A fella I work with went on holiday in the Dominican Republic and brought back 100 cigars give-or-take. He gave me many of them and I thanked him for his generosity. BUT...I have no doubt many are counterfeit, fake, not on the up and up, you know what I mean (I'll post pics of these later).
These Cohiba, on the other hand are different. Unlike the others these appear to have consistent bands, color and feel. I think I recall something about "Yellow Band" Cohiba's mentioned a year or so ago on the old site, but not sure.
Anyway, what do you guys think of these and if they are in fact legit Dominican stogies from a legit factory, does anyone know the history behind these?

Side Note:
I warned aforementioned co-worker about buying from a legit shop in the Dom. Republic and I didn't want any cigars brought back to me. He is not totally to blame, due to the fact he has little experience in cigars and that's just the person they like to prey on. It was a nice gesture nonetheless.

Forgive the quality:

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Is that a glass top case? :-)
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100% fake.
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Altadis makes a brand called 'Siglo" which I guess are marketed as Cohiba look-a-likes. They have Nicaraguan and Dominican leaf.
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From what I have read...These were the 1st Red Dot Cohibas sold here in the US, the Yellow band with the Dominca (sp?) are for sale only in the Dominican Republic.


Never had one my self. Thankfully from what i have read its not a "Good" cigar.


Shawn
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There ARE legit Dominican Cohibas. the "Red Dot" Cohibas had a huge lawsuit with the Dominican Indian head Cohibas a while ago. The legit ones were made by Monti Cristi. Here are some i have from a while ago that are pre lawsuit Dominicans.
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Hmmm...that would be an interesting smuggling tactic...band em Dominican and sell them :-)
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The liquor store by my work, a dump, has these...
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Not sure why you would say they are fake. They clearly state "Dominican Repoblic" I have seen these before and I believe they are the first rendition of the Altadis Cohiba line as previously stated. Obviously not Cuban, but the Dominican incarnation of the brand. :-)
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Correct. I've heard mixed reviews over these ... hopefully they're decent cigars.
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They are legit DR cigars, produced with that band for sale in the US prior to the lawsuit as I understand it. I smoked a few back in the day.....I didn't like 'em at all, and this is before I was a CC smoker.
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Do you know if litigation is still ongoing or is this resolved and when was the lawsuit started? Very interesting, I'm surprised Cuba doesn't have a lawsuit, since the band is so similar to CC Cohiba.

I'll have to give them a smoke in a couple months and post a review. If they suck, at least they'll be a cool little keepsake. :-)

:-)



Thanks to all that responded and any info or site is much appreciated.
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The Red Dot Cohibas won the lawsuit a while ago. the story behind it was the same family produced both NC and CC. The family split for some reason and then the lawsuit started.
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While this is the case for many old brands such as Partagas and Romeo and Julieta. I do not believe this applies to the Cohiba brand. Cohiba is one of the newest brands of Cuban cigars, first released publicly in 1982. General Cigar had registered the name in Cohiba in 1978 and has successfully defended the name against Cubatobacco(Now Habanos SA).
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Yeah, as I understand it, the Red-Dot is the one NC brand that will not have a legal gripe post-embargo - save perhaps for that familial thing mentioned above, which I am not familiar with. The Beard "invented" Cohibas from an old pre-Columbian name for tobacco, or cigar, or sumptin', so this won't be a case where the old exile families will take Habanos SA into US courts.

As for yellow-band DR Cohibas, never heard of them, never smoked one, but I see the photo so I guess they must exist.
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http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...2,1036,00.html

And they won another a year later and this one is about the Yellow Band Dominican Cohiba.

http://www.lasvegasnow.com/global/story.asp?s=8663416
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Thanks for the links, Greg!! :-) Very interesting. :-)
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On a whim about 3 or 4 years ago I bought 10 of these for about 20 bucks online. Worst cigar I ever smoked. Sorry.
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Are these the same ones they had like 10 years ago? I use to get the robusto's all the time but they never came in a glass top. To be honest, they were one of the best cigars I ever tried. However they were not cheap. They cost about $12.00. With some other mention of pricing, I wonder if they are the same cigars.
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Wow that's awesome! You can't hardly find those anymore. After that lawsuit they were supposed to pull them all off the shelves. Very nice collectors item! :-)
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