Cigarro: Arturo Fuente Anejo No. 46
Fábrica: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
Country: Dominican Republic
Capa: Connecticut Broadleaf
Capote: Dominican
Tripa: Dominican
Dimensions: 5.625 x 46
Vitola: Corona Gorda (No. 46)
Production: Semi-Annual/Limited Production (Usually Father's Day & Winter Holiday Season)
MSRP: $9.55 USD
Released: December 2000
Aged: 4 Years (June 2012)
PreludeFábrica: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
Country: Dominican Republic
Capa: Connecticut Broadleaf
Capote: Dominican
Tripa: Dominican
Dimensions: 5.625 x 46
Vitola: Corona Gorda (No. 46)
Production: Semi-Annual/Limited Production (Usually Father's Day & Winter Holiday Season)
MSRP: $9.55 USD
Released: December 2000
Aged: 4 Years (June 2012)
It goes without saying that Arturo Fuente Anejo's reputation precedes itself. There were a few different paths I could embark on with this introduction. The aging of top shelf Fuentes, Hurricane George and the devastation of Chateau Fuente crops in 1998, the debate on if an Anejo is just a maduro wrapped OpusX, retailers price gouging, are they worth the price of admission, and so on and so forth. Well, some of these are solely opinion based, while others would seem to be either fact or folklore. I know one thing, it can be hard to find a retailer who actually does sell them at MSRP. Not saying it is impossible, but more times than not there is a markup, sometimes a 2 to 3 times markup depending on the vitola. These were purchased in June of 2012 at the pricing of $11.60 per unit.
"Before The Flame"
The Anejo No. 46 comes cedar wrapped in cellophane. Upon removing the cedar sleeve a gorgeous wrapper is exposed. It has an almost leatheresque appearance, a lightly mottled dark brown, with just the slightest bit of tooth speckled throughout. The aroma is of cinnamon, oak, and cocoa. I find that I get a very similar aroma from OpusX, ESG, and other cigars containing Chateau Fuente tobaccos, it's just delicious smelling. The cigar is firm, has tight seams, and there is one vein, which in the case of broadleaf is fairly flush with the wrapper surface. A straight cut to the head provides a draw with a decent amount of resistance. I'd say it's toeing the line of a great draw or being too tight, but I won't know until it's lit. The cold draw provides some cinnamon, cocoa, and cedar. It took a little bit of effort using a single flame torch to get this burning the way I'd like for it to, but the mission was accomplished to satisfaction.
1/3 "The Appetizer"
The Anejo starts off with wood, cocoa, and pepper. An ample amount of smoke is produced with each draw. The smoke itself has quite an oily feel to it. The flavor profile begins to get darker as earth, espresso and leather come about. There is an added sweetness in the form of molasses. Floral notes start taking shape in the rear. The cocoa becomes more sweetened chocolate in taste and the espresso note intensifies. Nearing the end of the 1st third the profile gets a little saltiness added to it.
2/3 "Main Entrée"
Entering the 2nd I find the woodiness is more oak than anything. It has made its way to the front, sharing the space with pepper and leather. Espresso is still present as well. In the second layer of flavors earth and cocoa reside, while the floral tones haven't moved out of the tertiary zone. There is still a sweetness to it but it is overshadowed by some of the bolder flavors. Further into the 2nd I experience a sort of enigma in that I can detect both cedar and oak at the same time, there is no unison, they are very distinct and different. Complexity is very much a strong point in this third. While tasting the oak and cedar, there is cocoa, pepper, espresso, leather, earth, saltiness and sweetness as well there is an added creaminess to the profile. Once it clears the halfway mark, earth and sweetness make a move forward, and then there was cinnamon.
3/3 "Dessert"
As the last third gets underway the flavors do some shuffling, leaving earth, red pepper, chocolate, and cedar to head it on. The leather and espresso notes are a lot calmer, while oak is completely absent from the profile. There is still a decent amount of creaminess to it. Earth isn't as pronounced as it was earlier on and the cedar is getting stronger. The floral note is still around; though I guess at times it seemed obsolete. The leather would have one more increase. It ended earthy with notes of cedar, cocoa, pepper, espresso, and salt.
Intensity
This is a full strength full bodied smoke and medium-full flavored. I'd recommend having a decent sized meal prior to. I'd also suggest staying out of extreme heat and humidity while smoking one of these.
Construction
Not much to say about construction, other than the draw ended up being a blessing rather than a disaster. Lots of smoke with minimal effort. It exceeded my expectations in this department.
Closing Thoughts
This was a highly complex, smooth yet powerful, well-balanced cigar. I've had a few other vitolas of the Anejo, mainly the No. 77 Shark. I find that the No. 46 shines with the flavors where the No. 77 has seemed a bit muted or muffled. As for aging, I can't really compare in detail, due to not having done a review 4 years ago. What I can say is; regardless of where they are at in the aging peak cycle, smoking them at 4 years is well worth it. Worth the MSRP and possibly a slight markup. They definitely do get even better over time. This is a wonderfully complex cigar that deserves to be in just about every seasoned cigar smoker’s humidor.
Smoking Time: 1 hours 12 minutes
Pairing: Zero Water
Scoring: 92/100
