genuine... for a number of reasons:

One, the wrapper looks absolutely right to me. It is the right color, with a green splotch, and the non-uniform "stretch/hangup" areas in places. This wrapper appears exactly as I would expect it to.

Two, the shape of the head looks absolutely right. That cigar looks like a Monte #2. Measure length and ring gauge, but I like what I see.

Three, the band looks right to me. Notice that the white outline is perfectly equidistant to each edge. The letters are sharp. I have never encountered an embossed Monte band. But considering that they are otherwise fairly plain and easier to counterfeit, I would not be surprised to learn that they are now embossing them. It actually surprises me that it took them this long to add more complexity to that band. What you want to look very carefully at is whether the embossing is perfectly centered/applied to the design detail. Good embossing is harder to do, and a lot of counterfeit bands will have embossing that is applied just off from the detailing below. The EXACT shade of the band would not concern me, especially if they have tweaked the band a bit recently. And, while it's hard to tell from a photo over the internet, the color actually looks right to me as well.

What does stand out to me right away is the way the band is affixed in the back. What the hell! Is is really glued on that way? All crooked like that??? I have never seen a Cuban cigar where the band was not carefully applied, with one arm laying perfectly over the other one, and all bands lined up straight in the box. Did you remove that band yourself, and then slip it back on for the photo? If not, that is a very suspicious aspect to the presentation. Still, I suppose that it's possible for it to be genuine and have a band that somehow got cockeyed due to a QC issue. But WOW... that thing is really freakin' crooked for such a prominent Cuban cigar! This is, to me, BY FAR the most troubling detail that I can see.

Four, you procured this box from a source that you've known to be a legitimate dealer of authentic Cuban cigars in the past. The opening of the box is fairly standard procedure, as they want to make sure that these expensive cigars end a very long journey around the world in good shape. The fact that they insisted upon opening and repackaging them should not be at all disturbing.

So, like I said, I think you're in possession of some genuine Monte's. But like Mark said, smoke one! If you've had a number of Monte No. 2's in the past, you should be able to recognize the flavor/aroma profile. If these turn out to be knockoffs, returning the boxes with just a couple smoked would be standard procedure. I think any shop worth anything would expect that you're going to smoke AT LEAST 2 or 3, if you're unsure about their legitimacy... and I would probably smoke 2 from the other box as well, if I was still unsure. Hope that helps! But I think you're okay there compadre.

[MaytagMan]

I have no doubt that someone much more qualified than myself will soon be along to offer more educated assistance. However, I will go ahead and throw my two cents in, FWIW.

At this point, I am inclined to believe that they are genuine... for a number of reasons:

One, the wrapper looks absolutely right to me. It is the right color, with a green splotch, and the non-uniform "stretch/hangup" areas in places. This wrapper appears exactly as I would expect it to.

Two, the shape of the head looks absolutely right. That cigar looks like a Monte #2. Measure length and ring gauge, but I like what I see.

Three, the band looks right to me. Notice that the white outline is perfectly equidistant to each edge. The letters are sharp. I have never encountered an embossed Monte band. But considering that they are otherwise fairly plain and easier to counterfeit, I would not be surprised to learn that they are now embossing them. It actually surprises me that it took them this long to add more complexity to that band. What you want to look very carefully at is whether the embossing is perfectly centered/applied to the design detail. Good embossing is harder to do, and a lot of counterfeit bands will have embossing that is applied just off from the detailing below. The EXACT shade of the band would not concern me, especially if they have tweaked the band a bit recently. And, while it's hard to tell from a photo over the internet, the color actually looks right to me as well.

What does stand out to me right away is the way the band is affixed in the back. What the hell! Is is really glued on that way? All crooked like that??? I have never seen a Cuban cigar where the band was not carefully applied, with one arm laying perfectly over the other one, and all bands lined up straight in the box. Did you remove that band yourself, and then slip it back on for the photo? If not, that is a very suspicious aspect to the presentation. Still, I suppose that it's possible for it to be genuine and have a band that somehow got cockeyed due to a QC issue. But WOW... that thing is really freakin' crooked for such a prominent Cuban cigar! This is, to me, BY FAR the most troubling detail that I can see.

Four, you procured this box from a source that you've known to be a legitimate dealer of authentic Cuban cigars in the past. The opening of the box is fairly standard procedure, as they want to make sure that these expensive cigars end a very long journey around the world in good shape. The fact that they insisted upon opening and repackaging them should not be at all disturbing.

So, like I said, I think you're in possession of some genuine Monte's. But like Mark said, smoke one! If you've had a number of Monte No. 2's in the past, you should be able to recognize the flavor/aroma profile. If these turn out to be knockoffs, returning the boxes with just a couple smoked would be standard procedure. I think any shop worth anything would expect that you're going to smoke AT LEAST 2 or 3, if you're unsure about their legitimacy... and I would probably smoke 2 from the other box as well, if I was still unsure. Hope that helps! But I think you're okay there compadre.

I love it when B-Dub just typeps out what I was going to say so I can just say "What he said."

So, assuming that the vendor you used is a trusted source, the band seems to be the remaining question mark. I just reached into my Cab and pulled out several different Cuban figurados. There were indeed a few where the back of the band was of by a mm or two, so I don't think that is a disqualifier at all. Now are all of the bands like that, or just a few? Most of mine (a great majority) had very little or no noticable band unevenness. A couple had bands that looked similar to yours.

Hope that eases your mind.

It is hard to get a round band to wrap properly around a cigar with a changing diameter.

[electricprune]

I have no doubt that someone much more qualified than myself will soon be along to offer more educated assistance. However, I will go ahead and throw my two cents in, FWIW.

At this point, I am inclined to believe that they are genuine... for a number of reasons:

One, the wrapper looks absolutely right to me. It is the right color, with a green splotch, and the non-uniform "stretch/hangup" areas in places. This wrapper appears exactly as I would expect it to.

Two, the shape of the head looks absolutely right. That cigar looks like a Monte #2. Measure length and ring gauge, but I like what I see.

Three, the band looks right to me. Notice that the white outline is perfectly equidistant to each edge. The letters are sharp. I have never encountered an embossed Monte band. But considering that they are otherwise fairly plain and easier to counterfeit, I would not be surprised to learn that they are now embossing them. It actually surprises me that it took them this long to add more complexity to that band. What you want to look very carefully at is whether the embossing is perfectly centered/applied to the design detail. Good embossing is harder to do, and a lot of counterfeit bands will have embossing that is applied just off from the detailing below. The EXACT shade of the band would not concern me, especially if they have tweaked the band a bit recently. And, while it's hard to tell from a photo over the internet, the color actually looks right to me as well.

What does stand out to me right away is the way the band is affixed in the back. What the hell! Is is really glued on that way? All crooked like that??? I have never seen a Cuban cigar where the band was not carefully applied, with one arm laying perfectly over the other one, and all bands lined up straight in the box. Did you remove that band yourself, and then slip it back on for the photo? If not, that is a very suspicious aspect to the presentation. Still, I suppose that it's possible for it to be genuine and have a band that somehow got cockeyed due to a QC issue. But WOW... that thing is really freakin' crooked for such a prominent Cuban cigar! This is, to me, BY FAR the most troubling detail that I can see.

Four, you procured this box from a source that you've known to be a legitimate dealer of authentic Cuban cigars in the past. The opening of the box is fairly standard procedure, as they want to make sure that these expensive cigars end a very long journey around the world in good shape. The fact that they insisted upon opening and repackaging them should not be at all disturbing.

So, like I said, I think you're in possession of some genuine Monte's. But like Mark said, smoke one! If you've had a number of Monte No. 2's in the past, you should be able to recognize the flavor/aroma profile. If these turn out to be knockoffs, returning the boxes with just a couple smoked would be standard procedure. I think any shop worth anything would expect that you're going to smoke AT LEAST 2 or 3, if you're unsure about their legitimacy... and I would probably smoke 2 from the other box as well, if I was still unsure. Hope that helps! But I think you're okay there compadre.

I love it when B-Dub just typeps out what I was going to say so I can just say "What he said."

So, assuming that the vendor you used is a trusted source, the band seems to be the remaining question mark. I just reached into my Cab and pulled out several different Cuban figurados. There were indeed a few where the back of the band was of by a mm or two, so I don't think that is a disqualifier at all. Now are all of the bands like that, or just a few? Most of mine (a great majority) had very little or no noticable band unevenness. A couple had bands that looked similar to yours.

Hope that eases your mind.

It is hard to get a round band to wrap properly around a cigar with a changing diameter.

Thanks for the input guys. Good catch on the miswrap B-Dub. I was going to mention that, but I thought I was being too anal. The next several I checked were perfect, or very close.

I might drop the supplier an e-mail and ask about the embossment. That seems to be the one thing we are still unsure of. I'll let you guys know what is said.

[B-Dub Cigar Ambassador]

I got two questions for ya, Prune-Boy:

1. Did you examine the embossing CLOSELY? Does it appear to be precisely applied to the underlying design?

2. Did you smoke one yet? I'd be curious to hear what you thought. Or send me a couple to smoke!

Brently