Is this a box of fakes?

[larrysputnik]

These arrived from a seller that has received high marks on the forum. And while the cigars look great and the box looks identical to another authentic one, there is a red flag. The Habanos logo on the bottom is not etched into the wood. It seems to be stamped on. And the box date has a three letter month that doesn't exist. Unless someone else on here can help me figure out what month ENR is. Your thoughts?



SORRY FOR THE BLURRY STOGIES

[Deano]

I'd contact them with your concerns. I'm pretty sure I've not heard of a stamped logo before. What are the cigars like?

[larrysputnik]

The cigars look and smell great, but a little thinner than what I remember Short churchills being. I looked again and the habanos stamp seems like it is slightly etched into the box. Maybe this logo was processed in a bit of a hurry and they didn't fully press down on it! Who knows. I also looked at the parchment and the words are smaller than the authentic parchment and the border design seems to be more of a greenish gold rather than bronze-gold on the authentic one. Anyone else ever compared the parchment slips and come up with slight variations?

I've got to find a black light to check the hologram.

[larrysputnik]

Could ENR be a new abbreviation for January which is typically ENE?

[Ramon]

It's not unknown for them to get a letter wrong on a date stamp, ENE would be January, so could just be that. Some of the stamps on the base of the boxes don't go very deep at all, and look more like they've been painted on, rather than stamped.

[Deano]

Seems an awful lot of discrepancies there mate. One poor heat stamp I could live with, but several?

Not seen ENR before. Maybe they have changed their date codes in 2009 and we're only starting to see the 2009 product coming in?

[ACMCC]

Strange... Deano's right - if they smoke right!... check the seal, is it the new type? what's the first two digits on it, could be a innocent mistake for jan (ENE) and sometimes the hot stamp is pressed so lightly it look's like an ink one - can you feel any indentation lightly running your finger over the top? are the bands correct in layout, colour and printing quality, are they long filler (most fakes are a sandwich, the worst are full of banana leaf) box quality? layout in the box - darkest left, lightest right, what site did you get them from, you could buy or trade a single from another source, smoke and compare... Its not uncommon to get boxes with no code, genuine mistakes do happen.

[larrysputnik]

I contacted them. We'll see what they say. I noticed a few green spots on the wrapper of a couple of cigars too. I know this can be normal, but there seems to be a lot. I don't want to post the supplier until I find out more though. I'll keep you guys updated.

[PoohBore]

My Monte Sublimes (from a pucker shop in Cuba) have the ENE 09 date code. It has the old seal and a new hologram seal on top.

[ACMCC]

looks like you guys are working it out....LOL

[Ramon]

Not seen ENR before. Maybe they have changed their date codes in 2009 and we're only starting to see the 2009 product coming in?

I shouldn't think so, as they use the first three letters from the month, and January in Spanish is Enero, hence ENE.

[ACMCC]

you need a uv light in the dark (got one tryed it - it works)..the lettering go's black/red and there is a hologram of the shield in the centre..

[ACMCC]

larry - do you have a ring guage to check..

[Ramon]

As explained on the Habanos website, there will be a period when both old and new seals will be in use http://www.habanos.com/article.aspx?aid=330

[Stevieboy]

What's the serial no Larry? Does the box come with the new bar code on the seal?

I've checked a few box and none of the 'Hecho' stamps are very deep...but you can feel a very slight indentation on running a fingernail over it

I've no 09 boxes to compare

One other thought is that if the stamp is automated then 'E' and 'R' are next to each other on a QWERTY keyboard so it could be a typing error ie ENR instead of ENE....I'm reaching a bit here LOL.....I have a feeling that the dates would be hand-stamped though...

Steve