Cohiba's..Yellow Band and Red Dot

[MitchellF]

I have recently purchased a (D.R.) Cohiba Robusto and smoked it last night. It was the variety that had the yellow band and I really enjoyed it. This was my first ever Cohiba. I have been shopping around on the internet and have noticed the yellow bands and the red dots. My questions are; what is the difference between the two different types. Why the big difference in the price and which ones are the better smokes? Your opinions are appreciated.

[mr.c]

Heard the red dot cohibas aint worth a $hit. But never smoked one. Cuba won a court case to make general cigar pull their cohiba brand cigar off the shelves due to trademark/brand infringement. FYI

I pm'ed you btw

[MitchellF]

Originally Posted by mr.c

Heard the red dot cohibas aint worth a $hit. But never smoked one. Cuba won a court case to make general cigar pull their cohiba brand cigar off the shelves due to trademark/brand infringement. FYI

I pm'ed you btw

If thats the case, I hope that general gets the same smoke with different band on them. I really liked the robusto I bought a few days ago. Kind of pricey but not near the price that many paid on the review board. Maybe general can rename their 'gars to Kohiba. I would like some more, guess I better stock up at the local shop, he just got in about 15 boxes of the robustos and I guess a toro, same guage but slightly longer. Thanks for the info.

[kansashat]

I believe the Red Dot Cohiba is the General cigar product & the Yellow Band is the knockoff of the knockoff.
The Red Dot has a Cameroon wrapper & is quite expensive. A very good cigar, but overpriced.
The Yellow Band Dominican......I'm not sure what the wrapper is (I would bet Sumatra). It is much more affordable & not a bad cigar. IMHO not as good as the Red Dot, but more realistically priced. I think this cigar may be out of production.
I heard that General is appealing the ruling & they may have gotten some sort of extension while they hash it out.
Don't take what I say as gospel BTW I knew you wouldn't.

[MitchellF]

Thanks Kansashat, I think you are right. It seems that the stock of yellow bands are dwindling at a lot of online retailers. My local shop just got in a bunch of boxes of the robusto and one other type of the yellow bands. By looking at how many he purchased I would think he got some kind of deal or maybe bought out someone elses supply. The yellow bands are still a little pricey compared to some other good quality cigars. I bought my first and was surprised at how good it was. The wrapper seemed dry but after I lit it the oils just started to ooze and coat the entire wrapper. The cigar had a good woodsy taste with no overpowering spice or cedar taste. I really enjoyed it. Will hate to see it go now, especially since the Red Dots are so much more expensive. I will have to try the Red Dot just to compare though. Thanks for the info.

[kamikaiguy]

Khat is right as usual.

The DR Cohiba from General Cigar is a Camaroon Wrapper and the injunction is being apealled, and in the mean time they are able to keep producing their cigars. The Cohiba Red Dots are good. Not worth what they charge but a fine cigar.

The Yellow Bands are Sumatra Wrappers and were raided by police in the DR about a year ago. But I am not sure if they are no longer in production. The Yellow Bands are fine cigars also. But I think over priced again. They are between 5 and 8 a stick. These would be good at 3 to 5 a stick. Maybe 6 for a torpedo.

[c2000]

A couple/three years ago I used to buy a yellow band Cohiba from cigar king and there was some problem with them using the name or something and now they sell something called Caribbean Gold which strangely uses a band very similiar to the old yellow Cohiba band and the price of the cigars is about the same. Those cigars were very average to below average.. As far as the Red Dot is concerned I never had one but Kamikaiguy know his shit so I would take his word that they are good...

Jerry in Minnesota.

[kamikaiguy]

C2000 Thank you very much for the acolades. It not that I know my S$%t. I have been fortunate enough to have Club stogie and Top25 Cigar to give me cigars to try. i just tried a lot of cigars and did some research on the cigars that I had tried and want to try.

The DR Cohiba Red Dots are good cigars though. They are increadably mild. The sort of taste like Brown Paper. You know the kind you use to get at the supermarket. You can tell it is a high end cigar. When you hold it you just sort of know it quality. I have to say though. They are over priced. Increadably overpriced.

[MitchellF]

YOu are both right, the Red-Dot is very expensive. The yellow band while being high priced is not near the price of the Red Dot. I couldnt afford either one everyday but every now and then would like to smoke one. I paid $5.25 for a Robusto at my local shop. I can buy them online for less than $4.00 a piece by the box. I had to go through about 5 cigars at the shop to find one that did not have a chip or crack in the wrapper which scares me from buying a whole box.