Another thread inspired me to do some research and that's how I found the above website. I was looking at some of the websites and couldn't believe the prices. They seemed too good to be true having been in Europe last summer and seeing the prices of cigars.

I learned a lot in the last week.

The one problem with comparing prices with Europe (or Canada)is taxes.

Its close, but the pic looks like the letters are embossed, not raised (but it could be the light). Is that the case?

Regardless, not much in Hong Kong is real, I wouldn't expect cigars to be any different.

I use a vendor in HK. I have physically been in the store and know, without a doubt in my mind, the cigars I receive from said vendor are 100% legitimate.

As to your band? Can't say for sure, but all the Cohibas I have in my humidor that are of the new band variety have 3 squares above the gold embossed Cohiba logo.

Oh yeah... and Ryan? I suggest you find Mr. Min Ron Nee's book and smoke extensively with FOG's who have been there and done that. You'll learn a lot. I did.

I have always been suspect of the Hong Kong connection. First, I've listed a website on the boards here a few times that lists the On-line retailers that are 100% legit and they're not on there. Also, when you check thier prices compared to everyone elses on-line, they are always $30-40 lower a box which also scares me and last, the cigars that seem to always be in question most of the time are bought there. I think they are cuban, I just have my suspicions on where in Cuba they come from.

Frank, email sent.

I don't know if the PSD#4s I may have gotten from a place in HK are real or not, but the ring gauge is right and the length is dead on. The taste is undenyably one of the best cigars I've ever had. So if they aren't real, for the price, I'd buy more of them and forget about spending more from another source. The second half of the box is pluming up nicely in my coolidor.

This is just my two cents worth, take at face value.
John L

My HK vendor has never failed me. Maybe there are some others that aren't legit, but I doubt they'd be in business very long. I'll stick with the guy that has proven himself and has been around awhile. HK prices are less because they don't have the crazy import duties that Europe or Canada has, and saving money means more cigars for my $$.

Ryan, smoking it may not tell you much, I've yet to have a Cohiba that I thought was anything special, and certainly not worth the insane prices they go for. Try a PSD4, Choix Supreme, Mag46, Punch Punch, or Boli PC, then compare with that Cohiba.

tornado:
would you email me? ryantpederson at yahoo.

I know FOG's on other BB's who are hard core nothing but cuban cigar smokers who swear by the HK connection. I have a box of PSD4's from there and a box from another reliable source both 2004 box codes and they are smoking exactly the same......Fantastic! There are so many BOTL's I know who buy from there that if they were fake I'd hear alot more about it. Though I must say the extremely low prices are a mystery.



sli

well, al from perdomo explained a something in a post once:

just because they're not the "real deal", doesn't mean they're not the real deal. meaning, a worker at a cuban cigar factory might be motivated to steal the components of the cigars and make them at home, since he/she can sell them at high prices and basically double their income.

i think this was the case with some PSD4s that a BOTL on this board receive. they were a damn fine smoke, but perhaps not "legit". even the bands were the real thing.

i only order from 2 sites. 1 is in HK and the other on an island. i have never received any thing that even looks close to suspicious. i have, however, received a pile of fakes in trades/bombs/etc. bands are the first indicator. construction is the second indicator, and the most defintive indicator, imho, is the taste. i smoked a few of the obvious fakes and some were a "close" fake but lacked the character of the real deal. i've been shown and smoked a few that i was positive were fake.......and there were several that i thought were very close. counterfeiters are really good these days........and then there are some of the same old turds out there also.

wow, my english be poor in that last post.

i am, however, on my third bourbon tonight.

ha.

Ryan...found this.

http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Counterfeits/Genuine_Page/0,3392,29,00.html 

Looking at them side by side...I'd say yours is real.

Imagine if all this time, we all have been smoking fakes all along. LOL

A buddy of mine from Miami brought 2 Cohiba's for a Pre-Concert Smoke. They looked dead on real. Triple Caps, Exact Copy of the Band, but, it tasted like it was made outta banana leaves.

HK is the central hub for Cuban cigars throughout Asia, Australia and even Canada. The reputable vendors in HK get their Havanas direcly from the Cigar Company that's located in the Pacific. (Read between the lines) That's as far as I'm going with this. That being said, not all vendors go through normal channels to acquire Havanas.

Know what you're buying and know the product well. Too many new smokers know not what they speak of. Get educated. There's a ton of FOGs who'll help you, if you're patient and go about in a civil, friendly manner.

Endeth the Sermon

lizard hit the nail right on the head. if it's good, enjoy it. fake or not, a good smoke's a good smoke! i really don't care where it's from.