moki
el Presidente
- Joined
- Dec 16, 2003
- Messages
- 9,418
The entire Añejo line is the holy grail for many Arturo Fuente fans, and the Shark No. 77 is often cited as a favorite of that vaunted line. The Añejo's are produced only once per year, and are rumored to have the same filler tobacco as the Opus X's do, but with maduro wrappers aged in cognac barrels. Yum. I will try to be unbiased in this review, despite shelling out a pretty penny for this Arturo Fuente Añejo Shark No. 77, and also despite my predisposition to think it's a great smoke based on the reviews I've seen.
It's a very cool looking cigar, unlike anything I've ever seen before. The fat foot of the smoke is square, as if it has been box-pressed, then it tapers down in size gradually, as it also transitions to being round. Overall, a very cool effect, and obviously a very skillfully constructed smoke. The whole cigar is extremely tight, has a great looking dark wrapper, and smells absolutely wonderful.
Cognac is a good analogy for this smoke, actually. A bit of a bite on first draw, but a wonderfully sweet aftertaste, and one heck of a buzz by the time you're down to the end! This Shark is a bit harsher than the other añejo's I've had -- I'm wondering if that's because it needs some time in the humidor (I smoked it right out of the box, after receiving shipment of 'em). However, it isn't a bitter harshness, and it isn't overwhelmingly harsh, so it doesn't detract from the smoke, it's just out of character with the other añejo's I've had (which were a bit sweeter/smoother).
You can tell how wonderfully constructed this cigar is by the ash. It looks exactly like the cigar did out of the box, only a nice burnt white ash that's amazingly solid. It burned straight as an arrow, produced wonderful volumes of smoke, and stayed true in character and taste all the way down to the bitter end (which wasn't bitter, come to think of it).
So is this smoke worth it? I definitely think so. Even if you have to pay a premium to get one, do it at least once just to give it a try. It's really quite wonderful, I'd even put it up there with the Padrón 1964 Maduro in terms of how much I enjoyed it.
