Cigar Review - Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Flor Fina 8-5-8 Maduro

Arturo Fuente - Gran Reserva Flor Fina 8-5-8 Maduro

Vitola: Corona
Length: 6.0″
Ring Gauge: 47
Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Pairing: Café Bustello Espresso style coffee


To finish off the month I thought I'd smoke one of the cigars from the first box I ever bought. It's been aging for 4 years and I'm hooping it will be like visiting an old friend.

http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...psvczo3z3j.jpg

Fit and Finish: Dark and toothy, there are visible veins and a slightly visible seam. It's got a bit of a barnyard smell to it that I don't remember. Slightly sweet but a bit of funk underneath.

Draw: A v-cut handles the smaller ring gauge just fine and it's got a slightly tight draw but not too bad. On the cold draw it's sweet tobacco.

Toast/Light: It's been resting a while at 65% and it's a smaller ring gauge so the toasting is easy and it's quickly lit. I have apparently pissed it off by bringing it out of its resting period, as it promptly hits me in the mouth with a blast of pepper.

First third: It starts out with heavy smoke production and a serious pepper presence. Underneath is a creamy cedar and tobacco. But those are on the finish as it's all pepper up front. As it progresses the pepper fades a bit but never completely leaves and it's the cedar and then coffee (mild coffee flavor, not harsh or bitter at all) that dominate and a sweet cream under it all. It stays pretty consistent throughout this third with the coffee coming and going but the cedar and pepper remaining and that sweet cream finish. It's burning straight and the ash holds well for 1 1/2 inches.

Second Third: The pepper fades a bit more and now a little cocoa begins to creep in. It's getting a little sweeter as well. Each seems to come to the forefront in turn, the cocoa, cedar and then mild coffee, but all three are really present all the time. It's as if the focus just shifts as the burn goes along. It remains creamy and the burn is perfect right along.

Final Third: It remains this way through the first part of the final third and then the pepper comes back with a vengeance. It really ramps up but the other flavors don't get buried. They seem to intensify right along with it. I don't remember this part of it before but maybe the aging has changed things or maybe it's just my palate developing. It's really a nice change up and I enjoy it right down to about an inch. I never had to touch it up or worry in the least about it going out.

Final Thoughts: The Flor Fina 8-5-8 was one of the first non-flavored cigars I ever tried and at the time it was a bit much for me. Still, I knew there was something there to like and I bought a box. I am so glad I did. Tonight it was a deliciously creamy cigar with a great mixture of cedar, coffee and sweet cocoa/tobacco that had enough strength to make me take notice and a pepper profile that was a stark contrast to the Java I had at lunch time. These were a great 1-2 combo today. And this one paired every bit as well with my coffee. It was a fantastic after-dinner cigar.

Total smoking time: 80 minutes

Nice review of a great cigar!

I have one of these (I think. It's an 8-5-8, dunno if the Flor Fina is part of the name or a different variation) but it was listed as a "Mild" cigar. Your review seems to indicate otherwise! Mine has only been resting for 2-3 weeks though.

It is mild, but flavorful and satisfying (though I don't get the big pepper blasts CoachDread did). There's also a non maduro version which is probably a little milder though I'm not sure if it's a cameroon or connecticut wrapper. Never had one.

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Originally Posted by c.ortiz108

It is mild, but flavorful and satisfying (though I don't get the big pepper blasts CoachDread did). There's also a non maduro version which is probably a little milder though I'm not sure if it's a cameroon or connecticut wrapper. Never had one.

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That's interesting. I've gotten big pepper on every one of these I've had. Of course, they're all from the same box. I'd put them all in the low-medium category, but I'm a lightweight. :)

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Originally Posted by CoachDread

That's interesting. I've gotten big pepper on every one of these I've had. Of course, they're all from the same box. I'd put them all in the low-medium category, but I'm a lightweight. :)

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I'd agree about strength actually, mild-medium rather than mild. You know it may just be that I've focused on the other flavors when smoking these and just didn't notice pepper. I'll look out for it next time.

I just remembered I actually did a short review of this cigar a few months ago, on another forum:

The cigar doesn’t look very refined – a little lumpy and veiny, and some sloppy roller’s glue (I can even see a fingerprint). I’ve noticed that before on other Fuentes. It also feels a little light in the hand.

This stick is a lot milder than I expected. The only other really mild maduro I’ve had is the HC series one. This is also the least chocolatey maduro I’ve had. The chocolate is there, but fairly subdued. The smell is sweeter than the taste. Mainly I’ve just getting “that flavor” that lets you know it’s a Fuente. Lots of cedar, leather, smooth as silk, buttery and toasty.

Smoke ouput average. Medium body, edging down to light. If I have one complaint about this stick is that I’d like a bit more body and smoke. And it’s a little dry tasting.

I think the light weight makes the draw easy and the burn a little quick. A perfect, straight burn, too. There is some skill that went into making this cigar. Not like an artistic figurado, but a craftsman who knows what he’s doing. So I take back what I wrote about the appearance. Who cares as long as it smokes well?

Into the 2nd 3rd and not much change in flavor, strength, body burn or anything. This is one seriously consistent cigar. Long ash, fell off after about 2”. No touch-up, no re-lights.

A little mint about halfway. Like mint chocolate chip ice cream on buttered toast.

If you’re looking for a pepper blast or flavor bomb or complexity or changes, this cigar probably isn’t for you. But if you want a smooth, relaxing, dependable, almost clean smoke and like this flavor profile, you can’t go wrong! Not a special occasion cigar, but definitely not a yard ‘gar either. I probably wouldn’t buy a box but nice to have a 5-er lying around.

Flora Fina is part of the name and maduro or the natural, it is just a good smoke. natural is a cameroon wrapper if I am not mistaken, and I often am. Not a powerful cigar but a satisfying cigar for me. If you look around, you can find them sometimes for around $4 and that is a steal for a good smoke

With so many noting that they don't get pepper at all from this cigar, I decided last night to pull another from my stash and see if my experience was the same as the original review. In many ways it was. I still get the creaminess, the nuts and coffee, the cedar and the cocoa and...yes, the pepper is still there for me. It comes and goes, ramps up at the end for me. The cocoa was much more prominent throughout this time around. Still clean burning and a great smoke. It is really interesting to me that I get pepper and so many others do not. I wouldn't think of pepper as being something that's that subjective (other than level). Don't get me wrong, it's not a pepper bomb by any stretch, but it was there for me once again.

@CoachDread , don't sweat it, brother. Taste is subjective. I am just now learning to pick up more subtle nuances. What I get is not what you'll get, what Steve will get, etc. Last night, I picked up a new one, molasses, in a MoW Phalanx

So last night I tried another. All from the exact same box, mind you, and...not one hint of pepper. Not on the first draw, not on the last draw and not on any draw in between. All cedar and cocoa. It was delicious, but different from the others I've had out of the same box. Drinking the same thing (Bushmill's Black Bush Irish Whiskey), same time of day, sitting in the same spot...interesting.

Has anyone else had this experience, of multiple cigars from the same box coming in different with the flavors and spiciness from the same batch?

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Originally Posted by CoachDread

Has anyone else had this experience, of multiple cigars from the same box coming in different with the flavors and spiciness from the same batch?

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Definitely. Natural, organic product and all that, so I expect a little variation anyway, but then there are times when one cigar really tastes different from the rest. Maybe the roller did something different (left out an 'ingredient' like one of the filler leaves, rolled too tight/loose/oddly bunched, etc), or it could just be the smoker. Depends on what we ate that day, how much we've been smoking recently, how well-hydrated we are, or lots of other factors.

I can usually tell I'm about to get a cold, not so much from food but when my cigar tastes 'off' in a certain way I recognize. Another huge factor with me is hydration. I don't have much of a thirst mechanism and I have to force myself to drink water every day. When I do a poor job of that, my cigars always taste different.

FF is a solid smoke, never had one rest for that long, way to delicious. Good quotations, well done. Best, PS