COhiba esplendidos real or fake

[ralphie48]

My friend has recently purchased on my behalf a box of cohiba esplendidos from HK, his cost was $1000 usd a box which i now know is very high. I am not sure of the exact location he purchased them. He shipped them to me from HK which took around 5 days.

I have compared these cigars to single sticks i purchased from a reputable online source (had i been more comfortable with online source at the time i got these, i would have never bought them, as ive been able to find legit cigars for a cheaper price)

The color to my authentic esplendidos is spot on, the size is, the construction (to my eyes) seems to be ok. THe cigars will stand upright evenly when placed on a table, they smell great, they have little white specks on them (which is also evident in the ash) which i hear can be from aging, they seemed a little on the dry side. So they felt slightly different then my newer stock i received online that is authentic. THe only difference from my confirmed legit sticks and these are the bands. The ones i have had the newer bands, as these are older, they have the older band and the 3rd row of squares is halved around the cohiba lettering, ive heard mixed reviews on this some have said its fake while others have said its not. I was hoping that could be debunked.

As far as the box, the warranty seal and habanos sticker is on the outside cardboard, which i know is on the lanceros, but couldnt find out wheter its real on the esplendidos, ive googled countless images and so many people call so many different varations authentic and then the same ones are labeled fake dont know who to beleive.

The cedar box it self seems "OK" but i dont have anything to compare it to, my other purchases have been singles thus far.

I know no one can definitively call these 100% authentic, but i was hoping someone could atleast say that theres not many signs of counterfeiting

Also if you notice the cedar lining seems a bit warped

As well as one ceder lining on the top as a circle cut, while the second layer has a straight cut

any help would be appreciated

[Ginseng]

That is some pretty warped cedar. I've not seen anything like that with properly humidified boxes.

Let's see if any of our good members can pick some things out here.

Wilkey

[ralphie48]

THe second layer of cedar is straight as could be, just the top layer that was this warped.

[laficion]

Hi there,

They look alright to me , looking at the pics. Smoke them and see.

Guy

[BonVivant]

looks 100% authentic from photos

Enjoy the "heroin"

[ralphie48]

well thats reassuring to hear, still is rough that i overpaid so much for them, but atleast if theyre real i can live with it and in the future order online from a reputable source for a fraction of the price

[Ginseng]

How bout you smoke one and let us know how it is?

Wilkey

[ralphie48]

already had one last night and it was outstanding, great 1.5 hour smoke with a few glasses of whisky

But hearing that its one of the most counterfeited in the world, i still had a thought in the back of my head that maybe it was just a great counterfeit with real cuban tobacco, but at this point im leaning towards the fact that i am ok

Thanks to everyone for the reassurance!

[Baldy]

in the future order online from a reputable source for a fraction of the price

The host of this forum is fantastic and you don't have to worry about fakes.

[Professor Twain]

Only thing I don't like here, the tax stamp is torn, it doesn't appear that the secton below that has the specific number you can check with Habanos is still there. Other than that they look OK

[Habana Mike]

Many boxes from many vendors come with the bar code removed. That almost makes one more comfortable that it's not counterfeit unless the fugazi makers have become even more clever.....

[phlee]

Do you know which retailer in HK? These don't look like official pacific cigar stock

There are many grey market importers who sell stock sourced from Switzerland here who do include a healthy mark up due to high rents. Generally though these cigars are authentic

If you pm me the store details, I may know it and be able to let you know its reputation.

[CigSid]

Yes, I agree, they look legit, and the smoke test usually decides the outcome... but I also noticed the micro serial numbers were scratched off the label, which is common with stock coming to the US, but not very common with stock sold outside the US. This leads me to believe they may be grey market...