I smoked a fake Monte tubo

[pedromendes]

Here's the story. The first "Cuban" cigar I ever smoked was a Monte tubo my cousin brought back from Cuba just over 5 years ago. He proudly told me how a dude in front of the factory had assured them they were real, and a third of the price! Neither of us knew better, so I accepted the gift... and loved the cigar! I smoked a few more and was hooked - a few months later I was off to Cuba for the first time.

Thankfully before I went, I educated myself about real and fake and went right to a real Casa to buy my smokes. I picked up a box of Partagas and *real* Monte tubos to compare.

Fast forward 5 years, and visiting my cousin last week he mentions he still has a couple of tubos left and do I want another? They were still in good enough shape (just a bit dry), so for experimental reasons, I smoked one last night.

Now, I had just finished my box of real Monte tubos a few months ago and had taken notes, so I knew what to compare it with. To my surprise, the fake was quite nice. It didn't have the right flavour profile, almost no flavour at all in fact (cause it had dried out?), but it was pleasant and smooth, even hinted at caramel in the middle.

It reminded me of what often happens when people buy street cigars in Cuba - when they finally have the real thing, they find it too "strong" for their liking.

Now I'm left wondering what exactly did I smoke?? A peso cigar - it looked much nicer than those... guess I'll never know!

[Puros Y Vino]

Don't the torceador's get to take home a daily quota? It's possible they sell them off. Good story BTW.

[cigcars]

*HEY!! THANK YOU, DonPedro! For me when I came home with 2 boxes of habanas, one box of Montecristo No. 2's and one Cohiba Esplendidos (this was in 1998) I opened the boxes to experience that stone falling and falling until it landed on my heart, for I realized these were FAKES! So I called the supplier, he apologized profusely, exchanged the Monte No. 2's and I held onto the "esplenwhatos" (don't ask me why). Well, I've been refraining from admitting on any board that when I finally, after a long long time, broke down and smoked one***it was the most heavenly, wonderful, excellent smoke I'm ashamed to admit that it was. Apparently, with its too green, sandpaper rough wrapper, and badly measured length - it MUST have been a true factory worker's sneak-out to sell from home. The flavor and satisfaction from one of these put me into another world of Cuban cigar ecstasy. I'd been much too reluctant to admit it until now. Thank you again, my fellow BOTL, as I now feel safe in sharing this story with you on this thread!

[gigabyte056]

Some fakes are good, some are bad.

reminds me of something else coming off Cuba

[BobKincaid]

If you look at any U.S. cigar company catalog, you'll find somewhere in the pages drastically reduced prices for so-called "Mistakes." These cigars didn't pass QC but are still being sold. Some of them smoke the same, taste the same as much more expensive marcas. That's be cause they're the same-as, only with rolling flaws. After all, there are bound to be mistakes, and probably a lot of them.

I've not seen any discussion (neither have I searched for it) of what happens to Cuban "mistakes." Do they just stick 'em in the box anywho? Or, indeed, do torceros take them home and later move them on the street? Maybe they're just all re-branded as Monte Opens . . .

Sounds to me like that's what you ran across, if that's how it works, and I confess to definitely NOT knowing how it works, being an American who's forbidden to cross ninety miles of water to visit an island closer to the mainland U.S. than either Alaska or Hawaii.