Phlicker
also know as @PhillyBeerGuy
- Joined
- Jan 9, 2007
- Messages
- 884
Ring Gauge: 50
Length: 4.5"
Country of Origin: Dominican
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Although I didn't "technically" have off for the Presidents' Day holiday, I took a vacation day with the hopes of getting a bunch of "honey-do's" taken care of, along with a handful of other errands that are difficult to get done during the work week. I decided in the morning that at some point during my travels I'd make time to stop by one of my local B&Ms to enjoy a quick(ish) smoke. There was an AF Chateau Fuente Maduro that has been waiting in the top shelf of my humidor for just such an occasion, so into the jacket pocket it went.
The Chateau Fuente is an interesting cigar for several reasons: For one, the length and ring-gauge are identical to another label in the regular Fuente line-up (the Rothchild), although the cost is roughly $0.15 more per stick (perhaps for the cedar sleeve
). Second, this and the Rothchild are about as close as it gets to "true" Robusto (5 x 50) in the Fuente green bands, which is surprising considering how many different sticks make up the entire offering. I'm a big fan of the Robusto vitola in general, but I was unimpressed with the one Rothchild I smoked several years ago. In my effort to find my preferred "everyday" smoke, I picked up one of these in Maduro to test along with a variety of other sticks in the $3-4 range a few months ago. There are lots of fans out there of this cigar in all three incarnations (Natural & Maduro Connecticut and Ecuadorian Sungrown), so it was time to fire this one up.
The Tinder Box in Haverford has a nice lounge room downstairs that they tried to pass off several years ago as a paid-membership club (Club Amante). It never really took off, so now all the locals and regulars pop in on the weekends, head down the stairs, and B.S. for a few hours while watching whatever happens to be on television. Today being a holiday I knew I'd find someone there (it never really matters who, by the end we're all friends), and I was right. I recognized one BOTL immediately from CF Herfs, and settled into a chair. I removed the celo and cedar sleeve to find (*gasp!*) a wee bit of white mold, which was very faint but noticeable. Part of the [topic="30574"]Fuente 2006 Holiday shipping mold issue[/topic]? Who knows. Regardless, I was able to wipe it off easily enough. Overall construction was good, but not on-par with the higher-end Fuentes. There were no discernible soft spots, but the cigar was rather "lumpy," and the wrapper was a vein-y chocolaty brown. I clipped the cap, torched the foot, and we were off!
Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to say about this stick. The flavor was nice and medium-bodied, but save for a few hints of creaminess and a twinge of spice here and there, I could detect no dominant tastes throughout the smoke, not even from the maduro wrapper. The burn was a tad uneven in spots, but it required no touch-ups, and produced a great deal of nice, white smoke. While enjoyable overall, it didn't "wow" me, but I guess that's to be expected with a $3.50 cigar. For an extra $0.50, I'd rather step up to an 858, though.
I really wanted to like this cigar...a lot, but I'm sure there are many Chateau Fuente fans out there thinking, "good, more for me!" I don't know, maybe my palate's shot to hell during this cold weather (which usually triggers the sniffles and post-nasal drip in me), or maybe these sticks need some serious down time in order to shine, but I don't think I'll be adding a box of them to the coolerdor. I'd be interested to try one that has a year or two of age on it, but until then, I'll keep searching for that perfect "cheapie!"
Length: 4.5"
Country of Origin: Dominican
Wrapper: USA/Connecticut
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Although I didn't "technically" have off for the Presidents' Day holiday, I took a vacation day with the hopes of getting a bunch of "honey-do's" taken care of, along with a handful of other errands that are difficult to get done during the work week. I decided in the morning that at some point during my travels I'd make time to stop by one of my local B&Ms to enjoy a quick(ish) smoke. There was an AF Chateau Fuente Maduro that has been waiting in the top shelf of my humidor for just such an occasion, so into the jacket pocket it went.
The Chateau Fuente is an interesting cigar for several reasons: For one, the length and ring-gauge are identical to another label in the regular Fuente line-up (the Rothchild), although the cost is roughly $0.15 more per stick (perhaps for the cedar sleeve
). Second, this and the Rothchild are about as close as it gets to "true" Robusto (5 x 50) in the Fuente green bands, which is surprising considering how many different sticks make up the entire offering. I'm a big fan of the Robusto vitola in general, but I was unimpressed with the one Rothchild I smoked several years ago. In my effort to find my preferred "everyday" smoke, I picked up one of these in Maduro to test along with a variety of other sticks in the $3-4 range a few months ago. There are lots of fans out there of this cigar in all three incarnations (Natural & Maduro Connecticut and Ecuadorian Sungrown), so it was time to fire this one up.The Tinder Box in Haverford has a nice lounge room downstairs that they tried to pass off several years ago as a paid-membership club (Club Amante). It never really took off, so now all the locals and regulars pop in on the weekends, head down the stairs, and B.S. for a few hours while watching whatever happens to be on television. Today being a holiday I knew I'd find someone there (it never really matters who, by the end we're all friends), and I was right. I recognized one BOTL immediately from CF Herfs, and settled into a chair. I removed the celo and cedar sleeve to find (*gasp!*) a wee bit of white mold, which was very faint but noticeable. Part of the [topic="30574"]Fuente 2006 Holiday shipping mold issue[/topic]? Who knows. Regardless, I was able to wipe it off easily enough. Overall construction was good, but not on-par with the higher-end Fuentes. There were no discernible soft spots, but the cigar was rather "lumpy," and the wrapper was a vein-y chocolaty brown. I clipped the cap, torched the foot, and we were off!
Unfortunately I don't have a whole lot to say about this stick. The flavor was nice and medium-bodied, but save for a few hints of creaminess and a twinge of spice here and there, I could detect no dominant tastes throughout the smoke, not even from the maduro wrapper. The burn was a tad uneven in spots, but it required no touch-ups, and produced a great deal of nice, white smoke. While enjoyable overall, it didn't "wow" me, but I guess that's to be expected with a $3.50 cigar. For an extra $0.50, I'd rather step up to an 858, though.
I really wanted to like this cigar...a lot, but I'm sure there are many Chateau Fuente fans out there thinking, "good, more for me!" I don't know, maybe my palate's shot to hell during this cold weather (which usually triggers the sniffles and post-nasal drip in me), or maybe these sticks need some serious down time in order to shine, but I don't think I'll be adding a box of them to the coolerdor. I'd be interested to try one that has a year or two of age on it, but until then, I'll keep searching for that perfect "cheapie!"
