5 replies to this topic

[moki]

Background: mikemets bought a box of Montecristo Sublimes from aes8 on OnlineHumidor.com He then had misgivings about the cigars, because the bands did not have the raised printing on them that they should. He also compared smoked one of these questionable Montecristo Sublimes back to back with a "known good" Montecristo Sublime, and stated that they tasted entirely different.

With that in mind, he started a thread on OLH calling the cigars fake, and wanting a refund.

For aes8's side, the cigars were obtained from a known vendor that he (and others) have worked with for decades, and there has been no known implications of them dealing in counterfeit cigars. It was also noted in the thread that sometimes the old bands are used, even when they are not supposed to be, and there is variance in the taste of cigars (not to mention preconceptions.

With that summation, here are some pictures of the cigars in question:



The clasp, and other packaging seems right on, and does appear to be authentic.



The cigars themselves do indeed use the older-style Montecristo band that is not raised; the bands are not fake, they are real Montecristo bands, the problem is that these bands were discontinued in 2006, and the Sublimes are from 2008.

The wrapper, triple cap, and construction all looks good.



The cigars appear to be properly rolled, and do not exhibit the excessive veins and discolored tobacco that is often present in fake cigars. The tobacco is properly "booked" and the cigars do not appear to be over or under-filled.



The cigars are also self-consistent in terms of being the same ring gauge, the same length, similar color wrapper, etc.

[moki]

Some additional pictures:

Seal:



Boxcode:

[moki]

Even though the old-style Montecristo bands were discontinued in 2006 (and the new, raised printing bands used from 2006-present), there have been legitimate boxes of cigars with post-2006 boxcodes that have the old style bands.

For example, these Montecristo #2's with a 2007 boxcode:

[moki]

I smoked one of the Montecristo Sublimes from this box tonight. It started off a tad harsh, and the cigar had a few soft spots from being slightly under filled.

But it settled into a nice cigar with the profile I'd expect from a Montecristo. After smoking about 3/4 of it, I tore the cigar apart to have a peek inside:



Nothing but nice long filler tobacco, no uncured/green tobacco, the inside of the cigar looks like what I'd expect it to look.

Conclusion

I do not believe that these cigars are fake, for the following reasons:

1) The packaging, seals, boxcodes, etc. are all perfectly legit

2) The bands on the cigars are legit as well, even if the are of the older variety discontinued in 2006 which should not be on these cigars

3) The cigars are properly made, and self-consistent, and do not exhibit any of the tell-tale signs of a fake cigar

4) The cigars came from a trusted vendor who has had an excellent reputation for many years.

5) The cigar exhibits the taste profile that I'd expect from a Montecristo cigar

6) There a numerous cases of boxes of cigars from Cuba using bands the they are not supposed to use

Putting all of this together, I can only conclude that these cigars are legitimate Montecristo Sublimes.

[pUnK]

Nice work on this, bro.

[Gee-Man]

Great work Andrew.