Pre-embargo cigars

[warren516]

I figure if anyone can help me, it's the group here at FOH.

One of the guys I smoke with, Mike, told us about someone he works with. The gentleman was an avid cigar smoker for years and due to some medical condition he's no longer able to smoke. Knowing that my friend Mike smokes, he told Mike that he has some pre-embargo Cuban cigars and would be willing to sell them, as well as his other stock.

Apparently this guy(Bob) knows the guy who runs JR Cigars. He bought these from him 20 years ago to hand out to business associates. He has some made by Dunhill and also R&Js. Apparently none have the rings. He also has lots of Cuban Cohibas as well, which are new stock.

Mike was able to get a cigar that the guy said was made by Dunhill for us to look at. The pictures below are of that. The cigar seems to be have been humidified because it wasn't dried out at all.

The main question I have right now is the cap. Have Cuban rollers always used triple cap?

(edited to clarify some stuff)

The cigar pictured was supposedly made by Dunhill in the mid 1950's.

[Ryan]

There are a number of things a little fishy about your information and the pictures.

There were no pre-embargo Cohibas. There were some rumours of a pre-embargo Cohiba but unrelated to the current (i.e. since 1966) one, they would be incredibly rare, as in I don't think anybody living has seen anything other than a picture of a box.

There were no pre-embargo Dunhills. Those were from 1982 - 1991 or so.

There were pre-embargo "Dunhill Seleccions" of other brands but that's a different thing.

Lastly and importantly. I've seen hundreds of boxes of pre-embargo cigars but I've never seen one as badly rolled as the one pictured.

That, along with the "friend of a friend" story should be enough to let you know that these probably aren't what they're purported to be.

[warren516]

There are a number of things a little fishy about your information and the pictures.

There were no pre-embargo Cohibas. There were some rumours of a pre-embargo Cohiba but unrelated to the current (i.e. since 1966) one, they would be incredibly rare, as in I don't think anybody living has seen anything other than a picture of a box.

There were no pre-embargo Dunhills. Those were from 1982 - 1991 or so.

There were pre-embargo "Dunhill Seleccions" of other brands but that's a different thing.

Lastly and importantly. I've seen hundreds of boxes of pre-embargo cigars but I've never seen one as badly rolled as the one pictured.

That, along with the "friend of a friend" story should be enough to let you know that these probably aren't what they're purported to be.

I edited my original post.

The cigar pictured was supposedly made by Dunhill in the mid 1950's.

The Cohiba that he has are newer stock.

I also go along with the 'friend of a friend' theory too. My 2 friends, Kenny and Mike, asked me to run it by the experts here. This group is a wealth of knowledge

[Habanos2000]

I don't believe any of the "pre-embargo" stuff. Unless they're in a sealed box so it can be verified, consider it 100% fake. Plus, what benefit is a "pre-embargo" cigar? The cigars coming out now are generally fantastic and at least you can determine their authenticity.

Ultimately, I suggest smoking one and if you like the taste and the cost is fair then go for it.

BTW, that is one ugly looking cap!

[CaptainQuintero]

In life when something is too good to be true, it pretty much always is.

I'd echo the others above, the sample cigar looks very dodgy and it looks as if you are being given no providence or certification. If the guy is wanting to just give the stuff away then why not but if he is charging then I would try to get a lot more pics for people to look over, if the seller won't let you take as many pictures as you want and as much time gathering information about the stuff then he isn't selling the real stuff.

I'd try and get an expert to inspect them, failing that ask for some providence.

As far as I know, cuban cigars in the US are nearly all fake, then when you take into question pre-embargo cuban cigars you are really dropping the percentages.

Personally I'd stay away unless you can get some proof either from an expert or receipts etc.

[Guest]

ouch WTF is with that thumb nail?

for a cigar from the 50's you would think it would have more plume, that cap is scary.

[warren516]

Well like everyone says - the only way to tell if it is Cuban is to light it up.

We has some mild weather the other day, so that's what we did. We cut it in 1/2 so that two of us could try it out. I can't be positive on what brand it was, but it had that cuban taste to it. It was smooth, creamy, and just a very nice cigar.

After smoking my 1/2, I lit up a Mag 46 that I bought a year ago. Wasn't impressed ROTB (2 weeks after I got it) with it, but this time, I was liking it very much. What was amazing is that the taste that I got from it was the same as this ugly looking cigar. It shocked me so much I had to let my friend take a couple of puffs to see what he thought.

All I can say about questionable cigars is what everyone else has been saying all along - light them up and see for yourself.

[brazoseagle]

I love the Mag 46 and the 50!

[canadianbeaver]

There is a member here named Dball who is very familiar with vintage Cubans. At the Montreal herf he shared so many incredible cigars, sharing info about them and where they came from. Recently, I was lucky enough to get a selection of cigars from him, ranging from 1945 to 1970's to 1990's. A full typed sheet came with the cigars with a description of each, with name, date and flavor notes.

What I am trying to say is that only a trusted source with provenance will work in the aged cigar category. New cigars are tough enough.

Lisa