Arturo Fuente Curly Head Natural (18 mos) Review
So, quite a while back I posted this review:
http://www.cigarbum.com/forum/non-ha...view-4867.html
The Curly Head in that review was actually a couple of months old, having been purchased in August of 2015. I figured that was close enough to ROTT. As stated in that first review, my plan was to smoke one every 6 months and post a review. Well, I got it half right - I have kept up on the smoking portion, but not on the review portion.
Here's a summary of 2 prior unreviewed reviews:
6 months - not a lot of change from ROTT, but the creamy feel was more consistent, and there were occasional puffs that hinted at better things to come.
12 months - the flavors have evened out to a fairly mild wood/leather/cream. Overall pretty pleasant, but still overpowered by bitterness in the last quarter or so.
And now, the Curly Head at 18 months:
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/l3...=w1280-h720-no
I'm pretty much a light-then-cut guy, and that's what I did on this one. The first few puffs were world-class. Rich, creamy, toasty, wood and leather. Now, while the flavors were rich, the profile was fairly mild, and I resolved to smoke this lonsdale like a lancero - slow and cool. This turned out to be a good idea - I got careless once or twice and was reminded right away by distinctly bitter flavors.
Through the first half the cigars was pleasant, but not remarkable. It burned evenly, drew nicely, and produced lots of smoke-ring worthy smoke. The third quarter started getting a little testy with bitter flavors, which a few gentle purges took care of. Final quarter was just too danged harsh to enjoy, and I quit a little way into that section.
I have one more from that fiver, which I'll smoke August-ish, and that will complete my project. I don't expect a huge change in my conclusions (but we'll see).
At this point I have to say that buying a $3 or so (maybe less by the box, but not enough to defeat my point) cigar and sitting on it for 18 months SHOULD produce a better smoke than this. Heck, Pirate's Gold runs about a buck a stick, yields a similar flavor profile, and tastes better after only a year of rest. Some of my go-to ISOMs cost no more (and some less) than Curly Heads, and with 18 months of rest are FAR better smokes.
I will always feel nostalgic for Curly Heads, and I may continue to grab one once in a while to smoke for that reason, but for me they just don't do it flavor-wise compared to other selections on the market. Not a bad smoke, but not better than easily-obtained and comparably (or lower) priced alternatives.
