insight
Making friends everywhere!
- Joined
- Aug 24, 2006
- Messages
- 8,399
(Stealing this image from Moki because my pictures came out horribly, I had the middle one)
I was recently sent this cigar by a filthy heathen and asked to do a review when I smoked it. Having no willpower when it comes to desirable/rare/fancy banded shit I lit it up as soon as it had rested from the trip for a couple days. I clipped the cap with my palio and gave it a few prelight puffs, which greeted me immediately with spicy 'fuente flavor'. Say what you will but to my mind the stuff that comes from the CF soil has a pretty distinctive flavor. I find that common taste in a lot of the 'premium' Fuente products and it certainly seemed it would be present in this cigar as well.
In the first third I was surprised to find the smoke extremely acrid, at least for the first half inch or so. I immediately began rethinking my initial impression and wondering if pirate boy had sent my a rebanded villazon whatever. However, after that first hurdle the cigar mellowed out a bit and some flavor began to emerge. There was a spicy tobacco profile, with a lot of earthiness in the background that made it very easy on the palate. The strength of the earthiness mixed with the spicy 'leafy' flavor moving past the first couple inches.
The second third held the same general profile as the early stages of the smoke, but with much more pronounced hints of Opus-ish tobacco. I can only assume the cigar shares some of the same crop used to blend the Opus/Anejo/ESG etc. I am sure the wrapper has something to do with it as well, as both the Opus and the Rosario have a rosado wrapper. It is my understanding the rosario wrapper is the same leaf used in the 858 rosados that are so coveted, which also helps to explain some of the differences in the cigar. As the 2nd half of the cigar progressed it took on some characteristics of the Chateau Fuente SG, although certainly more refined.
The last bit of the cigar had a deep tobacco flavor, with lots of raw earthiness. No bitterness returned, no burn problems or amonia from youth. The finish brought back more of that opus flavor, albeit without the complexity I expect from Opus (although that is debatable in the younger/more recent stock). My final thoughts are that, while not overly complex, this was a very nice cigar. I give it a 7/10 as a whole. I don't know at this point if Fuente actually intends to release this as a production smoke or how much they will be, but it is certainly worth trying if you can get your hands on one.
I was recently sent this cigar by a filthy heathen and asked to do a review when I smoked it. Having no willpower when it comes to desirable/rare/fancy banded shit I lit it up as soon as it had rested from the trip for a couple days. I clipped the cap with my palio and gave it a few prelight puffs, which greeted me immediately with spicy 'fuente flavor'. Say what you will but to my mind the stuff that comes from the CF soil has a pretty distinctive flavor. I find that common taste in a lot of the 'premium' Fuente products and it certainly seemed it would be present in this cigar as well.
In the first third I was surprised to find the smoke extremely acrid, at least for the first half inch or so. I immediately began rethinking my initial impression and wondering if pirate boy had sent my a rebanded villazon whatever. However, after that first hurdle the cigar mellowed out a bit and some flavor began to emerge. There was a spicy tobacco profile, with a lot of earthiness in the background that made it very easy on the palate. The strength of the earthiness mixed with the spicy 'leafy' flavor moving past the first couple inches.
The second third held the same general profile as the early stages of the smoke, but with much more pronounced hints of Opus-ish tobacco. I can only assume the cigar shares some of the same crop used to blend the Opus/Anejo/ESG etc. I am sure the wrapper has something to do with it as well, as both the Opus and the Rosario have a rosado wrapper. It is my understanding the rosario wrapper is the same leaf used in the 858 rosados that are so coveted, which also helps to explain some of the differences in the cigar. As the 2nd half of the cigar progressed it took on some characteristics of the Chateau Fuente SG, although certainly more refined.
The last bit of the cigar had a deep tobacco flavor, with lots of raw earthiness. No bitterness returned, no burn problems or amonia from youth. The finish brought back more of that opus flavor, albeit without the complexity I expect from Opus (although that is debatable in the younger/more recent stock). My final thoughts are that, while not overly complex, this was a very nice cigar. I give it a 7/10 as a whole. I don't know at this point if Fuente actually intends to release this as a production smoke or how much they will be, but it is certainly worth trying if you can get your hands on one.
I love the band on those things!
