Hoyo Epi #2

[Kangaroo495]

My friend gifted me this box for my b'day. He got it from his Cuban friend who lives in Moscow and can "get" Cuban cigars at reasonable prices.

Based on this, I was a little suspicious of the cigars. Also noticed that there is no date on the box. Is that normal? I doubt it. The code is IT 805849

The bands look fine. But none the less I've posted some (awful) photos. Tell me what you think!

Cheers

[yossie]

Yet I'm not an expert of CCs.... It seems fake due to lack of box code , no characters on the ribbon and wrong Habanos sticker position.

[reliefdvm]

Actually for the SLB the habanos sticker is in the right place. My cab of Hoyo epi 2 does have printing on the ribbon.

[matt14]

Looks suspect, blank ribbon, is a give away, try`em they may smoke alright, you can always give `em away to non regular cigar smokers they would never know the differnce!! Cheeky but will save your stash for someone who would fully appreciate them!!

Just say thanks to your friend it was a nice gesture, no onone wants to know they have been ripped off!!

You could always dissect one and have a look to be sure.

[thechenman]

Kanga...I would not be so quick to dismiss this cab as being fake based off just the ribbon and lack of box code.

There have been previous posts on FOH regarding authentic boxes not having codes, likely due to poor quality control. You can check with the Prez, Lisa and Smithy who could probably attest to this.

I have never seen a cab of Epi 2s before. so I don't know if the ribbon they com bundled in always have printing on them. I know that a recent box of CoRos I purchased from Czar did not have any printing on the ribbon. Again, I don't know if this is a quality control issue, or normal, but again...the crew at Czar is better qualified to answer the question for you.

The SLBs I have seen always have the Habanos sticker opposite the side of the lid with the arrow. The side with the arrow always has the Authenticity Seal...if this holds true as the norm, then the stickers are in the right place.

Of course, taste will be a key indicator, if not the key indicator. Give them a try and see how they smoke as well.

I'm sure some more knowedgeable guys on FOH will be chiming in shortly with their thoughts. Good luck...I personally think they stand a good chance of being authentic.

[tigger]

Off the top of my head, I would guess fake for the following reasons:

1. The story of how they were acquired. "Cuban friend" is not generally a good sign

2. The stamp/brand on the bottom looks hinky to me - "Habanos s.a." should be centered over the rest of the brand below it, the "S in "s.a." should be the same size (not capitalized) as the "a", and some of the spacing looks off to me, and the spacing of some of the words looks a little off. This is based on a quick check of a couple of known authentic boxes (of other brands/vitolas).

3. The lack of a date code. Were it not for the first two, this wouldn't carry too much weight with me, as it's been known to happen.

4. It seems that the wrapper shades differ significantly, although this may be due to photography.

5. The seal doesn't look right to me - can't place why, but it doesn't.

6. Lack of print on the ribbon. Another clue that alone wouldn't overly concern me, but taken in combination...

Clearer pictures might be more definitive, but I expect they're counterfeit.

[Kangaroo495]

I took the cigars out of the box and examined them. The bands are all real. However, the cigars are all very different. The colours differ, and while the length of all the cigars is the same, the width differs heavily! Some are thin, some are fat... The caps also look a little strange on some of them. Some caps are a bit "pointier" than what I'm used to.

Anyway, decided to smoke one. Cut the cap - there was a hard bit under the cap, which I picked out of the cigar, and left a small hole in the bottom of the cigar - nothing too serious, but something which has never happened before.

Lit it up. First thing that came into my head was... CUBAN CIGAR! 100% cuban tobacco taste, some creaminess also. At the end of the first half I felt some vanilla creeping in too! One thing which surprised me most was the burn - flawless! Very un-Cuban! However, I'll put this down to the fact that the cigars had not seen a humidor in a while. They were all spongy and oily though...

After the first half, the cigar fell flat on its arse. No flavour, no burn. But undeniably a (young) cuban cigar.

Here are some photos.

[matt14]

A lot of fakes are made with Cuban leaf, I can take you to a cigarette seller who has, Cohiba Esplendidos, punch tubos, Upmann tubos and various other marques cello wrapped as singles, rumors running around town town that its someone in the cuban embassy bringing them in blah blah blah. But they are fake, I have smoked a couple when I have been caught out early hrs and smoked my last stick, have to admit some have been an above average smoke, better than a Piedra at the same price.

The only way to be sure would be to cut it one open and have a look make sure its not short filler and bits of cardboard!!!

[Kangaroo495]

A lot of fakes are made with Cuban leaf, I can take you to a cigarette seller who has, Cohiba Esplendidos, punch tubos, Upmann tubos and various other marques cello wrapped as singles, rumors running around town town that its someone in the cuban embassy bringing them in blah blah blah. But they are fake, I have smoked a couple when I have been caught out early hrs and smoked my last stick, have to admit some have been an above average smoke, better than a Piedra at the same price.

The only way to be sure would be to cut it one open and have a look make sure its not short filler and bits of cardboard!!!

Thanks mate. How do I go about dissecting a cigar? How do I know if it's a long or short filler?

Cheers.

[jfury76]

My recent cabinet had a date stamp and a printed ribbon. All sticks therein were of fairly uniform color (colorado claro) and size. Your examples, at least the ones I can see, look rather bumpy and the caps look sloppy. Probably some Cuban leaf in there judging by your comments. I would be interested in seeing some pics of the "surgery".

[thechenman]

Kanga..

Check out the link below for a video review done my RA and Smithy last month. The cut open and dissected a Monte No. 2. May give you some insight as to what you should be looking for, or at the very least show you what long filler should look like.

Link

Good luck..I still hope your Epis turn out to be authentic...but so hard to tell these days.

[bunburyist]

sad to say I think they might be fake - primarily because of the box. The ink stamp looks a bit of a mess and as has already been said, no code. Still, is hard to tell from these photos... I'm also crap with cameras, but found if you switch to macro (the little flower symbol as opposed to landscape) the come out alright with cigars. Still, if they smoke nice....what do I know

[Kangaroo495]

So far they're smoking really well. Nice flavour. Burn is spectacular (though I'm still suspicious about this - real Cubans burning well?).

There is no indication that the cigars themselves are fake. The box is certainly a fake...