I have always wanted to break out my A from it's coffin, and relax for several hours to enjoy it, but have never had such a chance until now. The wife went off to enjoy some pampering at QUA Bath & Spa - Caesar's Palace during my time in CF. I originally purchased this A from a member here a few years back, and it has aged in my coolidor. Upon lighting this particular stick, of which I didn't see any large cracks/issues, it started to unravel and ultimately popped at the foot after about 10 mins of smoking time. The CF GM (Michael Fayerverger) noticed this and approached me with an offer to swap out my A for one of his. I was shocked, and amazed at this as the A retails for $85, but he said it's not everyday that someone comes in here and wants to smoke an A. To show my appreciation, I reached into my Cigar Caddy, and handed him a DE FFP, of which he smiled and said thank you and smoked it right there.
So the A being reviewed was not mine, it was the one handed to me at Casa Fuente. (All in all I smoked about 1.5 OPUS A's that day)
Cigar: Arturo Fuente Opus X
Size: 9.25 x 47 (PerfecXion A)
Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Dominican Republic
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Appearance & Construction (9/10): Excellent appearance, very smooth with little veins running the length of the cigar. There was one small blemish on the wrapper where it looks like it was patched. Firm with a slight give all the way through and cap construction was excellent.
Prelight draws were sweet and spicy with notes of biscuit, nuts, and grains.
Flavor & Notes (8/10): Upon lighting the monster I was amazed at the smoothness and approachability of the flavors, not overwhelming but just very distinct leather and wood with a white pepper spice that lingered in the aftertaste. As the stick smoked through I noticed each individual flavor become more pronounced and then combine as I approached the 1/4 mark. Raisins and mocha made there way into this profile for a short time, appearing in the initial draw and then giving way during the exhale to the spice and pepper. The body is medium at this point.
The smoke production here is tremendous, effortless but not a wind tunnel as the draw has become tighter but not annoyingly so as I went into the half way mark. This is where the leather and wood really took over and began to work in unison with the spice, flavors at this point were married and blended quite well. 3/4 mark is where I cut another 1/8th of an inch off the cap to open the draw up a little more as it's been 1.75 hours smoking this beast. This resulted in more generous smoke, from each puff and slightly sweeter/cooler smoke too. The body is medium-full at this point.
The final quarter of this cigar is where it really shined, the famous OPUS X strength has now come center stage, and is hitting gracefully here no real nicotine knuckle sammich punch here but more of a firm introduction. The body is full at this point, gloriously full if I might say so.
Burn/Ash/Draw (9/10): The burn for such a large cigar was very good, and as the pictures show consistent throughout the duration of the smoke. Ash was steady, at one point holding on for over an 2" until I gently released it into the tray. 3/4 mark I cut 1/8th of an inch off the cap to open the draw only due to the fact that this smoke was approaching 2 hours of puffing and I needed it to easy up a bit. A small split appeared (as the pics show) in the last quarter but quickly resolved itself and wasn't an issue as I went ahead and nubb'd this bad boy.
Overall (9/10): I thoroughly enjoyed this cigar, not a first choice on anyone's list to pick up an A, but I think if you have the time and space, do it. This ride will not disappoint. I was expecting it to get me a little dizzy seeing it's an OPUS, but it did nothing more than a brown label tat would. All said and done, I would recommend this anyone looking to enjoy a a cigar with close to 3 hours to spare.
Thanks for reading, enjoy the pics.
