Audi_kraut
Member
At the very least I wanted to share the pictures with you guys. I've never shared any of my reviews, so any feedback is greatly appreciated.
Cigar: Arturo Fuente Anejo #77 "Shark" (2009)
Size: 5 5/8" x 54
Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder/Filler: Dominican Republic
Construction: Dark brown wrapper with a slight variation in tones throughout the wrapper. Their is a single medium vein that runs down the length of the cigar, but it appears that they have rolled out all of the fine veins. The firmness is consistent throughout with a little more give than I'd like. There is a small lump towards the foot of the cigar, but I'm sure this will not cause any issues. The wrapper has a nice sheen to it and I find some small "spots" at the head of the cigar which wipe off without effort or staining the cap. Whatever it was, it did not concern me as it was localized to the cap which was snipped with my Xikar.
Cut/Pre-draw: Clean cut with my Xikar. Upon inspection of the cut there is no mold or sign of whatever was on the cap. The wrapper smells of dark, sweet chocolate. The foot is an earthy cocoa with no spice. The draw offers little resistance and confirms my squeeze test of the cigar being a little more supple than I prefer. There are very subtle hints of wet hay and cocoa.
I start by pre-torching the foot with a few matches. I follow this by a cedar stick to ignite the fun. This is just something I do when I smoke a "special" stick. Normally I'm a quick and easy kinda of guy :love: and just use butane.
A few puffs in and this thing has blown my socks off. Wow. The smoothness of the smoke and subtlety of the flavors are mind boggling. Even through the retro-hale there is no burn or tingle of your sinuses. The free draw of this cigar forces you to slow down your inhale. The soft, subtle flavors beg you to concentrate on the hints of cocoa, earthiness, and stale hay.
Into the 2/3 and the strength is slowly building. The ash is light gray and holds on very well. If it wasn't for the light evening breeze, I feel I could have ashed this in thirds. The flavors have transitioned to a compost/hay with the sweetness of the cocoa moving to the background. A quick purge and the harshness of the compost flavor has vanished.
Last third and I am reminding myself to slow down my draw. The sweet, compost smoothness is still dominant and the cocoa flavors have become the delicate backbone of this cigar. The compost and earthiness had definitely moved to the forefront of the flavor profile but remains delicately balanced.
Down to the nub. Pooooop. The cigar is a medium bodied and light-medium on the strength. I paired it with JW double black, but found that I was hesitant to sip on it due to the subtlety of the cigar flavors. All I can think about is getting my hand on more and dreaming about how the 2006 I have will taste. The sweet earthiness is unparalleled by anything my novice palette has tasted. The burn was excellent with predictable ash. The strength was a very slow crescendo which peaked on the lighter side which was surprising since I had an empty stomach.
Larger Images Here...
edit* pictures
Cigar: Arturo Fuente Anejo #77 "Shark" (2009)
Size: 5 5/8" x 54
Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder/Filler: Dominican Republic
Construction: Dark brown wrapper with a slight variation in tones throughout the wrapper. Their is a single medium vein that runs down the length of the cigar, but it appears that they have rolled out all of the fine veins. The firmness is consistent throughout with a little more give than I'd like. There is a small lump towards the foot of the cigar, but I'm sure this will not cause any issues. The wrapper has a nice sheen to it and I find some small "spots" at the head of the cigar which wipe off without effort or staining the cap. Whatever it was, it did not concern me as it was localized to the cap which was snipped with my Xikar.
Cut/Pre-draw: Clean cut with my Xikar. Upon inspection of the cut there is no mold or sign of whatever was on the cap. The wrapper smells of dark, sweet chocolate. The foot is an earthy cocoa with no spice. The draw offers little resistance and confirms my squeeze test of the cigar being a little more supple than I prefer. There are very subtle hints of wet hay and cocoa.
I start by pre-torching the foot with a few matches. I follow this by a cedar stick to ignite the fun. This is just something I do when I smoke a "special" stick. Normally I'm a quick and easy kinda of guy :love: and just use butane.
A few puffs in and this thing has blown my socks off. Wow. The smoothness of the smoke and subtlety of the flavors are mind boggling. Even through the retro-hale there is no burn or tingle of your sinuses. The free draw of this cigar forces you to slow down your inhale. The soft, subtle flavors beg you to concentrate on the hints of cocoa, earthiness, and stale hay.
Into the 2/3 and the strength is slowly building. The ash is light gray and holds on very well. If it wasn't for the light evening breeze, I feel I could have ashed this in thirds. The flavors have transitioned to a compost/hay with the sweetness of the cocoa moving to the background. A quick purge and the harshness of the compost flavor has vanished.
Last third and I am reminding myself to slow down my draw. The sweet, compost smoothness is still dominant and the cocoa flavors have become the delicate backbone of this cigar. The compost and earthiness had definitely moved to the forefront of the flavor profile but remains delicately balanced.
Down to the nub. Pooooop. The cigar is a medium bodied and light-medium on the strength. I paired it with JW double black, but found that I was hesitant to sip on it due to the subtlety of the cigar flavors. All I can think about is getting my hand on more and dreaming about how the 2006 I have will taste. The sweet earthiness is unparalleled by anything my novice palette has tasted. The burn was excellent with predictable ash. The strength was a very slow crescendo which peaked on the lighter side which was surprising since I had an empty stomach.
Larger Images Here...
edit* pictures
BTW the Anejo I sent ya was from ~2008.
