Cohiba Maduro Genios (Habana)

[bimmian]

I just smoked my 1st of three that were gifted me by a good friend and it was excellent! The problem is, the flavor profile didn't match what I've been reading on this site. I'd like to review it for others' benefit, but I think I may have fakes.
It had a gorgeous dark oily wrapper with only a couple of veins, the band appears legit, and it smoked like a million bucks... but the flavors I got out of it were leathery, mildly spicy, and meaty with some saltiness on the palate. More like a good Cuban RyJ or Partagas than a Cohiba.
Has anyone else smoked one of these (Preferably from a LCDH to ensure authenticity) and had a similar experience? Or did I just smoke a really good fake?
I don't know the box code, so I can't help there. All I know is what it looked like and tasted like.
Please, no replies like "as long as you enjoyed it, it shouldn't matter".. I don't like cubic zirconias, no matter how flawless they are. I don't wanna sound vain or snobbish, I just wanna know if my cigars are genuine, and if I should expect this for the other two, or throw them in my "everyday smokes" pile and appreciate them for what they are. Thanks in advance!

[madurolover]

Can't say without pics of the bands and the cigar (does it have triple cap, etc)

[jadeg001]

Originally Posted by madurolover

Can't say without pics of the bands and the cigar (does it have triple cap, etc)

Agreed. The triple cap is probably the best tell.

[bimmian]

Yup, it had a very well-defined triple-cap. It APPEARED to be genuine, but when I read others reviews, I heard a lot of "cocoa, sweetness, vanilla," etc., which I had NONE of in this cigar. I'm no expert palate, but I'm pretty positive I can taste the difference between leathery spice and sweet cocoa.. Since I didn't get mine from LCDH, but through my friends "source", I wonder if anyone who did buy from a habanos distributor had a similar tasting experience. Thanks for your input, but the looks and the band won't help us find the truth here. (I have a small collection of contraband that I regularly dip into, so I'm fairly familiar with most of the warning signs of fakes) And before you even ask, NO, I won't give up the other two for any "outside evaluations"! =)

[Patrick B]

Regardless of your experience and knowledge of cigars, you have 5 posts here. You've asked for help. Everyone is going to want pics, so post them up if you want help. Not trying to be a dk, but the pics will get you farther towards the answer you want.

[bimmian]

Originally Posted by Patrick B

Regardless of your experience and knowledge of cigars, you have 5 posts here. You've asked for help. Everyone is going to want pics, so post them up if you want help. Not trying to be a dk, but the pics will get you farther towards the answer you want.

No offense taken. I gotta be honest, I'm really not sure how to put pics up, or even get 'em into the computer.. I promise to try, though. Give me a minute to snap some shots and see if I can't figure this out.

[Patrick B]

Originally Posted by bimmian

No offense taken. I gotta be honest, I'm really not sure how to put pics up, or even get 'em into the computer.. I promise to try, though. Give me a minute to snap some shots and see if I can't figure this out.

We can help with that, too! If you run into problems, just throw it out here and someone will help you get the pics up, I'm sure. Off to bed for me, I'll check back in here later. Take care and welcome aboard!

[bimmian]

Aww sheei-ucks. I cant seem to get the pic to post. Can someone please help me? I feel so dumb.. I can get em into "my pictures" and that's about it. I tried to copy and paste, but that didn't work.

[madurolover]

Originally Posted by bimmian

Aww sheei-ucks. I cant seem to get the pic to post. Can someone please help me? I feel so dumb.. I can get em into "my pictures" and that's about it. I tried to copy and paste, but that didn't work.

Host them on a site like photobucket. Upload them from your computer to photobucket. copy the image tags ([IMG]*****[/IMG]) from the pic in photobucket and paste it into the post.

[bimmian]

The website is telling me I haven't posted enough to put up links or images.

[bimmian]

So I guess I'll just keep doing this

[bimmian]

until I have the required 30 posts.

[bimmian]

If you care to hear the rest of my babbling

[bimmian]

I will finish it up in my introduction thread in the new fish forum

[Snake Hips]

The Maduro 5 line doesn't taste anything like a Cohiba, for what it's worth. I've seen reviews all over the freaking board for these cigars, so yours sound alright from the sound of it. But when you're able to get pictures up, that'll help a lot.

To help you in the mean time, here's an authentic Maduro 5 band:



Yours should look EXACTLY like that. Pay particular attention to the white squares. They should all be perfect, no cut-off rows or squares. Whole squares above and on either side of the gold border around 'COHIBA'. Look at the "Habana, Cuba" font - the 'C' in "Cuba" should look identical. The 'COHIBA' font and letter spacing should be perfect, as should the embossing.

Hope that helps a bit.