Ugliest cigar in the World…Ever

Normally a hand-rolled, premium cigar is a thing of beauty.

From the sheen of a carefully selected wrapper through to the design of a tastefully applied band, everything about the look of a good cigar should heighten the senses.

Or so I always thought…

Last week a friend and fellow cigar aficionado dropped me an email to tell me about some new cigars he had come across. In amongst the usual recommendations and offer of a box split of something very special (I will save the details for a later post)  were some pictures of a cigar he picked up on a recent trip to the US.

To say it looked like everything a cigar shouldn’t be would be a huge understatement.

Multiple garish bands, horrible packaging and a shape which boggles the mind. Without any further ado I present to you the Berger & Argenti Entubar

 

Wow how subtle is the reference to dynamite, I very nearly didn’t get it myself…guess it gives a whole new meaning to a cigar being a boom stick.

 

I love the boxes, definitely a big improvement over those horrible, ugly ones that cigars usually come in!

 

 

 

Scam alert – Justfakes.com

Fake cigars are an unfortunate fact of life for many people who choose to purchase Cuban cigars online.

American collectors/smokers, who due to the embargo on Cuban products are not able to purchase via more legitimate means, are particularly at risk of being taken advantage of.

The number of websites/mail order companies selling outright fakes or upgrades (legitimate cigars with the bands changed to seem like something far rarer) is so large that there is strong evidence to suggest that upwards of 95% of all Cuban cigars sold in the USA are not quite what they appear to be.

The demand for Cuban cigars, fake or not, is so large that the sums of money being made by these criminals/fraudsters/scumbags is enormous. Consumers are lucky to just receive inferior products dressed up as the real thing, some of the so called ‘Cubans’ which are on the market are nothing if not downright hazardous.

Whilst I am very lucky that I live in Europe and don’t have to resort to shady tactics to get my hands on the World’s finest cigars it still makes my blood boil that fellow cigar lovers are being exploited in this fashion.

As such whenever I have definitive proof that a company is shipping fakes/upgrades I am going call them out on  it. Will it stop the trade in fake cigars, hell no. But if even one person is spared the upset of blowing their hard earned cash on this rubbish then I will be happy.

The company I wish to draw your attention to today do not actually manufacture or sell cigars of any kind; fake or otherwise.

No, this particular piece of excrement is engaged in the sale of something just as damaging to consumers: fake bands, boxes, ribbons, labels and even customs tags.

What is so irritating about this particular nutsack is that for less than 20 dollars he is providing the means for literally anyone to repackage any old dog rockets as Cohiba, Bolivar, Montecristo or any other Cuban brand you can imagine.

Dr Joe from the Dr. Joe show sums things up pretty nicely in this video

 

Fuente Fuente Opus X Robusto 2010

Last time I was over in London I popped into the Davidoff shop on St James Street to have a browse through the walk in humidor and see if there was anything that took my fancy.

Whilst I was there I picked up a couple of Partagas 8-9-8 Varnished and happened to ask the young lady who was assisting me if there was anything she would recommend.

She suggested that I try the Fuente Fuente Opus X Robusto from Arturo Fuente. So putting my money where my mouth is, I picked up 3 examples from 2010 at a fairly reasonable £22.50 each.

I smoked the 8-9-8 and a few other sticks I picked up over the course of the few days I was back home (London will always be home) but decided I would leave the 3 robustos for when I got back to Ireland and would have time to properly relax.

I decided that I would smoke one cigar immediately and would leave the other two in the humidor for a few months to settle.

In the end I couldn’t resist having a second stick the very next night but I did resist and left the third cigar for the next 6 months and actually had it the evening my daughter was born.

The cigars came wrapped in cellophane which I am always appreciative of as it helps prevent any accidental damage to the wrapper due to careless handling.

The first thing you notice even before taking the cello off has to be that band:

99% of the cigars I smoke are Cuban. As such I am not that used to seeing such large and very,very ornate bands on my cigars. In fact I normally prefer a smaller, somewhat understated band like you find on a Montecristo or Rafael Gonzalez

That aside there is no mistaking the quality and level of detail in the Opus X bands and despite the gaudiness there is something strangely classy about them.

The quality of construction is excellent, not that I would expect anything less for a cigar in this price bracket. Especially as the sometimes dodgy, communist constructions issues which can affect Cuban cigars are normally not found in premium Non Cubans.

I clipped the triple cap with a double guillotine and could pick up cedar, leather and a slightly sweet flavour which I couldn’t quite put my finger on.

There were no issues whatsoever with lighting and the burn was excellent on all three cigars.

The first thing I noticed after lighting was just how much smoke this cigar produced! Within a few short puffs there was a veritable cloud of thick blue smoke 🙂

The leather and cedar were present throughout the cigar and were joined in the second third by a nice hit of black pepper along with what reminded me of hot buttered toast, YUM!

It wasn’t until the final third that I finally managed to put my finger on that sweetness I could taste….Coca Cola.

Sounds bizarre I realize but it worked really, really well, especially when balanced against the black pepper notes.

I was very impressed by the Opus X Robustos, the flavours were well developed without being over powering and the quality of the cigars was unmistakable.  I am not usually a massive fan of non Cuban cigars but on this occasion I was happy to be proven wrong!