PSA Warning re: Diplomatic Cohibas, Pre-Release ELs, Unbanded behikes

[grateful1]

Has there ever been any reliable confirmation of legitimate "diplomatic" cigars bearing the palm trees? Until about a year ago, all diplomatic Cohibas that I've seen bore no palm tree band. A good friend of mine was a recipient of one of these diplomatic cigar boxes. It had a fancy box and the cigars came with a second band that was a simple red, white, and blue band bearing his name. He handed the cigars out at a luncheon and they were very good. He was told by the manager of El Laquito that they were carefully selected from regular Cohiba Muduro Genios batches, but were not of a different blend. Best of the best, but same blend.

Linky

 

[4cbln3]

Has there ever been any reliable confirmation of legitimate "diplomatic" cigars bearing the palm trees? Until about a year ago, all diplomatic Cohibas that I've seen bore no palm tree band. A good friend of mine was a recipient of one of these diplomatic cigar boxes. It had a fancy box and the cigars came with a second band that was a simple red, white, and blue band bearing his name. He handed the cigars out at a luncheon and they were very good. He was told by the manager of El Laquito that they were carefully selected from regular Cohiba Muduro Genios batches, but were not of a different blend. Best of the best, but same blend.

Just to clarify, the Bolis and Cohiba maduros I bought from TL do not have any second band on them. They are the mainstream cigars you all can get from your vendors you use. I put the fact that I bought other cigars from TL because he does sell items such as jars, BHK's and these Cohiba maduros.

 

[Strayvector]

Has there ever been any reliable confirmation of legitimate "diplomatic" cigars bearing the palm trees? Until about a year ago, all diplomatic Cohibas that I've seen bore no palm tree band. A good friend of mine was a recipient of one of these diplomatic cigar boxes. It had a fancy box and the cigars came with a second band that was a simple red, white, and blue band bearing his name. He handed the cigars out at a luncheon and they were very good. He was told by the manager of El Laquito that they were carefully selected from regular Cohiba Muduro Genios batches, but were not of a different blend. Best of the best, but same blend.

Linky

Thanks, Gary. Other than the second band, looks a lot like the box of Genios my friend got. If they are anything like the one I smoked, then people are basically paying a very high premium just to get that extra Palm band.

 

[BrooksW]

Has there ever been any reliable confirmation of legitimate "diplomatic" cigars bearing the palm trees? Until about a year ago, all diplomatic Cohibas that I've seen bore no palm tree band. A good friend of mine was a recipient of one of these diplomatic cigar boxes. It had a fancy box and the cigars came with a second band that was a simple red, white, and blue band bearing his name. He handed the cigars out at a luncheon and they were very good. He was told by the manager of El Laquito that they were carefully selected from regular Cohiba Muduro Genios batches, but were not of a different blend. Best of the best, but same blend.

Linky

Thanks, Gary. Other than the second band, looks a lot like the box of Genios my friend got. If they are anything like the one I smoked, then people are basically paying a very high premium just to get that extra Palm band.

Yes, everything I have heard is that the "Diplomatic" cigars with the Palm Tree bands are NOT a different blend, but rather they look for the best examples of the vitola to put them on...

Still....It IS a different band...lol!

 

[grateful1]

Has there ever been any reliable confirmation of legitimate "diplomatic" cigars bearing the palm trees? Until about a year ago, all diplomatic Cohibas that I've seen bore no palm tree band. A good friend of mine was a recipient of one of these diplomatic cigar boxes. It had a fancy box and the cigars came with a second band that was a simple red, white, and blue band bearing his name. He handed the cigars out at a luncheon and they were very good. He was told by the manager of El Laquito that they were carefully selected from regular Cohiba Muduro Genios batches, but were not of a different blend. Best of the best, but same blend.

Linky

Thanks, Gary. Other than the second band, looks a lot like the box of Genios my friend got. If they are anything like the one I smoked, then people are basically paying a very high premium just to get that extra Palm band.

Yes, everything I have heard is that the "Diplomatic" cigars with the Palm Tree bands are NOT a different blend, but rather they look for the best examples of the vitola to put them on...

Still....It IS a different band...lol!

LOL.

There are also quesitons as to 'those' cigars authenticity as well.
I believe you were in on a thread about that, a while back...on another forum!

Sam, there has never been a statement from HSA as to their authenticity...as far as I've read.

Until someone from HSA has a definitive account of these and the others....they are all fake.

Now the 'red' banded ones...

 

[Yeahthatsme]

Where's MRN when you need him?

 

[insight]

To update: thanks to Andrew, Ninja, Gary, Ritzy Rob and a couple others working behind the scenes it looks like this guy is about done. Thanks to all that helped me tear this fiasco apart, hopefully we will have closure shortly. If you purchased cigars from this guy please keep them to yourself, if you start trading them around you will get taken to task. At this point there is virtually no chance of them being legitimate.

 

[4cbln3]

Much gracious thanks to the guys mentioned above, and an extra gold star for Gary! Without his post to remind others to try and get refunds, I would have still just been following the thread until the monies ran out when TL/Rama lama ding dong started doing the pay backs. :thumbs:

Although the most highlighted sticks were the Cohibas and Partagas, I still felt uncomfortable having bought other sticks from him. IMHO, the Cohiba maduro tasted well enough, and I wasn't planning on doing anything but smoking and gifting away, but the thought of laying sticks down to age, taking my time to take care of them, to one day having a "WTF?!" moment just kept looping itself in my little brain.

I learned so much information in those pages about cc's and the way scammers can work, I am still picking up my jaw. I can't say it enough, and I saw so many names that reek of experience I can only hope to one day put face to name, but Thank you!

After going through my whole humi looking for the perfect cigar to smoke tonight, I decided on a plain Carlos Torano cigar you can find anywhere. It was a reminder of why I started this hobby, to just smoke a good cigar that wouldn't break my wallet. That is, until I logged onto CP! Hahahahhaha

 

[insight]

FYI to update, these are confirmed fake. TL has been added to the scumbag list, with a staggering amount of sales under his belt. If you purchased from him you should consider your cigars untradeable. See the following link for an overview pic of the various stuff he sold, will be updating later with more detailed pics and archived info.

link

 

[bfreebern]

That list keeps getting longer and longer. I haven't looked at it in a few years, but some names on there that I'm surprised to see.