Calling FOH Colombos: Esplendido

[El Presidente]

 

 

 

 

[Chibearsv]

Ugly box and ugly cigars. Those are not Esplendidos!  

[MrFolgers]

I don't know what it is but it just doesn't pass the sniff test (besides the price being way off). Anytime I see a MINSAP label or the Spanish blue label these days my ears perk up. 

[El Presidente]

13 hours ago, MrFolgers said:

I don't know what it is but it just doesn't pass the sniff test (besides the price being way off). Anytime I see a MINSAP label or the Spanish blue label these days my ears perk up. 

To be fair that price is a starting auction price. 

There are a few things that raise my eyebrows. However I will leave it to members to have their input. 

[Lucas Buck]

Pictures can be deceiving but these don’t look good to me. The color matching alone is a huge red flag. 

[rcarlson]

11 hours ago, Lucas Buck said:

Pictures can be deceiving but these don’t look good to me. The color matching alone is a huge red flag. 

Indeed. 

[Namisgr11]

If I were looking at an auction of this box, I'd be concerned about the lack of close up views of the cigars, especially the cap end, and the Cohiba labels. Not saying there's anything wrong with them, just that I couldn't commit the big cost of the box (too much for me, in reality) without that information.

[gormag38]

There's certainly 'something off' with this box. Hard to pinpoint but I'm thinking it's: 

1. The wrappers on the cigars are sort of dull and grey....certainly doesn't look like any Espys I've ever had. 

2. The print quality on the Cuba seal is terrible. Way too pixelated in my view. 

3. The Spanish health warning label is on the inner box; I've got a box of HUSW sourced from Spain that have the warning sticker on the outer cardboard. I would think this is the common practice. 

[Fugu]

On 4/9/2026 at 12:18 AM, Chibearsv said:

Ugly box and ugly cigars. Those are not Esplendidos!  

My immediate thought, before even looking at any outfit tokens! Wouldn’t bid on them even if they were genuine (which they aren’t).

But tricky to say without the box in hand. Pic resolution is poor. First off - cigars truly appear fake. Could be the pic but I’ve never seen such poor looking Espies. Then, warranty seal is, while a good one, still a reproduction. While the print density can to a degree be variable between years (production runs), the rastering of the dot-matrix printing appears off (wrong). But here, they underwent a true and telltale glitch…

[Fugu]

1 hour ago, gormag38 said:

3. The Spanish health warning label is on the inner box; I've got a box of HUSW sourced from Spain that have the warning sticker on the outer cardboard. I would think this is the common practice. 

Difficult to base on that. As per current European legislation, stickers need to be placed: top, bottom, inner lid, any outer cardboard packaging. This had been enforced over the years while initially handled quite liberally by importers/distributors.

[Fugu]

14 hours ago, MrFolgers said:

Anytime I see a MINSAP label or the Spanish blue label these days my ears perk up. 

This is so true, regrettably! 🥲

[sbsbsb1]

Why are MINSAPs a red flag? Aren't they commonly used on legit boxes?

[BrightonCorgi]

The wrapper quality looks sub-par for such a cigar.

[MrFolgers]

10 hours ago, sbsbsb1 said:

Why are MINSAPs a red flag?  Aren't they commonly used on legit boxes?

That's a health/warning label put on for boxes sold in Cuba. From my understanding, boxes sold in Cuba would come with a factura that you present at the airport to customs officials (might be for at least 2 boxes?). 80% of the fakes I've come across in real life, whether its a Mexican cruise port or the guy on Facebook who has a cousin in Cuba, always has this label. To add to this I believe more fakes are sold in Cuba then anywhere else in the world. Someone can correct me but I believe the factura is required evidence to list a box on BR with the minsap label.

[sbsbsb1]

Thanks for that response. I thought that any health warning sticker (like those used in Spain or Germany) was referred to as a MINSAP.  

[mikec]

The font on the bottom of box (i.e. the box code) is not something I have ever legitimately seen on an authentic Habanos box.

[Ford2112]

Those wrappers are way off.