Opus X PerfecXion No. 4 Review
Opus X PerfecXion No. 4 Review
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Opus X PerfecXion No. 4
Origin : Dominican Republic
Vitola : Corona
Size : 5 3/16” x 43
Wrapper : Chateau De La Fuente Shade Grown Rosado
Binder : Dominican
Filler : Dominican
Hand-Made
Price : ~$8-9 ea.
Humidor Time : 2 Months+ @67-69%rh
Smoke Time: 1hr30min
Body: Full
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Appearance: The wrapper is a rustic Colorado Maduro with a reddish tint. It has an almost sandpaper like quality with a few minor blemishes. There is little give when squeezed; the seams are tight and neat with very small veins visible. It has a flattened top and slightly rounded sides.
Aroma: The cigar gives off a nice aged tobacco and hay aroma. As I cut the cigar the cap comes off perfectly (it has a triple cap).
Cold Draw: The first impression flavors from the cold draw results in something quite unexpected as my palette is hit with notes of red pepper and sweet spices that are quite substantial.
1st: The flavors that were initially tasted on the cold draw continue on the first few initial puffs with the addition of distinct cinnamon. I cannot recall any cigar that I’ve had to date where a cinnamon note was this strong. It is quite unusual and almost candy like. The smoke has a very oily mouth feel and the finish of sweet tobacco and pepper is very long. A really nice floral note hits my olfactory senses on the retro hale.
Performance: The draw is almost perfect, not too firm and able to produce thick, creamy plumes of smoke. The speckled grey and white ash began to flower somewhat but managed to hold on for over 1.5”. The burn is quite slow and also a bit uneven but was easily corrected by rotating.
Note: Due to the small vitola, I decided to remove the band early. It was heavily glued and a bit difficult to remove. Fuente uses the same band for larger gauges and because this is small (43) it was almost double wrapped.
2nd: Getting into the 2nd 3rd I experienced a little bit of a nic kick as my heart rate began to pick up and my face began to feel somewhat warm. The spice began to mellow out a bit with the floral note fading into the background giving way to a sweet subtle woodiness.
3rd: Just prior to entering the final 3rd I gave the PerfecXion a quick cold purge. The sweet spice returned and a dominant creaminess came in. A subtle pepper also returned on the finish. I took it down to the nub and it remained firm throughout, never going mushy or soft.
Impression: I smoked this pretty early and it’s possible that the burn issues could have been corrected with more time in the humidor. More rest could potentially also mellow out the spice and impart deeper flavors like coffee and chocolate. I noticed hints of this at the end when the cigar went creamy but it wasn’t strong enough to note. Overall I wasn’t expecting this to be such a long smoke considering its size, but was happily surprised that it lasted well over an hour. The flavors are bold and bright and unlike anything I’ve smoked that isn’t Fuente. The Opus X PerfecXion No 4 is dynamic and complex, truly a fine example of the Opus line of cigars from the Fuente family.
