sikfrayme Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 (edited) Recently decided I wanted to sink some money into having some celebratory CCs in my collection to enjoy on special occasion. Went ahead and decided to buy a box of Montecristo Grand Reserva No.2 Cosecha 2005s and Partagas Lusitanias Grand Reservas (15 count each). I had previously purchased some from LCDH. And decided to purchase them from a what i thought was a 'trusted source'. They first sent me an email stating they would be sending the cigars and box separately for custom reasons. I found that rather sketchy but figured better that they are safe than sorry. Package arrived and cigars were packaged neatly and arrive safely from Hong Kong, as the company website boasts about their European presence. Immediately upon receiving them I was excited to see the prestigious quality of the Grand Reservas I had purchased. Upon pulling out the first MGR, I noticed that the labels seemed off. Appearance of over gluing, labels severely misaligned, and the cigars had many imperfections in the wrapper as well. Such as cracking and pinholes. From the bottom I checked the firmness and pack which again were not up to even the basic production standards, I knew once I put the newly discovered fakes versus the truly authentic ones I had picked up in person from LCDH, the differences would be obvious. Just note on the Partagas that the wrapper is already peeling. Sure enough placed the two Montecristo next to each other. The new cigars were a complete and utter fake. The quality of the pack, wrap was not even remotely close. Though the counterfeiters had done a decent job copying the Gran Reserva Label, they seemed to have been lazy with the Montecristo collar which was lopsided and the white lining was way off. The Partagas was even easier to spot as I went through the 15 sticks sent. I was able to find a couple labels with blotched ink print on top. Not happy that I received these, already put a stop payment on my credit card. Hopefully, the vendor takes their dirt sticks back, and owns up to their fraud. Glad I caught them before they touched my truly authentic collection from my usual authorized sources. I have attached some pictures I took on my phone. Edited September 2, 2015 by sikfrayme Mentioning sources Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharks Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Rule 5 No Discussion of Sources and Prices I feel your pain mate although we are not allowed to mention sources. Please remove ASAP. This protects Prez and the board here from defamation. If you wish to discuss sources always PM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leftimatic Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 Rule 5 No Discussion of Sources and Prices I feel your pain mate although we are not allowed to mention sources. Please remove ASAP. This protects Prez and the board here from defamation. If you wish to discuss sources always PM What he said. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fuzz Posted September 1, 2015 Share Posted September 1, 2015 As stated by other members, sources are not to be discussed. Please read the rules here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordAnubis Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Mate I got a question for you. I think the Monte was released in 2011. What makes you think, with the popularity and the trophy hunting people who chase these, that there are any GOOD sticks left in the market? Just because it has two bands on it doesn't mean it has any better QAQC than any regular production. Don't claim fake because the wrappper is a bit loose (my PGR was like that). If the cigars you bought haven't been sold yet, then perhaps many people before you looked at them and thought "they are ugly sticks... pass". Grab a cigar, chill out, and smoke them. And in the future if you want to guarantee the quality of your cigars, purchase from vendors who provided you with quality control and pictures of the cigars before purchase... i know of one vendor like that. If you want a celebratory cigar, get ANYTHING PSP from the 24:24. You will enjoy the smoke. Don't buy a celebratory cigar becase it has 2 bands on it. I smoked a Monte no2 GR and thought it was rubbish. Fired up a BPC straight after it and that was heaven! I smoked a RA Hunters and Frankau 225 and didn't like it. I smoked a Bushido (gifted by a generous person) which had a split on the cap, and it was the most amazing cigar iv'e had since smoking the Monte No4 Reserva. I've got a box of Behike 54 and smoked one and thought it was meh. Are you starting to see the picture here? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrubber Posted September 2, 2015 Share Posted September 2, 2015 Mate I got a question for you. I think the Monte was released in 2011. What makes you think, with the popularity and the trophy hunting people who chase these, that there are any GOOD sticks left in the market? Just because it has two bands on it doesn't mean it has any better QAQC than any regular production. Don't claim fake because the wrappper is a bit loose (my PGR was like that). If the cigars you bought haven't been sold yet, then perhaps many people before you looked at them and thought "they are ugly sticks... pass". Grab a cigar, chill out, and smoke them. And in the future if you want to guarantee the quality of your cigars, purchase from vendors who provided you with quality control and pictures of the cigars before purchase... i know of one vendor like that. If you want a celebratory cigar, get ANYTHING PSP from the 24:24. You will enjoy the smoke. Don't buy a celebratory cigar becase it has 2 bands on it. I smoked a Monte no2 GR and thought it was rubbish. Fired up a BPC straight after it and that was heaven! I smoked a RA Hunters and Frankau 225 and didn't like it. I smoked a Bushido (gifted by a generous person) which had a split on the cap, and it was the most amazing cigar iv'e had since smoking the Monte No4 Reserva. I've got a box of Behike 54 and smoked one and thought it was meh. Are you starting to see the picture here? Agree 100%. It's pretty well known even with little research that CC can be hit and miss. If you buy blind from an unknown vendor than you take the risk. I feel bad for you but at the same time you have to take some responsibility for not doing any research. The only reason vendors selling fake exist is because there is a market for the fake products. If everyone buying did some basic research before purchasing then the problem wouldn't be as wide spread. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sikfrayme Posted September 8, 2015 Author Share Posted September 8, 2015 Good news! the vendor is providing me with a full refund! I have smoked both GRs before, and I thoroughly enjoyed both. Just got in two new boxes from a trusted source, and the quality on the ones received and the ones which came in today were day and night different. Looking forward to getting these in the humidor to enjoy at a later date. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSXCIGAR Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 Figured I'd bump this one up with a pic of some hilarious fake RyJ Churchill Gran Reservas (or ELs or ERs--haha!) that are being sold online: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archosaur Posted May 3, 2017 Share Posted May 3, 2017 3 hours ago, NSXCIGAR said: Figured I'd bump this one up with a pic of some hilarious fake RyJ Churchill Gran Reservas (or ELs or ERs--haha!) that are being sold online: They really have all their bases covered here! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HarveyBoulevard Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 On 5/2/2017 at 9:00 PM, NSXCIGAR said: Figured I'd bump this one up with a pic of some hilarious fake RyJ Churchill Gran Reservas (or ELs or ERs--haha!) that are being sold online: Fake...missing the LCDH band... amateurs. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nico Posted May 6, 2017 Share Posted May 6, 2017 My first reaction was LOL A hybrid of GR and EL that's sold as a regional. But when I let it sink in I would really want to try it if HSA made a real one, is that just me? Skickat från min iPhone med Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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