Counterfeits

[ThankYouForNotSmoking]

I have a question.

Recently, a guy was handing out what are certainly counterfeited Cohibas, but, he swears they are real. He, in the past, smoked Opus, VSGs, real Cubans and other high quality stuff, but his recent purchases are without a doubt fake, and not terribly good fakes at that. They are from 'some guy' in Miami.

The question is that the owner of the store would like to somehow tell him that they are fake, but is worried that the individual will mistake his advice as a sort of cheap shot. The guy used to buy nice cigars, but, now doesn't as a result of these fakes. The owner is, understandably, weary of looking like an ass. We've played with not telling the individual that they are fake, but, to that end, I could see said individual being a little angry if he wasn't told at all and found out later. The individual is, after all, a nice guy and did gift what he thought to be real Cohibas (3 of them) to the owner, but this guy is also a little stubborn and apt to take it the wrong way.

What's your opinion - confront, don't, any nice ways to say it?

 

[Infinity]

MMMM - Which is it?
Will he be angry if not told OR, take it the wrong way if told?

The truth be told! We all benefit in the long run!

Brian

 

[moki]

Bring in a real Cohiba or two, and let him look at them side by side to decide for himself.

 

[AVB]

Compare them to the pics on line, this takes the individual out of it.

 

[ggiese]

Bring in a real Cohiba or two, and let him look at them side by side to decide for himself.

I'm with Andrew. Tell him his cigars don't look the any Cohiba you've ever seen, and gift him one or two real ones. Let him compare side by side.

 

[ThankYouForNotSmoking]

Well, the thing is first off - it's a really terrible fake, but the second thing is that it's an old style band, the type with the black Cohiba lettering, not gold. I only have newer Cohiba's with the gold band, so if he knows Cohibas used to have black lettering, then it's moot (of course the other thing is that the lettering on this band has a very distinctive brown hue). The dotting is good but the paper the band is actually printed on is clearly not the same paper Cohiba is using. This cigar is, I believe, supposed to be an Esplendido. I have a few Siglo IIIs, so I'll bring one of those in for band comparision. Thanks for the advice.

The other thing is that these are really poor smokes. I smoked the first inch of one and it really had a sort of acrid sweet taste (not unlike rotten fruit). I opened it up and it still had green leaves (and stems of course, oh and short filler...of course).

 

[cigardawg]

Bring in a real Cohiba or two, and let him look at them side by side to decide for himself.

I'm with Andrew. Tell him his cigars don't look the any Cohiba you've ever seen, and gift him one or two real ones. Let him compare side by side.

I agree with this as well. I have some friends who get their Cuban cigars from "a guy." Some of them are real...some of them are absolutely not. I just send them the real thing to compare. They now know what to and what not to ask for. They mentioned this to me...I never had to bring it up.

 

[Gonz]

You should certainly tell him, and one easy way to break it to him is that the Esplendido is one of the most counterfeitted cigars that exists. Also just tell him flat out that you're not trying to hurt his feelings or be a dick, but that you wanted to try to help him from making the mistake again. Also, if you have the real thing available, let him smoke them side by side, and after that he'll realize how good the real thing is, and how shitty the fakes are.