chuck13 Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Hey Chuck, If you don't mind me asking, how long have you been smoking for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck13 Posted May 1, 2014 Author Share Posted May 1, 2014 Hi Bosworth, Probably about 3-4 years, maybe 20-30 sticks a summer. I'm no expert that's for sure. Usually I grab cigars from my local humidor but a couple times I've had a friend bring me back some from Cuba. This time it was a friend of that friend, and with my first born expected any day now I was hoping for a nice treat to pass out to my friends and family. Was looking for some advice as to whether I should just hand these back and say no thanks or if they'd still be a good smoke. cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bos Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Can't comment on whether they are good unless you send them to me, in the name of science of course. chuck13 and Danny 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rye Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Habanos often forgets to code stamp boxes, and to make things even trickier, they rarely seem to get the verification numbers right on their website. That looks like a great box of RyJ wide church! Enjoy!! A very reputable supplier I use had recently received a whole master case of un-coded cigars (I think they were Upmann PC's) and had explained how often high volume retailers see mistakes all across the board, from being banded wrong, to the wrong ribbons in a cab, to lack of codes like this. I have often lit a robusto that was banded one way and tasted very much like a different marca. It's a shame there is no real way to tell sometimes. chuck13 and rosajaniszewska 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck13 Posted May 1, 2014 Author Share Posted May 1, 2014 Habanos often forgets to code stamp boxes, and to make things even trickier, they rarely seem to get the verification numbers right on their website. That looks like a great box of RyJ wide church! Enjoy!! A very reputable supplier I use had recently received a whole master case of un-coded cigars (I think they were Upmann PC's) and had explained how often high volume retailers see mistakes all across the board, from being banded wrong, to the wrong ribbons in a cab, to lack of codes like this. I have often lit a robusto that was banded one way and tasted very much like a different marca. It's a shame there is no real way to tell sometimes. Thanks a lot for this note. I really would like them to be legit! I was curious to know how accurate those two items (factory.date code, and habanos verification) were. As mentioned I don't consider myself an expert by any means, but they left the owner of my local humidor pretty impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Craftsman Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 I have a couple of boxes that don't register on the Habanos verification site but have "proper" dates codes on the bottom and yours look perfect from the pictures. If you are still concerned ask your friend to smoke one and then decide. chuck13 and Bos 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 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 IMAG1641.jpg IMAG1642.jpg IMAG1646.jpg 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. IMAG1644.jpg IMAG1650.jpg IMAG1651.jpg 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 know it may be an easy item to fake but usually the fake ones don't even have the MINSAP white sticker, also they usually have all the bands inside the box....At least the fakes I have seen so far!!! Smoke one, if you like it, give it away and CELEBRATE!!!!! chuck13 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
REASON Posted May 1, 2014 Share Posted May 1, 2014 Looks good to me, and from what Rye said smoke one and find out sir. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jez Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Cuban quality control is bad (as previously mentioned) but i have seen fakes done better than this. A few things that i note that draws some red flags: -The Cuban 'Dollar Bill' authentity sticker is placed a TAD too low. When breaking the seal, it should be scoring the crest. -When the box is opened, it's very rare that the bands don't align. Normally they're placed in perfectly and leveled all across. -The cap is a tad too sharp for the Wide Churchill. The caps are normally always flat. -The MINSAP sticker is placed too close to the borders. of the box. Keep in mind: these are very VERY minute details that could just be answered by: Cuba being Cuba. Danny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck13 Posted May 2, 2014 Author Share Posted May 2, 2014 thank you all for your input. some more interesting points butternutsquashpie ... the only thing I can write off there is the bands being aligned. They were when I first opened but I had pulled a couple out to examine and compare and didn't place them back perfectly. I hope to smoke one this weekend and I'll let you know my thoughts. cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the dirty sanchez Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Remember that these are all put together by hand. Placing of stickers will vary. Ive bought boxes in cuba from lcdh with no box codes, verification codes not matching, cigars with one band over another, misaligned band etc... Its all about trusting your source.... Shade, rosajaniszewska, Eddy_bullpoo and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eddy_bullpoo Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 ^ I agree Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eg0rka Posted May 2, 2014 Share Posted May 2, 2014 Interesting. Let us know how it smokes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuck13 Posted May 13, 2014 Author Share Posted May 13, 2014 Hi guys sorry for the delay in the follow up. I did enjoy one of these sticks last weekend and it tasted great. The flavours were enjoyable and it burned really well with the ash maintaining its structure for a good 3/4 of the burn. It was my first RyJ wide churchill so I can't compare it to anything, but it would appear I have a great case of cigars. Thanks for all your help. Cheers! Danny 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRAC Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Maybe I'm wrong....but I just don't see the Wide Churchills as being a target vitola for counterfeiters anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny Posted May 14, 2014 Share Posted May 14, 2014 Hi guys sorry for the delay in the follow up. I did enjoy one of these sticks last weekend and it tasted great. The flavours were enjoyable and it burned really well with the ash maintaining its structure for a good 3/4 of the burn. It was my first RyJ wide churchill so I can't compare it to anything, but it would appear I have a great case of cigars. Thanks for all your help. Cheers! I am glad they were OK....Now forget about all this gibberish and enjoy the heck out of them!!!! . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rocketfuel Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 hey guys first time posting and I run across this forum. I have the same issue I got my cigars from a local guy who he buy his from his cousin who Been selling Cuban for 25 years. I have 7 boxes of Cuban all different names some of them date back to 2017 and some are discontinued. The box structure check out, black light test check , hologram check, habano seal check out, when open the box I do the paper test and check out, the cigars perfectly roll and pack very tight and the bands are perfectly aligned, the smell is great, smoke tested love it( could use some more aging) but my concern was the serial # never match the box. I dig deeper and more research not many information out there about this issue. I know Cuban quality controls are not the best I feel like did they just slap any government stamp on any box with out checking but than again it’s a 3rd wold country I’m sure under paid too they probably don’t really care just get it done and on its way. It’s good to know that I’m not the only person’s out there with this same problem. Always that little doubt is it real what I’m smoking is it worth the money spent. If what I have is fake i solute to whoever that fake them man I can’t find a single flaw’s except the codes don’t match Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vladdraq Posted September 5, 2022 Share Posted September 5, 2022 in my experience they always match. If they don't you have a fake imo. Even the op i think he had a fake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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