For all the hype that this cigar gets it sure doesn’t look like anything special. The only notable thing about it is that it says “Reserva Xtra Viejo” on the cellophane in gold. Other than that it’s just a dark chocolate brown with a gold and red band, cedar wrap and a red ribbon on the foot. The cello has not yellowed at all, even where it has come in contact with the tobacco itself.
The Ribbon is taped on. After removing the cedar I notice two things:
1) There is a small crack that may cause burn issues The smell is very strong. It’s in a barnyard nature.
The wrapper looks thick and toothy. As mentioned before there is a small crack near one of the seams. The lick on the cap is light and creamy with a bit of black pepper to it if the tongue lingers.
Cut with a punch. The cut is very difficult and the cigar is very firm. The unlit draw is coco and black tea and the resistance is perfect.
Lit with a Xikar Executive. The first puffs have a bit of a coffee taste to it. (Probably due to lighting too quickly) I can immediately tell that it is a full bodied cigar. There is a great cedar undertone to it with a hint of spice that is borderline clove. My mouth actually waters when I puff on it. The spice on the aftertaste comes on late and lingers. It fades away just when you want to take another puff. I’m not sure if that is planned but it works out well for me.
After it settles each puff starts creamy and sweet. When you push the smoke out the tea and cedar taste become prevalent. It then fades to a bit of vanilla on the aftertaste followed by the spice. The flavors are good, but what makes this so good is not what the flavors are, but how pronounced the flavors are.
…and a ton of smoke.
The first ash fell after an inch of flawless burn. The ash is a tiny bit flakey but this has not affected the experience at all. Just now I realize how smooth the cigar is, even through the nose. It’s so smooth that I didn’t put a second thought to it.
Hints of flavor pop in and out. Mushroom, clove, coffee, soy, walnut, coco, have all made an appearance while the main flavors of cream, tea and cedar are always there.
The aroma is fairly mild with a fairly classic tobacco smell. It reminds me of walking up to the B&M and the wind shifts just right so you can catch a whiff of the cigars being smoked inside.
Approaching the crack in the wrapper and I get a slight bit worried, but nothing comes of it. The burn corrects itself.
By the half way point the power of the cigar is very clear. I wish I had a lay-z-boy to sit in to get my feet up. Very relaxing and very worry free so far.
In the last third of the cigar the draw becomes a bit tight, but is easily fixed with a paperclip.
The end of the cigar has the same main flavor profile just a bit warmer and a tad bit more spice to it. The cedar stands out the most.
hmmm....I've been sitting on one of the sharks that gmill sent. I'm just waiting for the right situation. With this account of the Anejo experience, I may have to try this one soon. Thanks for your take on it, sounds like you enjoyed it!
hmmm....I've been sitting on one of the sharks that gmill sent. I'm just waiting for the right situation. With this account of the Anejo experience, I may have to try this one soon. Thanks for your take on it, sounds like you enjoyed it!
So far I have loved every Fuente cigar I have tried. Brandon you sure scored big with that Shark from Gmill eh ? I hope you will give a long and detailed report on that one. It is the one cigar that intrigues me the most right now. Have you smoked one of these before? Anyone?
hmmm....I've been sitting on one of the sharks that gmill sent. I'm just waiting for the right situation. With this account of the Anejo experience, I may have to try this one soon. Thanks for your take on it, sounds like you enjoyed it!
So far I have loved every Fuente cigar I have tried. Brandon you sure scored big with that Shark from Gmill eh ? I hope you will give a long and detailed report on that one. It is the one cigar that intrigues me the most right now. Have you smoked one of these before? Anyone?
I've had the shark. I wasn't impressed. I liked the Torpedo soooooooooooo much better. However, to be fair I have a few more aging. Could just have been a bad stick or maybe something I smoked before it that messed up my taste. I honestly don't remember other than I wasn't impressed.
had the #77(shark), the torpedo, and the #48 , loved them all-the shark the best,these are wonderful smokes well worth the price in my opinion if you can find them-Kuzi description is perfect
Great review kuzi, I've been waiting very patiently for the time to try some of my stash, though I know they need more time. But I'm really looking forward to it now from your review!
Great review kuzi, I've been waiting very patiently for the time to try some of my stash, though I know they need more time. But I'm really looking forward to it now from your review!
And I'm waiting for the time to try the part of Feebs's stash that he sent me.
sounds like an amazing experience. About how long would you suggest letting it sit for?
that one sat for just over a year. I found that to be a good time frame. YMMV
I've heard that a lot with the AF X's and Anejo's. Kuz, you should try another one with 2 years on it and see if it changed any. You seem to be pretty good at sniffing out the flavors..
Where's the LX2 review? I'm curious to see if you had the same take as I.
sorry... been lazy bout that..... yeah. im not sure when ill have time to turn it into the soft copy.
I'll be looking for that one. All I know is when I had my lx2 I really didn't get anything off of it. Perhaps it was because I was walking outside while it was snowing. I have one left in the humi that I'll have to try one last time.
sounds like an amazing experience. About how long would you suggest letting it sit for?
that one sat for just over a year. I found that to be a good time frame. YMMV
I've heard that a lot with the AF X's and Anejo's. Kuz, you should try another one with 2 years on it and see if it changed any. You seem to be pretty good at sniffing out the flavors..
i have a power ranger sitting in my smoking humidor right now. its got about two years on it. im not sure when ill smoke it but since its in the smoking humidor its days are numbered.
sounds like an amazing experience. About how long would you suggest letting it sit for?
that one sat for just over a year. I found that to be a good time frame. YMMV
I've heard that a lot with the AF X's and Anejo's. Kuz, you should try another one with 2 years on it and see if it changed any. You seem to be pretty good at sniffing out the flavors..
i have a power ranger sitting in my smoking humidor right now. its got about two years on it. im not sure when ill smoke it but since its in the smoking humidor its days are numbered.
hey kuzi, once they are placed on cigar death row, what is there maximum life expectancy ?
I just picked up a few of the Anejos for a friend of mine for his B-day so it's good to see that I made a pretty good choice. He was really excited about them. I guess I shoulda picked up a few for me while I was there... Oh well, now I got an excuse to go back to the shop! hehe
2-2-09 been in humi since 12-6-08
CAO LX2 Robusto (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
This cigar looks fairly toothy but feels smooth. The wrapper is dark brown. The double bands mingle with each other well. It’s a well presented cigar.
The lick on the cap is a bit bitter and spicy. The cigar is very firm and makes for a difficult cut with the punch. The light however is easy… much like the draw.
The first tastes are a strange “pulpy” earthy thing with some cinnamon. There is a bit of leather on the aftertaste and a very mild sweetness that fades quickly. As the cigar opens up the taste moves to the spicy side. Black pepper is the most obvious. Even with a TINY bit of smoke through the nose it has a tendency to burn. The spice is a fairly complex spice, cinnamon, black pepper, white pepper; but the other flavors are flat thin and not complex at all. It’s a bit of the “pulpy” earth
After an inch or so in when the first ash fell, a nutty flavor developed. Its showing its Honduran side but the “pulp” flavor seems to remind me of Nicaraguan. It’s burning uneven at this point but not causing any problems.
Nearing the midpoint more burn issues come up and the flavor remains the same.
Nothing else from there on in. It’s just the same.
I feel that this is the weakest of the “X2” line. I feel that it would be much better after a considerable amount of time in the humidor. Others have told me that all they can get out of this is “spice”
Smoking as slowly as you are able will help this issue a good deal. However, the flavors still aren’t anything special. The Robusto probably is the best size because any longer and it may get boring.
Nutty aye, well maybe the reviewer! lol, well I'm surprised you got all that stuff from this cigar Kuzi, but hey I have 2 sitting have been for a few months so I'll be sure to give 1 a light again.
like i said, i think its because i smoke so slow. it was almost a 2 hour ROBUSTO. when i smoked with any speed (hour 15 for a robusto pace) i would get nothing but black pepper. I slowed down to ease the spice.
lol.. okay well I'm sure going to take it slow then. I'll report back, perhaps it'll be one of my poker smokes usually is the only time I can ever enjoy a few smokes.
I never got the nut flavors. All I got from it was power and spice. Not a bad thing necessarily but not very complex either. The local B&M has it in a lancero, I'm curious about that Vitola bc the Ligero would be less apparent with such a large wrapper to binder ratio IMO.
Comments
BTW, regarding the Lab poo: maybe it's time to lay off the herbal cigarettes?
Arturo Fuente Anejo Reserva No. 46 (5.6 x 46)
Wrapper: Connecticut Maduro Cognac Barrel Aged
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
(OpusX blend, Anejo wrapper)
For all the hype that this cigar gets it sure doesn’t look like anything special. The only notable thing about it is that it says “Reserva Xtra Viejo” on the cellophane in gold. Other than that it’s just a dark chocolate brown with a gold and red band, cedar wrap and a red ribbon on the foot. The cello has not yellowed at all, even where it has come in contact with the tobacco itself.
The Ribbon is taped on. After removing the cedar I notice two things:
1) There is a small crack that may cause burn issues
The wrapper looks thick and toothy. As mentioned before there is a small crack near one of the seams. The lick on the cap is light and creamy with a bit of black pepper to it if the tongue lingers.
Cut with a punch. The cut is very difficult and the cigar is very firm. The unlit draw is coco and black tea and the resistance is perfect.
Lit with a Xikar Executive. The first puffs have a bit of a coffee taste to it. (Probably due to lighting too quickly) I can immediately tell that it is a full bodied cigar. There is a great cedar undertone to it with a hint of spice that is borderline clove. My mouth actually waters when I puff on it. The spice on the aftertaste comes on late and lingers. It fades away just when you want to take another puff. I’m not sure if that is planned but it works out well for me.
After it settles each puff starts creamy and sweet. When you push the smoke out the tea and cedar taste become prevalent. It then fades to a bit of vanilla on the aftertaste followed by the spice. The flavors are good, but what makes this so good is not what the flavors are, but how pronounced the flavors are.
…and a ton of smoke.
The first ash fell after an inch of flawless burn. The ash is a tiny bit flakey but this has not affected the experience at all. Just now I realize how smooth the cigar is, even through the nose. It’s so smooth that I didn’t put a second thought to it.
Hints of flavor pop in and out. Mushroom, clove, coffee, soy, walnut, coco, have all made an appearance while the main flavors of cream, tea and cedar are always there.
The aroma is fairly mild with a fairly classic tobacco smell. It reminds me of walking up to the B&M and the wind shifts just right so you can catch a whiff of the cigars being smoked inside.
Approaching the crack in the wrapper and I get a slight bit worried, but nothing comes of it. The burn corrects itself.
By the half way point the power of the cigar is very clear. I wish I had a lay-z-boy to sit in to get my feet up. Very relaxing and very worry free so far.
In the last third of the cigar the draw becomes a bit tight, but is easily fixed with a paperclip.
The end of the cigar has the same main flavor profile just a bit warmer and a tad bit more spice to it. The cedar stands out the most.
Burn to the burn
Burn time: 1h 40min
Burn: 10
Draw: 8
Taste: 10
Aftertaste: 10
Construction: 10
Appearance: 8
Feel: 10
Overall: 9.4
5 smoke rings (of 6) -- an exceptionally good cigar
Recommended to:
Those who can find it
Those who like the OpusX
Those who like Dominican tobacco.
So far I have loved every Fuente cigar I have tried.
Brandon you sure scored big with that Shark from Gmill eh ? I hope you will give a long and detailed report on that one.
It is the one cigar that intrigues me the most right now. Have you smoked one of these before? Anyone?
had the #77(shark), the torpedo, and the #48 , loved them all-the shark the best,these are wonderful smokes well worth the price in my opinion if you can find them-Kuzi description is perfect
shhhhh!! dont let the wife know.
i have a 2-3 year old VSG thats never seen the aging humi
CAO LX2 Robusto (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Honduran
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
This cigar looks fairly toothy but feels smooth. The wrapper is dark brown. The double bands mingle with each other well. It’s a well presented cigar.
The lick on the cap is a bit bitter and spicy. The cigar is very firm and makes for a difficult cut with the punch. The light however is easy… much like the draw.
The first tastes are a strange “pulpy” earthy thing with some cinnamon. There is a bit of leather on the aftertaste and a very mild sweetness that fades quickly. As the cigar opens up the taste moves to the spicy side. Black pepper is the most obvious. Even with a TINY bit of smoke through the nose it has a tendency to burn. The spice is a fairly complex spice, cinnamon, black pepper, white pepper; but the other flavors are flat thin and not complex at all. It’s a bit of the “pulpy” earth
After an inch or so in when the first ash fell, a nutty flavor developed. Its showing its Honduran side but the “pulp” flavor seems to remind me of Nicaraguan. It’s burning uneven at this point but not causing any problems.
Nearing the midpoint more burn issues come up and the flavor remains the same.
Nothing else from there on in. It’s just the same.
Burn time: 1h 50min
Burn: 8
Draw: 9
Taste: 8
Aftertaste: 8
Construction: 9
Appearance: 9
Feel: 8
Overall: 8.4
3 smoke rings -- an average cigar
I feel that this is the weakest of the “X2” line. I feel that it would be much better after a considerable amount of time in the humidor. Others have told me that all they can get out of this is “spice”
Smoking as slowly as you are able will help this issue a good deal. However, the flavors still aren’t anything special. The Robusto probably is the best size because any longer and it may get boring.
i mean seriously... TWO HOUR ROBUSTO.
that just aint natural.