Opus X Perfection No. 4

[vewyphishy]

I told myself that if the Colts won, I'd smoke this in honor of their victory. Well, 4 Manning interceptions later, that idea went out the window.

I told myself that if the Panthers won, I'd smoke this in honor of their victory. Well, 3 Manning interceptions later, that idea would also go out the window.

As I said, when the Panthers won, I fired this stick up. My only other Opus experience prior to this was the Fuente Fuente, which I really enjoyed. Well, taking some advice from one of Sam's reviews, I did a pre-draw before lighting it up to get a feel for the air flow. It was very smooth. Well, too bad that only tells a partial story.

The initial puffs were awesome and somewhat unexpected. Whereas many cigars start slow, this one started off with a bang. The smoke was full and smooth. The taste was immediate. I thought, "Damn, I'm in for a treat." Unfortunately, that would be the last time I think that.

About 5 minutes in, the problems began. The wrapper got a burned black color... and just stopped burning. Puff by puff, the draw began getting lighter and weaker. I relight and was welcomed back by the feeling I got during the initial few puffs. Another 5 minutes pass, and the same thing happened.

Rinse and repeat.

I stayed with it. I refused to give up... but DAMN, its frustrating to have to relight every couple of puffs. I kept telling myself that it's just in a rough spot. It's bound to get better. It never did. Finally, with the ash around a half inch from the band, I snuffed it and threw it out the window, as I mentioned above.

Overall, I was sorely disappointed. Sure, the flavor was good, but god almighty, that stick wouldn't have stayed lit if it had a blowtorch flaming it the whole time.

Score: 5 out of 10 ???

 

[moki]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience with it. Sounds like the taste was good and fine, it just wasn't burning for you. Is there any chance that you're storing that cigar in too humid of an environment? That's the only thing I can think of that would make it go out constantly, assuming the construction is okay.

Bummer dude. I haven't had an Opus yet that didn't smoke quite fine.

 

[vewyphishy]

moki, your post reminds me of something I forgot to mention.

As I was packing up all my cigars for the pass earlier in the day, I took this one and set it aside (ie: outside of the humidor) so that it would have a few hours to "dry out" as I have done for all my other smokes before firing them up.

The humidor has been around 67% RH for the most part... but because of all the rain in the past few days, the overall humidity has gone up. Perhaps that played a part. ???

 

[moki]

The humidor has been around 67% RH for the most part... but because of all the rain in the past few days, the overall humidity has gone up. Perhaps that played a part. ???

hrm. I wouldn't think that just a few hours could make a cigar that soggy.

Is it possible that the cigar got wet?

I'm really at a loss here -- I've never had a cigar that I had a hard time keeping lit. Only time I've had a cigar go out on me was when I neglected it for too long.

I don't mean to add insult to injury here, but I smoked an Opus today too (not sure what size -- fairly short/skinny). I was burning it outside in the freezing cold, with snowflakes falling all over it, and it burned like a champ. Surprised me it did as well as it did under those conditions.

Oh well, I guess it's always possible to get a bum smoke, no matter what the brand. When you felt the cigar, did it feel overly soft/damp? Was it plugged somehow, so you couldn't suck air through it to keep the fire properly fed?

 

[CoventryCat86]

I had a Power Ranger that acted "vewy" similar.

I think all the hype about high end Fuentes is a bunch of BS. I think they are overall average cigars that they chagre WAY too much for.

I had another one my my Anejo's on Saturday night.

It sucked just like the last one I smoked. Tight draw, lousy taste and around the middle, it refused to stay lit. Absoultely ridiculous for the $15.00 I paid for it :angry:

I'll score that one a 4 out of 10.

At least I can use the rest of the Anejos I have for putting in passes because I think they SUCK.

 

[moki]

I had another one my my Anejo's on Saturday night.

It sucked just like the last one I smoked. Tight draw, lousy taste and around the middle, it refused to stay lit. Absoultely ridiculous for the $15.00 I paid for it :angry:

I'll score that one a 4 out of 10.

At least I can use the rest of the Anejos I have for putting in passes because I think they SUCK.

Damn, I haven't had any issues with any of my Añejo's or my Opus's -- all of them burned like champs, and never went out.

Anyway, Coventry, I'd be happy to take one for the team. Mail me all of your Añejo's and Opus's I'll return some Padróns or other smokes you might enjoy more.

 

[CoventryCat86]

@ moki!!

Well, I certainlly can use one for your Padron Millenium pass. I think I have three others, one was part of a trade from ParaGod and it's a different #Anejo than the ones I bought at Christmas so I'll give that one a "shot" since it's a different model. Who knows, maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised.

As far as the other two, a trade for Padrons might be a good idea

Padron 1926's = YUMMY
And I'll probably never forgive RicMac25 for getting up my interest in these

 

[Triple_D]

2nd person to diss this cigar I will sit on mine a little longer b/f I spark it up to avoid burning problems. My humi is down to 63% so they should dry out a little

 

[emodx]

Here is my 2 cents. Just because your box is at %63, doesn't mean your cigars are at that point. If your cigars were stored by the retailer at a high RH level(they would never do such a thing), then it could take a substantial time to equalize with the surrounding RH. Being that I live in a very humid climate, I am learning about which sigars smoke best at lower RH's. Some burn great at %65 but lose their taste. Some taste great at %70, but burn horribly.
Either way, the Opus I have smoked at the lower RH seem to burn fine and taste fine, as do the Anejo's. But I do tend to sit on both for a long while before smoking.

Emo

 

[vewyphishy]

This particular cigar came as a Take from a pass about 6 or 7 weeks ago. In general, most of the cigars I smoke have been in the humidor for at least a month, if not more. I'm not sure if this qualifies as "substantial" but it is by no means "off the shelf."

I've been thinking about why it turned out the way it did... It seems in all likelihood that it was too wet, but I have no idea how it could've gotten SO wet that it would burn (or not burn) the way it did. Regardless, it was a dud in my book. Perhaps (and hopefully), future Opi (plural of Opus?) will be better.

 

[moki]

Saw this elsewhere... it hasn't been my experience with the Opus' (opi?), but I thought I'd pass it along.

.....

Haven't had the Forbidden X, but my experience with Opus is DON'T TRY TO SMOKE THEM AT 70% HUMIDITY. I've had some tremendous Opus's, but I have also had numerous burn problems with them and didn't figure out until I had to toss many of them in disgust that they, like cubans, don't burn well at what might be considered standard humidity. Dry box one for a day or two before you plan to smoke it, then plan to spend a LONG TIME smoking that baby