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Hello, This is my first post and I'm hoping for a little feedback from the experts. The story starts off similar to many who question authenticity ... I got this case from a friend of a friend who went down to Cuba. The cigar in question: romeo y julieta wide churchill First glance of the case, everything looked good to my rookie eyes. I opened the case and the cigars looked and smelled good. After another inspection of the case however, I noticed no factory/date stamp on the bottom. This got me looking further at which point I brought them to my local humidor and asked him to have a look. These cigars passed his eye and smell test ...even when comparing to his version of the same cigar. They had almost exact dimensions, look, labels, and as best we could tell ... smell - though we were in a walk in humidor. When i pointed out the lack of date stamp he pulled up a habanos verification site. When we entered the serial number on the warranty seal it came up as a legit code; however, it was for a case of Jose L. Piedra Petit Cetros. The seal was perfectly in tact when I received ... I didn't take pictures until I grew suspect. Two questions: 1. Are replicas regularly made this close? 2. If I were to keep them ... would they smoke anywhere close to as good as they look? Thanks!

I am a new cigar enthusiast and have purchased my first humidor, i live in newfoundland where it is fairly humid and the average humidity is around 80% where i live and was wondering what i should season my humidor at, i plan to use boveda packs and have seen them range in percents from 50%-80%, with the natural humidity of my town what should i am for in setting my humidor humidity

Hello. I would like to sell some of my cigar collection. All cigars/cigarillos have been stored at an appropriate temperature in my humidor and have been aged for a number of years, as you can see from the photos. Each cigar/cigarillo is accompanied by the original box and date (for proof), or still in it's packaging. There is no doubt to their authenticity. Cohiba Siglo I: $25/each Cohiba Siglo II: $35/each Cohiba Siglo IV: $50/each Montecristo (5 Puritos): $15/each box Cohiba (Club 20 pack): $55/each box I am located in Toronto and can meet you anywhere in the GTA. CASH ONLY. Please contact me with inquires and if interested, with what you'd like and the quantity. Thank you.

Hello CCF, Im new to this forum,only been smoking for 3 months, and ABSOLUTELY LOVE the Hobby & Lifestyle! I have since picking up a Romeo Y Julieta Coroinitas en Cedro (first Cuban I ever smoked) fallen in love and smoked 1-2 CIgars daily for the last 3 months. I have split my smokes 50% Cuban, 50% Non Cuban, and smoked a range of the so called best of the best Dominican & Nicaraguan Sticks, and a few "Top" cubans but mainly the cubans I smoked were entry level to mid price range sticks. So far I have realized comparing the best NC, Oliva Serie V, My Father Le Bijou, Rocky Patels, Fuentes, Tatuajes etc vs Upmann Half Coronas, RG Perlas, SC Principes, RYJ No.1,2,3, Partagas supers & Aristocrats, That I truly prefer and enjoy the Cuban side over the Best of the Best NC. Now that the introductions out of the way I would love some help from you greatly experienced fellow Brothers Of The Leaf. I recently made my first Order Online from a seller Inside Canada. I purchased a box of Rafael Gonzalez Panetela extras (25) along with 5 singles (Oliva Serie V Belicoso, Juan Lopez Seleccion 2, Hoyo Las Palmas Extra, Ramon Allones Small Club, & an Aging Room F55 Quattro.) Now my problems lies in the fact that although I got a excellent June 2014 Dated box of Panetelas, It literally seems like 1 out of every 4 sticks have seriously 'tight', plugged, & non smokable draws. Now I have started using a wooden BBQ Skewer to help when the draws are too tight, but I really dont want this to be a regular thing that ends up putting me off these great Cuban sticks forever, when I can simply order a box of AJ Fernandez, My Fathers or AVO's and have the peace of mind that I can succesfuly smoke EVERY stick in these NC boxes without any draw issues. My question is, is it just the fact that I ordered cheap Panetelas? I thought from 2014 - Present the poor construction issues were gone? What do you guys do when you encounter this same issue? Dont mean to come off as complaining but I really prefer the Earthier taste profile of the Habanos, and due to the fact that Im just taking over my family business and wont be making the big bucks until a year or so passes, Im restricted to buying whats in my Budget, $120-$300 boxes for now. As long as im smoking the "cheaper sticks", is this going to be a quality issue I will have to deal with until I step up my smoking budget? Thanks very much for hearing me out, and look forward to your help. P.S if there are any BOTL In Ontario specifically Kitchener, Cambridge, Waterloo & Guelph area, feel free to PM me as i would love to meet up for a herf with this awesome community you guys have going on. Cheers!

Anybody had a good fake Cuban. I had some good fakes when I was in cuba. Smoked great tasted great. Among all the real Cubans I smoked when I was there I would say the fakes blended into the mix really well. So I had some friends buy some for me from the same source when they were in Cuba last week. I just got them today and decided to open it up to see what was inside. To my surprise they look well constructed from good materials. Not floor sweepingz and horse hair like some of the horror stories you hear about. I am not a super cigar expert so would like some honest opinion and any shared exeriences you guys might have had. It might not be real but it is a Cuban cigar after all looks good to me smells good. I have not had a chance to smoke one yet but when I do I will post an update. But from what I can see and smell looks like I got some good Cuban cigars even though the are fakes. Please share you peronal opinion and experience with this topic. Thanks guy. 1st post so go easy on me. I knew I was getting fakes. All I wanted was a good Cuban cigar.

I grabbed this little stick at La Tienda this week for about 13 dollars. It's a quiet Saturday afternoon in the neighbourhood - perfect time to light it up. 4 7/8 inches long, 40 ring gauge, presented in a white paper wrapper with the fonseca band around it. The cigar wrapper itself is uniform and seems well constructed although there is some veining going on. Cold smell: very sweet and really honey like. Maybe a plum note in there too. Cold draw: good draw, after being cut with a guillotine cutter. Tastes like grass, with lots more honey and a bit of wood - all mild flavours. It lights up quickly and has a nice even burn all the way down. No touch ups are required. First taste is sweet and doesn't differ much from the smell. Not a bad thing by any means. The smoke smells sweet as well, but this cigar isn't producing a ton of it a very modest amount of smoke when testing which increases after a draw. Through the first 2/3, the taste doesn't evolve much but the ash is incredible. A solid 2 inches is formed before it falls off. The last third introduces a little bit of nutty was to the flavour, but not so much that it changes the character of the cigar much. This is a very light and mild cigar - nothing overwhelming or complex about it. For me, as a beginner, this is a perfect afternoon smoke. Not overwhelming, a little sweet, and at a good price point for Cuban tobacco. I will definitely pick these up again. Personal rating: 8.8/100 due to approachability, nice mild flavour and cost. Held back because it could have used some flavour evolution and a touch more complexity. TLDR: sweet, mild, light and inexpensive, this basic cigar is a winner, because I am a beginner. Would buy again.

I made my first online cigar purchase and I received my package today. From the reviews and what the site is telling, it's a legit store in Canada. I purchased 8 Montecristo Especial No. 1 with the box dated 2008. I attached 4 images. First one is to show the bands that aren't all perfectly stuck. That got me worried that they're fake. What do you say? Does that happen with real authentic cigars? Second picture is to show the bands' color difference with another band that I had of another type of Montecristo that I smoked a while back. I know that from certain year to another year, the bands change colors. Even though these are 2008 cigars, is it normal that it's not the same color as the one I have? Third & fourth image is to show a "pimple" looking thing on the cigar. It's like popping out and kinda thick. I'm assuming that could happen and it has nothing to do with being fake or real. What do you think? I need someone's professional opinion and help please. Because if these are fakes, I will return them.

Hey all, new to the group, my name is Dylan from Sarnia Ontario, just got married in cuba veradero and purchased box of ten petit edumundos and ten short Churchill and few others that are okay. Here are some pics. I'm quite sure they are infected with mold and no good. Any info would be great. Thanks. And yes, i want to cry lol.

Hey all, new to this forum. Just looking for information on anyone who has gone to Varadero over the last couple of years. My second time there, and the first time I went I of course got a "killer deal" from the pool guy, and of course were fake as fake can be lol. So, now that I am more knowledgeable and know what to look for etc, I am curious of good spots in Havana. I know to go for the government locations etc, but just wanted peoples opinions. I also haven't really smoked alll that many Cubans, so any suggestions on a medium body spicy, woody cigar would be great. Thanks! Dylan.

]Its a gorgeous day here in richmond, its been years since we have had a great summer! which sparked the reason to smoke a stoogie !also its been awhile since my last review. Today's specimen was given to by from @drinksmokegolf First Third: Not much really happend here during this time, the spiciness dissipated and i got some interesting floral notes? its not exactly like smoking a lgc which tastes awesome! but definitely different. The draw loosened up which did not bother me too much i think because of that it affected the burn, i had to correct it a few times through out the whole experience Second to half way : It started to pick up now , the intensity rose, so did some other flavours, i started getting hints of coffee and some other flavours i could not pick out but other than that its been a dull experience so far last third: its still a fairly young cigar by this point it had gotten very bitter even though i was paying attention to the timing of draws, i was trying to keep the temperature to a minimum but to no avail. Overall i did not enjoy this cigar as much as i wanted to,Imho i dont think it will get better with time.

Saw this on Twitter courtesy of @MatteoCigars

I have a tray full of singles, mostly trades and bombs from the many many generous BOTL/SOTL on the forum. For some reason I still have the cigar mentality that "if I smoke it then I won't have one anymore". Some different things come into play like "saving it for a special occasion" or "wait till I can set aside the time". I like to consider myself a smoker and not a collector, mainly because of my young smoking career and financial reasons eg. food, shelter etc. But there's always the one or 2 singles I just can't seem to man up and smoke. Here's one of mine: Cohiba 1966 - touted as one of the greatest cigars ever to come out yet I can't bring myself to smoke it. So rare now that I'm scared to fall in love it and so hard to come by these days. Up to recently 1 was the Punch Punch. But yesterday was the first day of Summer in Vancouver and I had a couple hours of patio time so I grew a pair and killed it. Very nice stick. What are you holding on to for no real rhyme or reason?

Was just giving some of my Cubans a little inspection and thought I would snap a quick pic to share. We all know we all love a little cigar pron now and then - you have some to share too?