What do you check on in coming boxes to make sure they're not fake?

[Jester316]

Believe me I've searched on here and didn't find what I was looking for. I usually buy from trusted sources, but lately I've read where even LCDH have had fakes so now I'm a little bit worried.

20 Years ago I still bought from trusted sources, but as a younger person I had the mental energy to take multiple pics of the each box coming in, use a black light on the seal and so forth. Having smoked almost exclusively Cuban cigars for almost 32 years I usually can spot a fake from a few feet away no problem.

But as we know the counterfeiters have been getting more and more sophisticated over the last 20 years.

So my question is this, for us regular buyers, buying boxes quite often and buying from what we believe is a trusted source, what do you actually do when a box comes in to make sure it's legit?

I usually just look and feel a cigar, but as I said since LCDH are not immune to fakes I'm thinking of taking further steps.

1. Look at construction, triple cap. Quality.
2. Black light on the seal, this needs to be expanded upon as I know there are specific things to look for besides the seal.
3. Source of course.
4. Serial number, if this checks out is that an immediate pass?

What else do you do for the regular box that comes in?

[NSXCIGAR]

Not much you can do today against high quality fakes. Obviously check the serial and microprint matches and make sure the serial is consistent with the date stamp. Believe it or not that catches a lot of very good fakers. And of course, the UV shield should be bright and bold and an almost neon yellow/green color under UV, and not have any digits in the lower left leaf. Also check the cedar sheet for quality. There shouldn't be any obvious flaws in it like cracks or discolorations. The debossed images should be crisp and defined. 

Forget construction and triple cap. All high quality fakes will have very good looking cigars that appear well-made. Obviously if you're dealing with Cohiba don't select anything but the best looking wrappers. Anything not gorgeous should be rejected. 

[Ford2112]

Best thing to do is only buy from a trustworthy source(hint:FOH)

[Jester316]

@NSXCIGAR Thanks. Good adivce.

@Ford2112 LOL I DO!!! But they don't always have what I want.

[Ford2112]

5 hours ago, Jester316 said:

@NSXCIGAR Thanks. Good adivce.

@Ford2112 LOL I DO!!! But they don't always have what I want.

My only point was trust your source and you are 90% there

[Jester316]

18 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

My only point was trust your source and you are 90% there

Ah, gotcha. I do.

[NSXCIGAR]

23 hours ago, Ford2112 said:

My only point was trust your source and you are 90% there

Easier said than done. I feel the OP's plight with wanting things Rob isn't putting up. I've been ordering for over 20 years and I would only be buying high-end items from Rob at this point. 

Yes, there are other "trusted" vendors but most of those are gray market who's stock can come from wherever. If the vendor doesn't source exclusively from the distributor (which you have to take their word on) there's a possibility of fakes. Fakers can fool honest vendors. 

And on top of that you have price. I'd have no trepidation buying anything at Davidoff London but the prices are ridiculous. 

So you have to find an honest vendor that's supplied exclusively by the distributor and that has decent prices. Not easy.