GOF Quality Control Problems?

[Not A Nice Person]

I recently bought the 5th Anniversary GOF set, and because it was a good price and I have little self control when it comes to high end cigars, I've been smoking the crap out of them. :laugh:

Tonight, in fact, I'm on my last one already, a Carlito double robusto. And gods, am I ever ticked off. It was hard to get lit, but it wasn't until I removed the band that I discovered WHY . . . underneath the band there was a 3/8" long VOID in the wrapper . . . a veritable chasm that goes all the way through the binder into the filler. I'm not even sure what the hell it is---beetle damage, maybe? A whole pod of the lil' bastiges could've escaped through an opening this size! We're not talking a little round hole here!

What truly, truly upsets me is that someone at Fuente HAD to have seen this . . . and calmly placed the band over it to hide the damage. In a $20 cigar, that's just inexcusable.

I've been managing to smoke the thing by covering this "sucking chest wound" with the Carlito band, but MAN! I'm severely disappointed in the quality control here. :angry:

~Boar

 

[b.dawgson]

My condolences to you...

got any pictures of said cigar?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Unfortunately, my camera batteries are dead. :blush:

It's about 3/8" long, about 1/8" wide, diagonal to the cigar's centerline, and looks like a series of round holes strung together . . . like a major beetle eruption. There's a corresponding mark on the underside of the band that looks like a nicotine stain with little black flecks in it.

I'm probably going to spend the next week going through my coolerdor and humi.

~Boar

 

[b.dawgson]

I'd say the coloration on the under of the band is stain from smoking it...


aside from freezing your stash, is there any way to get around a beetle colony?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Well, I'm going to look everything over tomorrow. I have plenty of gallon Ziplocs if it looks like a freezer session is called for. Dagnabbit!

Added: None of the other GOFs had this problem . . . so I'm hoping the problem occurred before it got to me. Seems to me the rest of the 5th Anni box should've been toast otherwise.

~Boar

 

[Yeahthatsme]

That's an incredibly strange issue. Hopefully it's some entirely random rolling error and not a beetle problem. was there any wrapper over the spot or was it more or less a crater?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Total crater. Deep . . . right into the filler. I've never seen anything like it before.

~Boar

 

[Wurm]

Did you look at the back of the band? To see if the "plug" that was missing wasn't attached to it?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Yep. Nothing there, except smoke stains and little black flecks. That's what's really annoying . . . I swear, it looks like someone said "can't see it from MY house" and slapped a band over the damage. On a freakin' $20 cigar! :angry:

~Boar

 

[Yeahthatsme]

Call up fuente customer service, or whoever you bought it from, and let them know. I'm sure they'd be very interested in hearing about that problem.

 

[4cbln3]

I'd be sick to my stomach if saw what you are describing. I have this urge to go into my humidor that contains my GOF's and remove every band just so I don't have a surprise later on like you did on your last one.
I'm more concerned the band may break the wrapper and create a tear and then........"Awwww, that one was fine until now".
May I ask if the vendor was CB*d or C*?

 

[Not A Nice Person]

No, I bought it through a vendor here at CP. I've already notified them and Fuente, as per Yeahthatsme's advice. These things DO happen with handmade, organic products, but I feel it IS a definite quality control issue. So . . . Yeah's right. The vendor needs to know to check his stock, and the Fuentes need a "heads up" that one customer's a bit, aaaah, underwhelmed right now.

~Boar

 

[Wurm]

It happens. All it takes is for the person who is responsible to be having a bad day.

My suggestion to you is to either take off the bands of your cigars before lighting up in the future (the European way) or when you notice a problem like that stop smoking the cigar so you have evidence of the damage.

Most retailers will replace a bad cigar.

*edit* And suggesting the retailer needs to check his stock is a bit silly don't you think? Only an X-Ray machine would have seen that hole under the band. Unless you want them to remove the bands before shipping...

 

[insight]

Shawn nailed it in both his posts. Often when this happens you will find the missing wrapper on the back of the band, the Fuentes are known for using some mighty strong glue on their bands. In this case it sounds unavoidable on your end but still worth mentioning to the vendor.

 

[Wurm]

I'd say the coloration on the under of the band is stain from smoking it...

I agree, I doubt HIGHLY that it is beetle damage.

 

[Wurm]

Oh and NANP why did you post this in cigar reviews lol?

 

[4cbln3]

After my first reply I went upstairs to see how all my babies were doing (I resist grabbing from that humidor as it holds some costly sticks) and just when I had a Tat Black in my hand, I put it down and grabbed a GOF Don Carlos Robusto Tubo. It came w/ that fancy lighter from Prometheus w/ 4 tubos of various GOF's.
As I pulled it out of the tube, I hesitantly turned it round so I could see all of its beautiful dark brown wrapper. Usually I smoke my cigars until it reaches the halfway point, slowly try to undo the band, and then continue on. But because of your post, I went straight for the bands and..............PHEW! no damage whatsoever! OWRITE, time to smoke (I haven't had time to smoke in 2 days, family's over from Oklahoma)
I paired it w/ a Coke, snipped it w/ my Palio, lit it with an Alec Bradley Table Top Lighter, and got ready for my long awaited treat.The taste is really great for my palate. It's the first DC GOF as I usually grab the Carlito version (not sure why).
After the first inch, things started to settle in and a pleasant, medium bodied taste of cedar and tobacco fill my mouth. I like this stick, not sure if I like it better than the Carlito version, but maybe once I burn a couple more I can be a little more subjective. The one thing this cigar has in line with the rest I've smoked is the construction, ..........top notch, and the ash, .................a firm, white, compact assh :whistling:
I'm down to my last third while writing this and I'm glad I chose this cigar.
I was going to throw this in the "what did I smoke tonight" topic as usual, but since the topic was GOF, I figured it would fit in.......somehow.

Dave

 

[Wurm]

Both are great cigars, I like the Carlito a bit more than the Don Carlos, but both are very good.

 

[Not A Nice Person]

Often when this happens you will find the missing wrapper on the back of the band, the Fuentes are known for using some mighty strong glue on their bands.

Well, again, there was WAY more than just a hunk of wrapper missing---wrapper, binder, see all the way down . . .

Still smoked it to the nub, lol. But on the off chance it might have been beetles, and they might have erupted sometime after shipping . . . that's the sort of thing I'd think a retailer would want to know. As it happens, he's offered to send me a replacement, which is WAY over the top and completely unnecessary---but awfully dang classy---and is letting Prometheus know, which is probably a good idea.

And it is a review, isn't it, Wurm? At least sort of? :laugh:

~Boar

 

[Wurm]

Often when this happens you will find the missing wrapper on the back of the band, the Fuentes are known for using some mighty strong glue on their bands.

Well, again, there was WAY more than just a hunk of wrapper missing---wrapper, binder, see all the way down . . .

Still smoked it to the nub, lol. But on the off chance it might have been beetles, and they might have erupted sometime after shipping . . . that's the sort of thing I'd think a retailer would want to know. As it happens, he's offered to send me a replacement, which is WAY over the top and completely unnecessary---but awfully dang classy---and is letting Prometheus know, which is probably a good idea.

And it is a review, isn't it, Wurm? At least sort of? :laugh:

~Boar

More like a freak out than a review :sign:

Any of the 5er box left? if so tap one of the unlit cigars over a piece of white paper, if you get something that looks like pepper on the paper... then you have reason to panic over beetles.