Tonight was the end of an amazing weekend, filled with friends, beer, sushi, walks on the beach in the rain, cigars, successful house hunting, and just a general feeling of satisfaction in life. My fellow BOTL that shares in the delicacies of cigar and beer tasting was over tonight, and I decided it was time for something special. Last weekend, I received a bomb from Sned45 that was originally masked as him sending me two God of Fires to try out, as I had never had them before. Of course, the package contained not only the GoF's, but also an assortment of other delicious looking smokes. Sned stated that the God of Fire Carlito was his personal favorite, but he would send me both the Carlito and the Don Carlos to try. I decided that there was no better way to end this great weekend with a bang, and brought out those baddies! I took the Carlito for myself, and gave the Don Carlos to my good friend, at which point we cracked open a couple of dark beers and proceeded to fire up! Needless to say...we were pleasantly surprised...
This is my first review, and I apologize in advance for the fact that myself and my friend's palates are not as sensitive yet as is probably needed to fully appreciate the complexity of these cigars. I will do my best!
God of Fire Carlito 2006 Double Robusto
Stats: 5.7 x 50 ring gauge
Medium - Full bodied
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Wrapper: Cameroon
The construction and appearance of this cigar was what I have come to expect from a Fuente cigar, superior in all aspects of wrapper quality, firmness, and draw. The wrapper itself was smooth as silk save for one long vein that ran the entire length of the cigar, and exhibited absolute uniformity in color and feel. The cigar itself, while firm, had a slight spring to it, and the foot was soft in the sense that it was perfectly humidified. The foot smelled sweet and of cedar, with soft notes of spice on it, a very pleasant and mouth watering scent. I was extremely excited already at the prospect of enjoying this cigar! I decided to punch this one, as I did not want to risk using my cheap cutter on it and having the possibility of a bad cut. The prelight draw was reminiscent of the smell of the foot, with the smells coming as flavors of sweetness and spice. I toasted the foot and then began my first draw, which was a surprisingly mild first taste with no major flavors. It was very subtle, but complex at the same time which caught me off guard as I was anticipating a huge bomb of strength as I had experienced with my first Opus X. The draw was perfect, with just enough resistance and billowing smoke that filled the mouth. On my second draw, however, the flavor came through in full strength in the form of many different tastes which I had never experienced in a cigar before. I sensed a hazelnut sweetness, with hints of pepper and spice lingering on the finish, which was delicious. The burn was straight and I could tell this cigar would have a hell of an ash on it, as it was very tightly packed with a salt and pepper appearance. This continued through the first fourth of the cigar, and was very consistent in terms of strength and flavor. It was not as strong as I had thought it would be, though I was glad I had a full stomach and a Samuel Adams Boston Lager to go with it (which, I might add was complimenting it nicely!). The second half I had an accident and lost my ash, which was rock solid and still had a salt and pepper appearance to it. I also touched it up at this point as it had started to burn a little off on one side, but the correction worked flawlessly and it stayed perfect the rest of the way through the cigar. At this point I started to get a hint of charred hickory along with the spice, pepper and sweetness. I was really enjoying this cigar by this point, and was wishing it wouldn't end. The strength was staying the same as it had started off at, which was a big surprise to me as I had expected it to grow stronger and stronger. By the last quarter, the strength had built up finally though not overwhelmingly so, and I started to pick up a taste which I finally decided reminded me of the smell of old, supple leather. The finish was long at this point, but wonderfully so, and I took this time to smell wrapper again which smelled very sweet and cedary. I sadly was unable to nub this cigar, as the strength was starting to overwhelm my palate by the last inch and a half and so I put it down so I could savor the wonderful finish I had. I definitely will be revisiting these as my palette becomes more refined and I can burn my fingers with it! This is easily one of the best cigars I have ever had, and even with my relative newness to the cigar world (a year and a half now), I could appreciate the complexity to it. It reminded me very much of the first cigar I had that I was able to discern different tastes and aromas, which was the AF Hemmingway Signature. I will be buying more of these!
God of Fire Don Carlos 2006 Robusto
Stats: 5.2 x 50 ring gauge
Medium - Full bodied
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Wrapper: Ecuador
My good friend and BOTL was the fine candidate that was to share in my experience with the Gods tonight, and was delighted to try the Don Carlos. He had also been pining over these cigars every time we went to the local B&M, and was quite taken aback when I told him he was going to help me do a review. He is also fairly new to the cigar experience, and has been smoking for about a year and a half now as well. Here is his assessment:
The construction and appearance is beautiful, with a seamless, flawless wrapper that smelled sweet and spicy. He said it was extremely enticing and he was hurrying me to finish pouring my beer so we would fire the cigars up. He also chose to punch his, and stated his prelight draw was delicious and mouth watering with tastes of nut, spice and a faint sweetness of maple. After toasting it, the first draw his face lit up and he stated that the flavor was incredible, though he couldn't pinpoint specifics as the complexity was beyond him at the moment. After a brief wait to let his palate clear, the second draw was coming through with an perfect amount of resistance, billowing smoke and tons of flavor. He commented he tasted sweet maple, nutmeg, earth and pepper. He stated it was smooth as butter and the finish was long, long, long! The burn was razor sharp to the point of making us marvel at it for several minutes. The ash was exceptionally white and very, very tight and solid. He remarked that this was easily one of the best cigars we have had so far, and that it was complimenting his beer perfectly. He had a look of pure bliss on his face, and nodded with satisfaction after each puff. During the second half, the strength was consistently medium bodied, though the flavors started to take on notes of rosemary in addition to the nutmeg, spice, earth and pepper. The burn was still razor sharp, and required zero touch up. He also lost his ash at this point when changing hands to reach for his beer, which saddened him as he was getting a very good length going. He marveled at the fact that the ash was rock solid when he picked it up to place it in the ash tray. I was starting to catch scents of the smoke from his cigar, and was detecting a woodsy, earthy smell to it, which was delightful. The last quarter of it he stated that the complexity changed, with the nutmeg fading to a walnut and sweetness, with the rosemary fading to a slight hint. I laughed at this point as he began to nub the cigar, to the point where he was frustrated because his large fingers were getting burned! He stated that it was not as hot as he had expected it to be for the length he was at on it, and that the strength was still medium bodied and hadn't grown at all! He was saddened when he finally reached the point where he could no longer smoke it, and finally laid it to rest. When I asked him what his final thoughts were, he stated it was definitely something he looked forward to having again, especially when his palate was more refined. A top notch cigar, and easily one of the best he had thus far.
All said and done, we both were amazed at the amount of flavors we could pinpoint in these smokes given our relative newness. We both concurred that to us, that is the sign of a great cigar and that we would be going back to the local B&M to pick up a few more tubes of these. Next time, we will swap and try the cigar that that each other had this time around. Again, a special thanks goes out to Sned45 for giving us the opportunity to try these amazing smokes for the first time. I see now why these are your favorites.
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This is my first review, and I apologize in advance for the fact that myself and my friend's palates are not as sensitive yet as is probably needed to fully appreciate the complexity of these cigars. I will do my best!
God of Fire Carlito 2006 Double Robusto
Stats: 5.7 x 50 ring gauge
Medium - Full bodied
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Wrapper: Cameroon
The construction and appearance of this cigar was what I have come to expect from a Fuente cigar, superior in all aspects of wrapper quality, firmness, and draw. The wrapper itself was smooth as silk save for one long vein that ran the entire length of the cigar, and exhibited absolute uniformity in color and feel. The cigar itself, while firm, had a slight spring to it, and the foot was soft in the sense that it was perfectly humidified. The foot smelled sweet and of cedar, with soft notes of spice on it, a very pleasant and mouth watering scent. I was extremely excited already at the prospect of enjoying this cigar! I decided to punch this one, as I did not want to risk using my cheap cutter on it and having the possibility of a bad cut. The prelight draw was reminiscent of the smell of the foot, with the smells coming as flavors of sweetness and spice. I toasted the foot and then began my first draw, which was a surprisingly mild first taste with no major flavors. It was very subtle, but complex at the same time which caught me off guard as I was anticipating a huge bomb of strength as I had experienced with my first Opus X. The draw was perfect, with just enough resistance and billowing smoke that filled the mouth. On my second draw, however, the flavor came through in full strength in the form of many different tastes which I had never experienced in a cigar before. I sensed a hazelnut sweetness, with hints of pepper and spice lingering on the finish, which was delicious. The burn was straight and I could tell this cigar would have a hell of an ash on it, as it was very tightly packed with a salt and pepper appearance. This continued through the first fourth of the cigar, and was very consistent in terms of strength and flavor. It was not as strong as I had thought it would be, though I was glad I had a full stomach and a Samuel Adams Boston Lager to go with it (which, I might add was complimenting it nicely!). The second half I had an accident and lost my ash, which was rock solid and still had a salt and pepper appearance to it. I also touched it up at this point as it had started to burn a little off on one side, but the correction worked flawlessly and it stayed perfect the rest of the way through the cigar. At this point I started to get a hint of charred hickory along with the spice, pepper and sweetness. I was really enjoying this cigar by this point, and was wishing it wouldn't end. The strength was staying the same as it had started off at, which was a big surprise to me as I had expected it to grow stronger and stronger. By the last quarter, the strength had built up finally though not overwhelmingly so, and I started to pick up a taste which I finally decided reminded me of the smell of old, supple leather. The finish was long at this point, but wonderfully so, and I took this time to smell wrapper again which smelled very sweet and cedary. I sadly was unable to nub this cigar, as the strength was starting to overwhelm my palate by the last inch and a half and so I put it down so I could savor the wonderful finish I had. I definitely will be revisiting these as my palette becomes more refined and I can burn my fingers with it! This is easily one of the best cigars I have ever had, and even with my relative newness to the cigar world (a year and a half now), I could appreciate the complexity to it. It reminded me very much of the first cigar I had that I was able to discern different tastes and aromas, which was the AF Hemmingway Signature. I will be buying more of these!
God of Fire Don Carlos 2006 Robusto
Stats: 5.2 x 50 ring gauge
Medium - Full bodied
Filler: Dominican
Binder: Dominican
Wrapper: Ecuador
My good friend and BOTL was the fine candidate that was to share in my experience with the Gods tonight, and was delighted to try the Don Carlos. He had also been pining over these cigars every time we went to the local B&M, and was quite taken aback when I told him he was going to help me do a review. He is also fairly new to the cigar experience, and has been smoking for about a year and a half now as well. Here is his assessment:
The construction and appearance is beautiful, with a seamless, flawless wrapper that smelled sweet and spicy. He said it was extremely enticing and he was hurrying me to finish pouring my beer so we would fire the cigars up. He also chose to punch his, and stated his prelight draw was delicious and mouth watering with tastes of nut, spice and a faint sweetness of maple. After toasting it, the first draw his face lit up and he stated that the flavor was incredible, though he couldn't pinpoint specifics as the complexity was beyond him at the moment. After a brief wait to let his palate clear, the second draw was coming through with an perfect amount of resistance, billowing smoke and tons of flavor. He commented he tasted sweet maple, nutmeg, earth and pepper. He stated it was smooth as butter and the finish was long, long, long! The burn was razor sharp to the point of making us marvel at it for several minutes. The ash was exceptionally white and very, very tight and solid. He remarked that this was easily one of the best cigars we have had so far, and that it was complimenting his beer perfectly. He had a look of pure bliss on his face, and nodded with satisfaction after each puff. During the second half, the strength was consistently medium bodied, though the flavors started to take on notes of rosemary in addition to the nutmeg, spice, earth and pepper. The burn was still razor sharp, and required zero touch up. He also lost his ash at this point when changing hands to reach for his beer, which saddened him as he was getting a very good length going. He marveled at the fact that the ash was rock solid when he picked it up to place it in the ash tray. I was starting to catch scents of the smoke from his cigar, and was detecting a woodsy, earthy smell to it, which was delightful. The last quarter of it he stated that the complexity changed, with the nutmeg fading to a walnut and sweetness, with the rosemary fading to a slight hint. I laughed at this point as he began to nub the cigar, to the point where he was frustrated because his large fingers were getting burned! He stated that it was not as hot as he had expected it to be for the length he was at on it, and that the strength was still medium bodied and hadn't grown at all! He was saddened when he finally reached the point where he could no longer smoke it, and finally laid it to rest. When I asked him what his final thoughts were, he stated it was definitely something he looked forward to having again, especially when his palate was more refined. A top notch cigar, and easily one of the best he had thus far.
All said and done, we both were amazed at the amount of flavors we could pinpoint in these smokes given our relative newness. We both concurred that to us, that is the sign of a great cigar and that we would be going back to the local B&M to pick up a few more tubes of these. Next time, we will swap and try the cigar that that each other had this time around. Again, a special thanks goes out to Sned45 for giving us the opportunity to try these amazing smokes for the first time. I see now why these are your favorites.
*Edit* Spelling
