pnutbutrsangwich
New Member
- Joined
- Nov 1, 2004
- Messages
- 189
The quest for this holy grail of the Fuente Family began around Christmas time when I made my first ISO post for it across a few boards. Just when it looked like all hope was lost in finding anyone who was willing to part with one, Andrew (Moki) and Devin (devincole) came through with a Christmas miracle for which I owe him very much (THANKS A LOT!!!!). After many false claims that I was going to smoke it and many a ballbusting from moki, I finally decided to bite the bullet and put foot to flame.
Here's a little background info provided from moki's rare fuente cigar site vitolas.net. Opus X Maduro cigars have a hybrid Cuban seed wrapper grown in the Dominican Republic on the Fuente farms; this wrapper is different from the Añejos, which use Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrappers. The Opus X Maduro wrappers were grown on a small part of the Fuente farm, on the side of a hill, where they were left out longer to ripen before harvesting. Because of the limited area they are grown in, and the additional exposure to the elements, the yield was very small. The Maduro wrapper brings a unique cocoa flavor and sweet balance to the normally very spicy Opus X flavor profile. Fuente has not been growing the maduro Opus X wrapper since 2001, so the potential supply of these cigars is currently even more limited. This cigar was won in an auction to benefit charity in Las Vegas, August 5, 2001. The quantity of these maduros in this particular vitola that exists is known only to Carlito (assuming he remembers :mrgreen: ).
Now, on to the cigar...
My initial impressions of the cigar was marked by a degree of shock. When I first looked at the wrapper, I couldn't believe that they would call it a maduro. When compared with one regular production Opus X DC that I have, I actually thought that the regular one was darker! Aside from it's light shade, this wrapper was not the same type of silky smooth rosado used to wrap ordinary Opus. Rather it was a drier, more rustic wrapper that did not have the oily sheen that regular production Opus have, either.
With a deep breath, knowing I'll never come across one of these again, I snipped off the cap with my Palio cutter and took some prelight draws. From these draws I did not get any really powerful flavors, but rather a subtle, smokey, fruity, toasted note that was quite tasty. Already I could tell that I was in for an unexpected experience.
Upon setting flame to the foot of this gorgeous, substantially built cigar, I was greeted with woodsy creamy notes that were slightly sweet... quite a departure from smoking fresh rosado Opus! These notes turned even sweeter as the first inch burned through, presenting a caramel sweetness. By this point, the smoke was cool, voluminous, and strangely, mild to medium in strength. Progressing through the second inch, the flavors were all over the place. (I keep a small 3x5 notepad with me when I smoke and rarely do I get to the end of the page recording the smoking characteristics of many cigars. This one, however took up 3 pages!)
The caramel gave way to notes of graham cracker, cinnamon toast, and at times, a saltiness that was infinitely more pleseant than any other time that I have encountered this flavor note when smoking. The creamy, silky body of the smoke held through this dynamic flavor kaleidoscope and put a wide smile on my face.
From here, the Opus developed a slightly tannic quality. It was the same as drinking red wine that has not yet had time to properly open up and breathe. Contrasting this, was the fact that the smoke maintianed its sweetness, while picking up some mild cardamon-like spiciness. These flavors seemed to alternate between draws with something so pleseant... it was like Christmas cookies. Absolutely delicious!
Heading into the fourth inch, a cocoa flavor mixed with toffee and nougat came through that quickly gave way to tart black cherries with a subtle, yet long lasting and clearly evident sweetness that was somehow different from earlier. After this, the spiciness started to pick up and notes of pepper and leather dominated the flavor profile, yet not enough to completely drown out the sweetness. The flavor then changed one more time to reveal a fruity taste mixed in with strong coffee/espresso notes.
When it got down to the point where there was about 1.5 inches left, the burn started to get way funky and rather than possibly ruin what to this point had been the most interesting cigar I had ever smoked, I decided to lay it down and go out, peacefully. My overall impressions are dominated by the fact that this was absolutely like no cigar, be it Opus X, or not, that I've ever smoked. It was fabulously complex and the smoke had a texture that was to die for. I think that 5+ years of age on this beauty have certainly helped out in refining this smoke and I cannot imagine it getting any better.
Inevitably, the issue of cost comes up here in the summation. Given the fact that these are so hard to find and even when they are found, so expensive, the question of "Is it worth it?" comes up. I would have to answer that question with a resounding YES! Although it is beyond unlikely that these will ever hit regular production, I hope more than anything related to cigars, that they do some day. In 10 words or less, the most complex and fascinating cigar I've ever had.
I took some pics of the experience with a digital camera that I just got and don't really know how to use. Some came out great, others... well, not so much. They are in my CW gallery.Linky
Here's a little background info provided from moki's rare fuente cigar site vitolas.net. Opus X Maduro cigars have a hybrid Cuban seed wrapper grown in the Dominican Republic on the Fuente farms; this wrapper is different from the Añejos, which use Connecticut broadleaf maduro wrappers. The Opus X Maduro wrappers were grown on a small part of the Fuente farm, on the side of a hill, where they were left out longer to ripen before harvesting. Because of the limited area they are grown in, and the additional exposure to the elements, the yield was very small. The Maduro wrapper brings a unique cocoa flavor and sweet balance to the normally very spicy Opus X flavor profile. Fuente has not been growing the maduro Opus X wrapper since 2001, so the potential supply of these cigars is currently even more limited. This cigar was won in an auction to benefit charity in Las Vegas, August 5, 2001. The quantity of these maduros in this particular vitola that exists is known only to Carlito (assuming he remembers :mrgreen: ).
Now, on to the cigar...
My initial impressions of the cigar was marked by a degree of shock. When I first looked at the wrapper, I couldn't believe that they would call it a maduro. When compared with one regular production Opus X DC that I have, I actually thought that the regular one was darker! Aside from it's light shade, this wrapper was not the same type of silky smooth rosado used to wrap ordinary Opus. Rather it was a drier, more rustic wrapper that did not have the oily sheen that regular production Opus have, either.
With a deep breath, knowing I'll never come across one of these again, I snipped off the cap with my Palio cutter and took some prelight draws. From these draws I did not get any really powerful flavors, but rather a subtle, smokey, fruity, toasted note that was quite tasty. Already I could tell that I was in for an unexpected experience.
Upon setting flame to the foot of this gorgeous, substantially built cigar, I was greeted with woodsy creamy notes that were slightly sweet... quite a departure from smoking fresh rosado Opus! These notes turned even sweeter as the first inch burned through, presenting a caramel sweetness. By this point, the smoke was cool, voluminous, and strangely, mild to medium in strength. Progressing through the second inch, the flavors were all over the place. (I keep a small 3x5 notepad with me when I smoke and rarely do I get to the end of the page recording the smoking characteristics of many cigars. This one, however took up 3 pages!)
The caramel gave way to notes of graham cracker, cinnamon toast, and at times, a saltiness that was infinitely more pleseant than any other time that I have encountered this flavor note when smoking. The creamy, silky body of the smoke held through this dynamic flavor kaleidoscope and put a wide smile on my face.
From here, the Opus developed a slightly tannic quality. It was the same as drinking red wine that has not yet had time to properly open up and breathe. Contrasting this, was the fact that the smoke maintianed its sweetness, while picking up some mild cardamon-like spiciness. These flavors seemed to alternate between draws with something so pleseant... it was like Christmas cookies. Absolutely delicious!
Heading into the fourth inch, a cocoa flavor mixed with toffee and nougat came through that quickly gave way to tart black cherries with a subtle, yet long lasting and clearly evident sweetness that was somehow different from earlier. After this, the spiciness started to pick up and notes of pepper and leather dominated the flavor profile, yet not enough to completely drown out the sweetness. The flavor then changed one more time to reveal a fruity taste mixed in with strong coffee/espresso notes.
When it got down to the point where there was about 1.5 inches left, the burn started to get way funky and rather than possibly ruin what to this point had been the most interesting cigar I had ever smoked, I decided to lay it down and go out, peacefully. My overall impressions are dominated by the fact that this was absolutely like no cigar, be it Opus X, or not, that I've ever smoked. It was fabulously complex and the smoke had a texture that was to die for. I think that 5+ years of age on this beauty have certainly helped out in refining this smoke and I cannot imagine it getting any better.
Inevitably, the issue of cost comes up here in the summation. Given the fact that these are so hard to find and even when they are found, so expensive, the question of "Is it worth it?" comes up. I would have to answer that question with a resounding YES! Although it is beyond unlikely that these will ever hit regular production, I hope more than anything related to cigars, that they do some day. In 10 words or less, the most complex and fascinating cigar I've ever had.
I took some pics of the experience with a digital camera that I just got and don't really know how to use. Some came out great, others... well, not so much. They are in my CW gallery.Linky
:laugh: 
