Source
r/cigars•
TheCaptainR

Step Father passed away and handed down his humidor. Need help identifying the legitimacy of some of the Cohibas inside

I was handed down my step fathers humidor which has a wonderful selection of cigars inside ranging from Macanudos to Romeos, Montecristos, and Cohibas. I was doing a little bit of research on the Cohibas and I started questioning the legitimacy of some of them.

There are two styles of Cohibas in the humidor, the old label and a newer style label. I'm fairly sure the old label ones are legitimate but the new style one has some features that make me question its legitimacy.

One of the major flags that I can find is the "Habana, Cuba", which appears not only to be slightly the wrong font, but is also smudged. The other flag is that it has 6 rows of squares and not five.

Please refer to the pictures below and give me your opinions, feel free to ask any clarifying questions or if you would like to see additional pictures. And thank you for your time!

http://imgur.com/a/4wGZZ

Edit: I think the consensus is that the new label one is fake, and the old label one is legit. I will most likely be dissecting the new label one to see what its made of

Posted Aug 8, 2017, 5:47 PM UTC · edited

1626
beardofcastro•

The left one looks legit. It is known as : Standard Band C c1993 to 2003 -- Discontinued Non-embossed paper

The one on the right is a horrible fake.

Can you measure the length of the one on the left? And if you have a ring gauge tool, identify what the gauge is? From the looks of it, it could be an Esplendido.

11
gdalam•

Could you explain how you got so much detail from the pics?

3
beardofcastro•

Went to the following link. https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/brand/cohiba

Scrolled down to the the bands used in the brands' history.

Compared with my own two eyes. :)

That's the best I could do from a distance vs handling the cigars in person. Having the OP confirm the length of the cigar also helps. Counterfeiters often get the vitolas completely wrong. The cigar on the right that the OP showed us was an easy to spot fake. I suggest he cut that one open for inspection. If it's full of short filler, toss em. If long filler, smoke them. At the very least they're Cuban farmies or a custom roll from some nearby tobacco growing nation.

8
TheCaptainROP•

I think I'm inclined to trust the beard of castro with the facts! The old style measures 7 inches exactly. I don't have a gauge tool but I put it next to a 5x50 I picked up the other day and its just a hair smaller, which seems on par with the Esplendido being 7x47.

Thank you so much!

pic:http://imgur.com/4RpGegG

2
morkman100[San Fernando Valley, CA]•

Completely agree.

And for those that have never seen the old Cohiba band, it explains why fake Cohibas sometimes have a band that looks similar (because that's what the band used to look like)

1
krdshrk[Linden, NJ]•

Right one looks fake - the C in Cuba cuts through itself and the "Habana, Cuba" looks very off. It should be solid black not spotted.

The left one looks a bit better - it's the old style band... do you know how old that one is?

4
TheCaptainROP•

When you say 'cuts through itself', what exactly does that mean? And I do not know how old it is, I wish I did. I didn't pay much attention to his humidor until it became time to take care of it.

1
z6joker9[Tupelo]•

It’s called the pierced C, if you look at the top curl of the C, you’ll see that the end finishes inside the loop. That is a common indicator of old fakes.

1
TheCaptainROP•

Oh I see now. Well it seems that the new style bands are indeed fakes. Which I guess isn't all bad cause 80% of the Cohibas in the humidor are the old style ones. Thanks for the help!

1
FUHNAHTIK[Sherwood, Arkansas 72120]•

Pierced C is the bottom loop coming back under the letter

1
PouredLead•

please, take that thing to the right out on your backyard and shoot it.

2
[deleted]•

[deleted]

1
TheCaptainROP•

can I get any clarifications as to why you think so

1
lurker_to_poster[Virginia]•

Not answering for JerusalEmAll, but the one on the right, the font of Habana, Cuba looks really weird, almost like it's perforated, and the "C" in "Cuba" has the tell-tale self-piercing that immediately gives it away as a fake.

the one on the left, I immediately dismissed as a fake because there are only two rows of dots above the word "Cohiba", BUT I have also been corrected in the past that the old band, when they printed "La Habana" on the band rather than "Habana", may have had fewer rows of dots.
Still, with the one on the right being a certain fake, I'm inclined to believe my gut and think the one on the left is too.

3
TheCaptainROP•

I've been looking quite a lot at Cigar Aficionado's Counterfeit Gallery and comparing the two very carefully. I (with my untrained eye) can't spot any differences between the old band that I have and the legit old style band in the gallery. Now as for the one on the right, I believe I have identified several flaws, so I would believe it if those were fakes.

3
lurker_to_poster[Virginia]•

Yeah, as I said, I've been corrected before, dismissing two-rows-of-dots bands as being counterfeit when they're simply old-style. I also was thinking the "H" in "Habana" didn't have the right embellishments on the font, but the more I look at it, the better it looks.

Could go either way on the one on the left.

2
JerusalEmAll[Laguna Hills, California]•

One on the right has a pierced C. The one on the left, the more I look at it, I honestly cant tell anymore.

2
Ekert•

First off, sorry for your loss. The cigars seem a little off to me, but the best way to tell if they are legitimate is to light them up. I have smoked fake cigars with real bands, so don't "always" base it on the band. Given the origin of the cigars, real or not, I hope you enjoy them and think of the memories you had every time you light one up.

1†
helimx[Hill country]•

There have been multiple fakes to have hair, floor sweeping, paint chips, etc in them.

3
T2112[Bowling Green, KY]•

Rocks too

2
TheCaptainROP•

Thank you, and I don't think I will light one until I cut them open. There are quite a few and I can spare two of them for my peace of mind. I've seen some of the shit thats inside fake cubans and I'd rather not take the chance

3