Professor Twain Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I picked up a couple of boxes of San Cristobal El Principes, Box Code EAR NOV 01, since I enjoy these and had not seen aged boxes of these available. They arrived with the seals unbroken and shrink wrapped. I was meeting up with Tampa1257 at our local haunt, so I brought these along for inspection. Here are some pictures of these boxes. Upon breaking the seals and inspecting the cigars, they looked great to me, and had a good, rich smell consistent with the younger El Principes that I have had. On Tampa’s inspection, some of these looked a bit plugged, and he also observed an oddity that could be a red flag. The box code stamp is enclosed in a rectangular stamp. He noted that in his experience only machine made Cubans had this box code within the rectangle. On going home, I inspected a few of my own boxes, and found two boxes that had the box code within a rectangle—1987 Punch Exquisitos (machine made) and 1990 El Rey Del Mundo Demi Tasse (hand made). I’m curious about any observations that others on the Board have about this date stamp and whether it raises any questions about the legitimacy of this box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrAlejandro Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 well all i can say from my own experience is that ive never seen a box of those smokes with that rectangle stamp... stranger things have happened though and Im interested in seeing what some of the more experienced guys think Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy2 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Me too never ever seen that type of stamp before ever and i have had many boxes from 01. Factory codes may be encased in a rectangle (stamp) seen predominantly until 1999 . Professor Twain what are the 2 letters on the Cuban seal on the boxes ? La Corona is EAR code was used from 01 to early 02. I hope they are real and you can enjoy them with the age they have on them. Also all the fakes i have seen here in NYC 75% have had shrink wrap on them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Twain Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 » Professor Twain what are the 2 letters on the Cuban seal on the boxes ? BK, same on each box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shrink Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 The proof is in the smoking, Bill. If they're authentic, the cocoa and spice will be unmistakable. Frankly, I'd be surprised if someone went to the trouble to fake El Principes. Just not enough profit in 'em... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tampa1257 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 Well, I have to say that I believe that this is just an oddity. I received another shipment from a different source, an LCDH and a box of Partagas Serie du Connaisseur No.3's from 1999 came in and that box also have a box code stamp that was encased with the same type of rectangle. Jimmy, I don't remember the warranty seal numbers and letters off the top of my head, but when I inspected the box, I remember that the seal and the codes on the seal were of the correct time letters and numbers. Professor, if you would also share the code letters and numbers on the warranty seal that would be helpful. The cigars looked just like you would expect a box of unopened 2001 cigars to look like. They smelled wonderful and I mentioned to Professor Twain that while I would look into the oddity of the date code stamp, I did not believe the cigars to be anything other than what they were boxed and sold as, 2001 SCDH El Principe's! It goes to show you that not every single "sure fire" method of determining if a box of cigars are absolutely genuine or not is 100% of the time absolutely correct. I believe that this oddity along with the attached photos has great merit and value because it clearly shows that some things from Cuba are different while still being 100% Authentic. Tampa Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Professor Twain Posted December 20, 2006 Author Share Posted December 20, 2006 Great comments so far! I don't really think that these are fake, they were still sealed, the seals look old, really everything is right except the stamp. It would be a lot of effort, and I picked these up for a low price. The seals say BK 142755 and BK 142730. Shrink, as you say, the proof is in the tasting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Presidente Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 PT I have seen the rectangular code on 01 Hand mades, predominantly Partagas Factory from memory. Enjoy :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1f1fan Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 I have some of these also, they did seem a bit tight however, once cut the draw was not tight at all....perhaps a bit too easy..but better than not drawing at all. They are smoking very well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Van55 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 As I said on the thread you started on this topic on another forum, it is highly unlikely that anyone would counterfeit SCdH El Principes. There's just no money in that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
purosdave Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 » Great comments so far! I don't really think that these are fake, they were » still sealed, the seals look old, really everything is right except the » stamp. It would be a lot of effort, and I picked these up for a low » price. » » The seals say BK 142755 and BK 142730. » » Shrink, as you say, the proof is in the tasting. I picked up a box of these as they are recently available on the market, I actually prefer the 05s and 06s that I have tried, but I haven't really let them settle either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy2 Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 06's have been go to go !!! Yummy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ginseng Posted December 20, 2006 Share Posted December 20, 2006 » PT I have seen the rectangular code on 01 Hand mades, predominantly » Partagas Factory from memory. » » Enjoy :-) I have a box of SCdLH from 2001 with the same type of code. It is from Rob. Nuff said. Wilkey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rafa Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 I had 2 boxes of CABAÑAS BELVEDERES. One with the same date, code and rectangle. And another one with rectangle and EOG AG00. They were machine made. But i believe that yours cigars are handmade and genuines Habanos. Curious Habanos world. I have read that San Cristobal El Principe is Juan Carlos I , King of Spain , favourite cigar. Usually kings , not always, have good taste. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
^nsmoke Posted December 30, 2006 Share Posted December 30, 2006 »I have two box's of CORO from the PCC Vintage collection with the same stamp. mine are june 01 with AA seals. As I scraped back the huge smoking cigars will kill me sticker to reveal the stamp it took me by surprise but the source is without question ;-) and they smoke O SO GOOD, enjoy!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sleeper Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I saw a box of EAR Oct 01 SCdlH EP with the same type date stamp about 6 mos. ago. They were purchased from a vendor that was new to me, and the price was quite reasonable. I thought it odd that this vendor had aged stock of this vitola since it is hard to find recently rolled stock at times. I assumed that this stock was likely found in a corner at some warehouse, or something like that, and that it was a fortunate find. Although skeptical, I haven't tasted from that box and was in a wait and see mode. A few weeks ago, that same vendor shows that he has the SCdlH EP in stock again, and with the same date code. Finding the stock in the first place was pretty amazing, but getting another 'shipment' in with that same code is almost unbelievable. Smoking one will tell the tale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest stang Posted January 7, 2007 Share Posted January 7, 2007 I have a box of La Puntas with that same box. The box code is ear oct 01 and they are a wonderful smoke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Posted January 11, 2007 Share Posted January 11, 2007 » I have a box of La Puntas with that same box. The box code is ear oct 01 » and they are a wonderful smoke. Same here. Also lots of '98s with the box (FPG). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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