Suspect H. Upmann 56 EL 2015 + Cohiba Behike 56

[Eulises]

Hey everyone, I recently purchased these from someone that was selling some of their collection (they didn’t smoke as much as they used to). In total I purchased 18x Upmann’s and 2 Behike’s.

He provided the box for the Upmann’s. I can provide more pictures if needed. He also had the box for the Behike’s, but I decided to not get the box for them (to cut shipping costs down) the Behike’s he got ahold of them last year, upon looking at the band/serial number for them he said that they should be a year old. Both of these cigars were a gift from his friend.  

[Thirds]

I’m not sure why the 2015 limited edition has a box with a 2022 box date.  Box code font looks sketch as well.  Following this to see others opinions. 
 

Someone will weigh in on the Behike - looks pretty good to me off the bat. Hologram font looks a little off but could just be the reflection.  The cap looks a little rugged as well.  

[Eulises]

Yea, I noticed that too, literally as soon as I took the picture. I can provide more pictures with better lighting if needed.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Eulises]

Here’s pictures of the Cohiba box. 

[nKostyan]

As for BHK, it is enough to compare it carefully with the original band with CCW to see the inconsistencies in the size of the squares, the shift of the lower row of squares to the golden stripe.


You can also take a microscope and check the micro-printing on the bands

[Fugu]

You got to love the handcrafted embossing in the Taino head! A piece of art.

The Mag 56 box is made of massive wood sheet (could even be Cedro in fact) instead of the crappy plywood the originals are made of these days. Nice! That’s a plus at least. 😄😉

 

Mate, now seriously, see that you get refunded by your buddy. Not even worth returning. These cigars are way beyond “suspect”. No microscope needed here. I guess/hope you didn’t pay too much for those “Behikes”?

[jfestrelabr]

"The Mag 56 box is made of massive wood sheet"

"These cigars are way beyond “suspect”. No microscope needed here. I guess/hope you didn’t pay too much for those"

 

👋

[Eulises]

8 hours ago, Fugu said:

You got to love the handcrafted embossing in the Taino head! A piece of art.

The Mag 56 box is made of massive wood sheet (could even be Cedro in fact) instead of the crappy plywood the originals are made of these days. Nice! That’s a plus at least. 😄😉

 

Mate, now seriously, see that you get refunded by your buddy. Not even worth returning. These cigars are way beyond “suspect”. No microscope needed here. I guess/hope you didn’t pay too much for those “Behikes”?

I appreciate everyone’s help, I’d rather know the truth, than be smoking fakes. 😊

 

8 hours ago, Fugu said:

You got to love the handcrafted embossing in the Taino head! A piece of art.

The Mag 56 box is made of massive wood sheet (could even be Cedro in fact) instead of the crappy plywood the originals are made of these days. Nice! That’s a plus at least. 😄😉

 

Mate, now seriously, see that you get refunded by your buddy. Not even worth returning. These cigars are way beyond “suspect”. No microscope needed here. I guess/hope you didn’t pay too much for those “Behikes”?

For future reference what gave it away for the Mag 56? 

[Corylax18]

27 minutes ago, Eulises said:

For future reference what gave it away for the Mag 56? 

Everything. The bands and boxes are both clearly fake. A couple photos of a real box from my collection for reference:

 

[Eulises]

3 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

Everything. The bands and boxes are both clearly fake. A couple photos of a real box from my collection for reference:

Thanks for the reference, here’s a picture of all of them, would you say the amount of veins is also a giveaway? I also noticed that the bands aren’t completely aligned they’re crooked, is that also another giveaway? 

[Corylax18]

The Veins aren't a dead give away by themselves. Cigars at this level certainly shouldn't be that Veiny, but it happens.

I think you can tell pretty clearly from the photos the differences in your box (and that silk band!) vs. the real thing. Not much matches at all. 

The give away for me on the cigars themselves was the "EL" Bands. The font is off and the embossing is non existent or very inconsistent. The misalignment on the back is similar to the veins, not a dead give away by itself, but on top of everything else, its another indicator.

I don't know much about NCs, so I cant speak to those, but I echo the above. You should be asking for a full refund on the CCs. You also shouldn't be paying any return postage or spending any time repacking these. The best place for them is at the bottom of a trash can, out of circulation. 

[Eulises]

44 minutes ago, Corylax18 said:

The Veins aren't a dead give away by themselves. Cigars at this level certainly shouldn't be that Veiny, but it happens.

I think you can tell pretty clearly from the photos the differences in your box (and that silk band!) vs. the real thing. Not much matches at all. 

The give away for me on the cigars themselves was the "EL" Bands. The font is off and the embossing is non existent or very inconsistent. The misalignment on the back is similar to the veins, not a dead give away by itself, but on top of everything else, its another indicator.

I don't know much about NCs, so I cant speak to those, but I echo the above. You should be asking for a full refund on the CCs. You also shouldn't be paying any return postage or spending any time repacking these. The best place for them is at the bottom of a trash can, out of circulation. 

Ahhh I see it more clearly now, thanks for the pointers. I’ll keep y’all updated.

[jfestrelabr]

The Bands are completely out, note the golden tones and the limited edition band.

[Eulises]

15 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

The Veins aren't a dead give away by themselves. Cigars at this level certainly shouldn't be that Veiny, but it happens.

I think you can tell pretty clearly from the photos the differences in your box (and that silk band!) vs. the real thing. Not much matches at all. 

The give away for me on the cigars themselves was the "EL" Bands. The font is off and the embossing is non existent or very inconsistent. The misalignment on the back is similar to the veins, not a dead give away by itself, but on top of everything else, its another indicator.

I don't know much about NCs, so I cant speak to those, but I echo the above. You should be asking for a full refund on the CCs. You also shouldn't be paying any return postage or spending any time repacking these. The best place for them is at the bottom of a trash can, out of circulation. 

Hey, I let him know about the information you provided me I even showed him the pictures of your collection and he responded with the following: 

 

”That picture is of his box when he opened it, the cigars are stacked wrong.”

“Cigars in those boxes and quantities ship in a 1/2 wheel configuration so the top row should have 3 cigars getting fattest at the mid and then 3 on the bottom row.”

 

“I think the date code is the facorty and date they  were packaged. Upmann would not leave those in that container until shipping, they would have them in a room aging and package / ship as needed so the date wasn't an issue for me”

Looking at all the information that all of you have provided I agree that they’re fake, but I was curious about the validity of what he’s saying I’m regards to the configurations.

 

13 hours ago, jfestrelabr said:

The Bands are completely out, note the golden tones and the limited edition band.

What do you mean by the bands being “completely out”? Do they have a different gold color/sheen to them? 

[01Vert]

Just the stamped date code font is an issue to me.  The genuine box has the same font you always see, the font on the suspect box is nothing like a “Normal” date font.   
 

Also, the groove on the box top to open it is backwards.  It should face and look like the genuine box.  
 

what does the box code come up as?    What comes up as the numbers on the micro printing?    You UV light the cohiba bands or the box label yet?

 

[Eulises]

1 hour ago, 01Vert said:

Just the stamped date code font is an issue to me.  The genuine box has the same font you always see, the font on the suspect box is nothing like a “Normal” date font.   
 

Also, the groove on the box top to open it is backwards.  It should face and look like the genuine box.  
 

what does the box code come up as?    What comes up as the numbers on the micro printing?    You UV light the cohiba bands or the box label yet?

 

The box code is ECA FEB 22. The number on the República de Cuba seems to be 000012218178.

678C4F6C-75F0-48BA-9C3C-ECDA02833C50.dng DD1F5622-6B87-44C0-B3DF-EB45FE14DBFC.dng AE582910-8EC2-4DF9-81E0-C06E221727B4.dng F647697C-E3E9-41C9-8213-9698C7E79552.dng

[nKostyan]

 That picture is of his box when he opened it, the cigars are stacked wrong.”
“Cigars in those boxes and quantities ship in a 1/2 wheel configuration so the top row should have 3 cigars getting fattest at the mid and then 3 on the bottom row.”

The order of packing the bundle never been a sign of fake or the original.


 

“I think the date code is the facorty and date they  were packaged. Upmann would not leave those in that container until shipping, they would have them in a room aging and package / ship as needed so the date wasn't an issue for me”

Finished boxes are not stored at the factory. They are sent to the central warehouse in Havana. Each box must have a 2015 stamp and a 2015 warranty seal. If there is a Revisado stamp, then the box should have been opened and sealed again with a warranty seal on top of the old one. A stamp with a new date is not put.

[Eulises]

2 hours ago, nKostyan said:

The order of packing the bundle never been a sign of fake or the original.


 
Finished boxes are not stored at the factory. They are sent to the central warehouse in Havana. Each box must have a 2015 stamp and a 2015 warranty seal. If there is a Revisado stamp, then the box should have been opened and sealed again with a warranty seal on top of the old one. A stamp with a new date is not put.

Sweet thanks for the clarification!

 

Update: We got everything figured out, in total I paid $500 for all of the fakes. He sent me a list of all his other cigars that he has in his collection, (he has a bunch of Davidoff) and he's going to let me pick anything that I choose until it's an equal value of $500. It worked out in the end since these were going to be a gift for my brother (he's getting married next month!) , whom is a big Davidoff fan.

Again thank you so much to everyone that helped me out, I never would've know had it not been for y'all! 😊

[Fugu]

Let’s just hope those are not Cuban Davidoffs. 🙄

[Corylax18]

20 hours ago, Eulises said:

“Cigars in those boxes and quantities ship in a 1/2 wheel configuration so the top row should have 3 cigars getting fattest at the mid and then 3 on the bottom row.”

 

“I think the date code is the facorty and date they  were packaged. Upmann would not leave those in that container until shipping, they would have them in a room aging and package / ship as needed so the date wasn't an issue for me”

Looking at all the information that all of you have provided I agree that they’re fake, but I was curious about the validity of what he’s saying I’m regards to the configurations.

@nKostyan already nailed the response on this one. I had also removed the cigars for some glamour shots, so they had moved in the bundle. 

I hope the resolution works out well!

[Eulises]

12 hours ago, Fugu said:

Let’s just hope those are not Cuban Davidoffs. 🙄

I’ll make a separate post for those, jk jk 😂

 

5 hours ago, Corylax18 said:

@nKostyan already nailed the response on this one. I had also removed the cigars for some glamour shots, so they had moved in the bundle. 

I hope the resolution works out well!

I figured that was the case, by no means was I doubting you. Looking at your picture I noticed a healthier sheen to your cigar vs mine. 
 

On a side note how do y’all learn so much when it comes to Identifying all these small quirks for example the placement of cigars when they’re packed, wouldn’t it be different for each brand? 

[Corylax18]

5 hours ago, Eulises said:

I figured that was the case, by no means was I doubting you. Looking at your picture I noticed a healthier sheen to your cigar vs mine. 
 

On a side note how do y’all learn so much when it comes to Identifying all these small quirks for example the placement of cigars when they’re packed, wouldn’t it be different for each brand? 

Cubancigarwebsite.com is pretty much the best thing ever. As new cigars are released, the site is updated with information, so its constantly growing. 

A good eye, and too much time spent looking at this stuff helps. On top of that, many of the members here are very, very into Cuban Cigars. Many of us (me included) couldn't provide much help regarding NC's, but there are other places for that. 

 https://www.cubancigarwebsite.com/

[Eulises]

It gets better, look what I found inside! 😳

[gormag38]

17 minutes ago, Eulises said:

It gets better, look what I found inside!

Unfortunately, I've heard of many other things being found in fugazzi cigars. Good thing you didn't light that up!

Good job getting the box checked out by the local 'experts'. The more time you spend on here the more you'll be able to identify some of the common issues with fakes. 

[Eulises]

23 minutes ago, gormag38 said:

Unfortunately, I've heard of many other things being found in fugazzi cigars. Good thing you didn't light that up!

Good job getting the box checked out by the local 'experts'. The more time you spend on here the more you'll be able to identify some of the common issues with fakes. 

That’s very concerning, hopefully I don’t stumble upon any more fugazzi’s in the future.😅

I learned quite a bit just from this interaction, I’ll make sure to check out the website from above.