Opus X Forbidden X Shark review

[moki]

Opus X Forbidden X Shark
aka "Opus X Round To Square Shape"

(5 5/8" x 54), from the Forbidden X Humidor (sold in 2002, only 100 made) -- 10 of these cigars came with each humidor. The Opus X Forbidden X Shark is the same size and shape as the Añejo No.77 (aka "Shark"), but the binder, filler, and wrapper is all Opus X Rosado tobacco.

I had some work to do that I needed to concentrate on away from distraction, so I headed over to my local cigar shop to sit back, relax, smoke a cigar, and read the material that I needed to digest. I brought along an Opus X Forbidden X Shark to spark up during my reading.

The foot of this cigar has that wonderful Opus X cigar smell, with hints of raisins or plumb wine -- the scent is intoxicating to an Opus whore. I torched the generous-sized square foot, and sat back to enjoy the cigar.

Puffing away, I enjoyed the characteristic Opus X flavor, albeit with a few years of age on it: spicy jalapeño pepper with leathery undertones, and a milky sweet, almost citrus aftertaste. Like many torpedo shaped cigars, the flavors magnified as I smoked the cigar down past the square foot of the cigar. Heaven.

Then I noticed a funny thing; this damn cigar was not only immaculately constructed as Opus X's are prone to be, but also was holding ash unbelievably:

In fact, I was even able to sit the cigar upright on it's ash like some bizarre monument:

...and then pick it right back up again and keep smoking it. Hell, I had to take the damn band off, and the ash was still clinging to the cigar solidly and stubbornly:

The ash didn't fall off until I got stick of having it loom over me, ready to fall on my lap, and ashed it purposefully. Now that's a well-made cigar.

The finish was absolutely astoundingly good, the flavors just kept on raising in intensity, leaving my mouth tingling with flavor, as if I'd just had a spicy Thai meal. Yum. You could taste the age on the cigar as well (it was rolled in 2001, in preparation for the humidor which shipped in 2002): the Opus X spice had mellowed a tad, and the flavors had married in complex and wonderful ways.

The Opus X Forbidden X Shark is essentially the same blend as any regular old Opus, it's just in a funky shape, but that shape does indeed affect the flavor profile in interesting ways. The manner in which the cigar continually raised the volume of flavor into a crescendo at the end was just fabulous; possibly attributed to the unique shape of the cigar.

 

[cvmfour]

Great review Moki...I'm living vicariously through you

 

[rnccen]

Great review..nice photos..btw, I am still trying to keep up with the Jone's..nevermind Moki..

 

[wk-mang]

Another great review Yoda Moki! And... those are some excellent pics too... incredible ash Bro!

Aloha,

Wade

 

[moki]

Another great review Yoda Moki! And... those are some excellent pics too... incredible ash Bro!

Somehow the guy with salty nuts admiring my ass is a little disturbing...

 

[surferonthecrystalcoast]

Thanks for the review!!!! :thumbs:

 

[Backslide]

Now that is a bad ass ash

 

[bfreebern]

with hints of raisins or plumb wine

that's exactly what I thought I smelled. Thinking I was wrong, I asked my fiance to smell to see if she thought the same thing, but she didn't. Just thought it was me. Damn women :sign:

 

[Joe]

Very nice review.

 

[Maggs44]

Great pics.

I have a question regarding bringing your own cigars to a cigar bar. The cigar bar I go to once in a while gets most of it's income from cigars, so when I stop in, I get a beer and cigar. Is it ok to just bring your own cigars and just buy a beer?

Bruce

 

[other1]

In moki's case its a private club he pays for membership to, so he can do whatever he wants.

There are one or two shops I smoke at sometimes, usually I buy a stick there to smoke, especially at the one that gives you free coffee. If it's a place I can buy drinks at (like Palmer's), I don't feel at all bad about smoking my own stuff if I'm buying drinks from the house.

 

[Lemon]

Sounds like a great cigar. Btw, that ashtray is very nice :thumbs:

 

[moki]

Sounds like a great cigar. Btw, that ashtray is very nice :thumbs:

Yeah, I think the club has a few of those -- really cool ashtrays.

The way this smoke shop is, the downstairs is the retail shop, the upstairs is a club that only members have access to. You can bring whatever the heck you want in there to smoke, you only have to purchase $30 a month from the cigar shop as part of the membership deal.

It's actually quite nice, and the owners are very relaxed about the whole thing, which makes for a nice atmosphere.

 

[txmatt]

Great review Andrew, the photos are wonderful too. What do you use to take pictures in your reviews?

-Matt-

 

[moki]

Great review Andrew, the photos are wonderful too. What do you use to take pictures in your reviews?

-Matt-

I use one of these.

Great little camera. Only real downsides are:

-- The on-camera flash tends to either be too specular for close-up shots, or is too weak for distance shots. This is pretty typical of little point and shoots tho

-- There is no zoom

I got it because it is small, durable, and I'd likely take it with me wherever I went, which is often more important than anything else. No matter how cool your camera is, if it's big enough that you don't want it around all the time, you'll miss shots.

BTW, a little tip: for any camera, tape some tissue paper to the flash when taking portraits or close up shots. It'll diffuse the light a bit, which makes people look better, and the light less specular.