Cigar Review - Arturo Fuente Hemingway Bestseller
Arturo Fuente - Hemingway Best Seller
Vitola: Perfecto
Length: 4.5″
Ring Gauge: 55
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Pairing: Café Bustello Espresso style coffee
I picked this up about a year ago because I've always liked the Fuente cigars I've tried and, well, it's Hemingway. How could this not be a great cigar? Let's find out if it lives up to my expectations.
http://i1068.photobucket.com/albums/...ps7h7hgxnt.jpg
Fit and Finish: I really like these perfectos. Great shape and easy lighting. This one has a nice cameroon wrapper with mild veining and a visible seam but it's solid and well constructed. On the nose it is fresh hay, despite being stored in a cedar humidor for a year. Very nice.
Draw: A v-cut gives a slightly tight draw but it should be alright. All hay and cocoa on the cold draw.
Toast/Light: Toasting is very easy, as it always is with perfectos, and gives a mild pepper and leather on the first draw. Good smoke production.
First third: Pepper and leather start the show but they give way fairly quickly to hay and nuts. The smoke is creamy and sweet and the draw is just fine. A little cocoa makes an appearance, but it's mostly sweet hay, cedar and nuts making a rotation, with virtually no pepper. The pepper does make a brief return toward the end of this third but quickly disappears.
Second Third: The cedar, hay and nuts continue, with the cocoa showing up on the lingering aftertaste. The burn starts to get a little uneven at times but it self-corrects each time. The cocoa comes to the front briefly, but cedar begins to dominate as I near the final third.
Final Third: The hay is gone, and the pepper doesn't return. This cigar finishes with cedar and nuts, becoming a bit toasty (which is quite pleasant) along the way. The flavors are complimentary and it finishes smoothly.
Final Thoughts: I really enjoy the perfecto vitola and this was a very nicely done version of a Fuente cigar. Excellent flavors, not too strong (I'd put it firmly in the mild-medium strength category, just barely making it out of mild), very relaxing. The resting smoke is also quite pleasant and the burn was good throughout. The ash held well past the mid-point before I finally tapped it off to avoid the inevitable attack on my shirt. I'll definitely grab a few more and can easily recommend this one to anyone who enjoys Fuente cigars.
Total smoking time: 60 minutes
