I realize that the Cuban Montecristos are indeed milder than most other Cuban cigars that I have smoked. These include Punch, Cohiba, R&J,etc... I had my first ISOM Monty a few weeks back, and then its' twin on new years eve. It was a good smoke, but lacked that "Cuban flavor" that I have tasted with all the other Cubans I have smoked. Is that indicative of the montecristo line, or was the smoke simply a fake. I have my thoughts, but want some expert opinions. Also, I recieved and smoke a Havana Romeo and Julieta recently. It came packaged in an aluminum tube. Is there a legitimate R&J from Cuba that is packaged in the tube (with a cedar liner, no less). Educated comments welcome.

I have enjoyed three boxes of Monte #4s and one box of Monte #2s during the last year or so...I've always detected the specific Cuban tobacco taste and smell (pre-lighting..kind of a barnyard hay smell)....Yours could be fakes...I don't know...As far as a R&J in an aluminium tube, the Churchills come in those type of tubes, with a gold band.

Confirming, R&J ISOM does package their churchill in a cedar lined aluminum.

Tailgater,

I can confirm that there are R & J's that come in ali tubes, they are the R & J Romeo No1. The tube is Silver(un-painted) with a printed R&J band. Just underneath the band running around the tube should be the words ROMEO No 1, made in Havana, cuba. Then in letters that run up and down the tube should be the words ROMEO Y JULIETA, HAVANA CUBA. The tube also has a printed inscription saying " The rich aromatic flavour of this fine havana cigar will be protected by the aluminum container until opened" Romeo y Julieta S.A Havana. In Spain where I buy all of my Cubans, they tend to be sold in boxes of 10, The official prices for them is 4600 Spanish Pesatas. Or around £19.00 Sterling or £28 US dollars. However in the UK they tend to come in boxes of 25. UK taxes make them much more expensive however. Regards Andy.

>I had my first ISOM Monty a few weeks back, and then >its' twin on new years eve. It was a good smoke, but >lacked that "Cuban flavor" that I have tasted with >all the other Cubans I have smoked

if you've only had two cubans, how do you know what cuban flavour is? Monte 4s are a bench mark cigar in the petit corona size, try the bolivar petit corona too. how ever, IMHO the past year or so of Monte 4s have been below par. the flavours haven't been there and they have had poor construction. haven't had one in a couple months but the cubans coming out now are back on par.

and yes RyJs come in aluminum tubes, but i never buy them. as they are not worth it. get the same cigar for about 10-20% cheaper with out the tube.

Andy, it was the No. 1 and it reads just as you stated. The reason I felt the R&J may have been fake was the band itself. I've read that the three successively smaller gold coins on either side of the logo should have good detail. The coins looked like gold blobs with very little detail. I compared the coins to a Dominican R&J and there was definately a difference. I asked about the tube because I thought that might be a clear indicator, but I was wrong.

Oh yeah, Fulcrum, it was not my second Cuban, just my second Montecristo. I've had enough Cubans to know that something was missing...

Tailgater, to be fair the detail on the coins in the band is not that good. You can make out the head on the biggest of the three coins on both sides of the centrepiece, but the outer coins start to loose their definition. I would be MORE suspicious if the coins had GOOD detail...sounds to me like yours was genuine.

I don't want to rub it in but I am lucky enough to have quite a few boxes of them(10's)...and in all of the boxes that I have opened they are the way that I described. I know that mine are not fakes as I bought them myself from an official "Habanos" tobacco outlet in Malaga spain, over the last few months.

Regards

Andy

I've seen only fakes with very sharp definition on the gold coins...All the real R&J's I've seen has very poor definition in the gold coins...Keith

i smoke monte's #5. because of their size (4 X 40) they are probably not faked. it would be hard to find some one to roll them properly. check with hegemonic to see what he thinks. for info re the cigars contact [email protected]

Hey Keith...that's interesting. A friend of mine gave me a R&J habana torpedo and the coins have no detail. I figured is was a fake mainly because of CA's site that show fake labels. They even state that "Most fakes are betrayed by lack of detail in the coins". Is CA inaccurate in there descripion on fakes (wouldn't supprise me)?

CA wouldn't know a Cuban if it's name was Elian and it bit them in their ass.!

The Petit Corona sizes are the LEAST counterfeited because hardly anyone ever seeks them out. It's simply a matter of supply vs. demand. The supply is much greater than the demand, even though they are ISOMs. You are much more apt to find the popular sizes of sticks counterfeited than anything else, such as the good ole Monte #2 and Cohiba Esplendido and R y J Churchills. As per the Monte #5's the ones I got from Rick (thanks) look to be the real deal. The fleur de lis in the band is nice and defined and everything else seems to be in order. As per taste, I can't tell yet, as I will put these down for 6 months in the humidor before I even think about sparking one up 🙂 The smell however, hints at authenticity.

gater! ROTFLM F'N AO !!!!!

The Romeo & Julieta No. 3 also comes in Aluminium Tubes by the way... it is an excelent smoke!

R&J #2's come in cedar lined alum. tubes as well. Not the greatest stick in the world though...