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Thursday July 28th, Smokin' Joe's Alocoa had an Arturo Fuentes event with Arturo's granddaughter, Cynthia, coming in. Mike Hicks, owner of Joe's did it right as the first Fuentes event in Knoxville. Buy 3, get one free; buy a box, get 10% off and 5 free. Scotch tastings handed out in glasses (not plastic)!

There were plenty of Fuente Fuente Opus X's on hand a I got a couple. However, there were also the A Gran Reserva which has a Dominican SUN-grown wrapper, the first ever developed there.

A former employee of Joe's, Adam who still does some part-time, would often pick a cigar or two for me and almost always I enjoyed his selections (he's a tall, shaved-head guy with a foo-manchu mustache; if you see him, ask him to pick something for you. He'll question you and give you some good sticks. Plus after Adam knew I trusted him, he would some save some fine stuff for me.) Adam was at the Fuentes event and I let him fill my bag except for the Opus X I wanted (a certain, post-divorce $40 cigar I picked out for $30) with the balance of my $100 budget. Excluding the huge thing I chose that comes in in own cedar box, I ended up with 7 purchased and 3 free. Only 10 days in the humidor when I smoked this.

THE CIGAR: A FUENTES GRAN RESERVA

One of the cigars I bought is a Chateau Series Corona-sized stick that has a cedar wrapper around the barrel and a red ribbon around the foot. Looking at the Fuentes website there is a similar "Queen B" that has a torpedo head; not this one.

It's 6 inches and about a 42 ring with the sun grown wrapper that is a shade or two darker than a shade-grown Connecticut; it is also quite oily/shiney. The wrapper was so hyped that I was surprised to see the larger visible veins, though they weren't rough to the touch.

It cut well with no breaks and the dry-draw tasted of cocoa and tobacco. Looking at the foot it appeared, not loose but not tight and felt the same. The cigar lit well and the first draw was effortless with a large volume of silky white smoke that continued to the end.

The initial taste was cocoa and the flavor remained remained thoughout, but there was also a chicory flovor in there. I don't mean chocolate when I say cocoa; think Hershey's chocolate vs. Nestle's cocoa. This was a consistant slow-burn cigar right up to the band. It burned smooth with a cool-to-slightly warm barrel and a loose salt & pepper ash (meaning the ash will fall in your lap in the car).

I did like the construction and even though I was told this is a rare cigar (sun grown), I think it was under $10 and it might just be rare for the Knoxville area (?!?). I'd smoke one again and I'm going to leave the other A Fuentes sun-grown's in the humidor much longer to see if they are worth driving for after smoking those.

Impressed?: not really
Taste: 6 on a 10
Burn: 7/10
Construction: 8/10
Aroma: 5/10
Overall Quality: 6/10
Value: 4/10
Imagine it would be good with: bourbon

GreggO



PS -Stogie

I would smoke another of those 5 Vegas Golds over this Fuente! I loved that cigar, brother! Thanks! Where did you find those two? I couldn't find much on the Panacea.

G

Thanks for the review.  Imo this is perfectly appropriate for the main board, though.

I've become a big fan of the CAO brand, which I also discovered at Smokin' Joe's (I generally visit the Papermill store).  CAO has a distribution center in Nashville, so not only do I get to enjoy a fine cigar, but I get to support a local Tennessee presence.

I am particularly fond of the Soprano and the Gold Maduro.   For the cost and the enjoyment, they are hard to beat. 

Papaermill is where I usually go as well. They have a decent collection and a convenient location. Old City has that one wall with cigars and I can't find anything down there.

I haven't had a CAO brand in a long time and I sure will give 'em a try. With a distribution center in Nashville, that is a "big plus" in my book because even though Joe's has a great humidor, I swear some of stock must sit in a ship container on a Miami dock for who knows how long. Right now I like an Olivia O Series during the afternoon occasionally, but sometimes and I'm getting those with cracked wrappers. If CAO is coming in from Nashville, I'll bet you don't have that problem! Mike gives their brand a decent amount of space in the Papermill store, so I probably need to check these out once again. Thanks for the tip, Bill.

And Vinnie I think this post is appropriate for the main board as well, but it's getting closer to football season and I didn't want to clutter-up the board.

G

I got the 5 Vegas Gold in a goody bag at a golf tourney and the Panacea Red 760 "The Peacemaker" from Flatbed Cigar company. I prefer the Panacea over the 5 Vegas Gold, but it is a 2.5-3 hour smoke.