A. Fuente Anejo No. 46

Joined Apr 2007
34 Posts | 0+
A. Fuente Anejo No. 46

Wrapper: US Conneticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican

A. Fuente's maduro wrapped version of their "flagship" cigar the OpusX. Its definately a beautiful cigar, wrapped in cedar with a red bit of ribbon taped to the foot. I removed all the "fluff" and examined the cigar a bit closer. Nice and dark with an oily sheen and some slight veining. It is a solid cigar, weighty in the hand and almost no give when slightly pressed. I'm a bit worried about draw at this point. No discernable aroma at cold except clean tobacco. A bit surprising considering this is ,after all, a Maduro. Cut very clean with my Xicar, draw is a bit on the tight side but not so much that I'd have to work at it.

Light is easy, the first few puffs produced tons of heavy white smoke. Not much in the way of flavor except crisp clean tobacco. Again for a maduro I was expecting something different.

First third was very depressing. Clean tobacco taste with slight vegetal afternotes. Lots of white pepper through the nose. Draw had a little pull to it and the burn was excellent - straight and razor sharp. Nothing really "jumped" out at me that told me this cigar was "cream of the crop" except for maybe the telltale signs of a well made cigar.

Getting into the 1/2 way mark and on to the last 1/3 I'm starting to get a bit more flavor out of the cigar. Hints of coffe are starting to peak out from the ever present vegetal flavor the cigar has been producing up to this point. Still, this is very different from a typical Maduro.

At the end of the cigar the strength has increased. Coffee notes are finally present but some slight harshness has materialized as well. Purged the cigar and let rest for a few minutes before picking back up. This helped and allowed me to nub the cigar at the end. The last 1/3 was definately the best but it took too much cigar to get to this point.



Burn: 10
Draw: 9 (would be a 10 but was slightly tight)
Taste: 6
Aftertaste: 6
Construction: 9
Appearance: 10
Feel: 8
Overall: 8.3
3 smoke rings -- and average cigar

I think I'm being super critical with this one. However, seeing the exclusitivity of this cigar, and the cost one has to fork over just to smoke one, I should be critical. Will I buy another - nope, not at the "retail" markup everyone seems to get for these things. Heck for the same price I'd much rather smoke a Cohiba EL Sublime or 3 Ashton VSG's for that matter. At least I can get a better flavor profile from these cigars. Its too bad this line has such a crutch from the get go. Only available twice a year (if you're lucky) and expensive to boot.

I'd rather save my pennies and buy a few VSG's.
 
Nice review, and only 30 posts in....good stuff.
 
Great review... I've not had the 46 yet. I had a Shark over the holidays with a much different outcome. It was an amazing cigar that exploded with flavors at about the 1/2 way point.

I've read a couple of places that the 46 improves with some age. I think I'll hang on to mine for a few months and smoke it then. It disappoints me that it wasn't any better than it was for you.

--Scott
 
Wow...the price of a Cohiba EL Sublime or 3 VSGs...for that price, I can definitely see that the cigar would not meet expectations. It is an excellent cigar, IMO, but for that markup, no way. I agree with Scott about improving with age. Keep some Anejos for a while and they go from very good to great. Next time they are released, ask around. There are a few people around here that can get them pretty close to or at MSRP if you are looking to try a few more.
 
My local B&M had the Shark for $17. I think they have some other sizes left. All were/are at or under the $20 mark.
 
Retail doesn't make these too bad if you're paying "retail". But when you factor in that every B&M in CA seems to think they can charge someone an arm and a leg (like 2X to 3X markup). Dont get me wrong guys this is a good cigar, And the construction/appearance was excellent to superior. However, I just cant see why the hype of uber exclusive cigars "makes" the cigar.

Thanks for the feedback on the review as well - I really have to give props to Chris and Kuzi. If they didnt have their reviews in place I probably wouldnt have followed the same format. I usually find all of their reviews informative, precise, and all around good reading. It doesnt hurt that Chris's taste profile, from what I can tell, is very similar to my own. I might have to post a review of some CC's next.
 
i thought long and hard how to do my reviews before i started doing them. if you look at my first review vs. my last one youll see that some tweeking was done as well.



personally i think chris has more substance to his reviews. I also think they are geared to more seasoned smokers. I try to keep mine for the beginning smoker since i fell that i AM a beginning smoker.
 
A modest statement Kuzi but dont cut yourself short. When I first hit these boards I beleive I made a few purchases based off your opinion as well.
 
The local B&M had the anjeo no 46 & no 50 in stock for $7.25 and $8.00 respectivly.