Fuente Fuente Opus X XXX Belicoso

[kaelaria]

This 5 5/8×49 cigar otherwise known as the Power Ranger, or Triple X, or X3, features a dark brown firm and smooth wrapper with a mottled splotchy appearance, minimal veins, tight seams, even construction and a soft perfume like aroma. First light reveals a perfect draw, tons of full bodied smoke with very dry black pepper and tobacco flavors with an extremely long dry finish. You need a drink with this smoke.15 minutes in, the body is way down for an Opus X, to a solid medium while the strength is full on. It’s had a bad burn to this point, with almost an inch difference side to side and at this point needs a relight. Definitely strange for any Opus X. 40 minutes in at the 1/2 way point the flavors finally pick up a bit, adding a smooth coffee to the mix, although still very mild for an Opus X at a medium level. Burn since the relight has been just ok, needing more puffs than the usual cigar to burn properly. The ash is equally unimpressive flaking quite a bit and dropping off every 1/2 inch. 50 minutes in starting the last third, it needs another full relight. It simply does not like to stay burning and goes out on it’s own. It’s not tunnelling or burning lopsided, it just simply goes out. There has been no flavor transition since the last update point. Ending at 1:20 where it went out completely again with 1 1/2″ or so remaining there were no further changes. http://cigarobsession.com/cigar-reviews/fuente-fuente-opus-x-xxx-belicoso-cigar-review/

 

[DanLW]

Very interesting review indeed.

I'm curious, do you take puffs during the commentary portion and edit them out afterwards? I didn't notice any edits, but it seemed there was more commentary for this stick than with a lot of other sticks. During the 15 minutes in commentary, there is 2:22 without a puff. And when it went out after the last commentary, there was 3:44 between puffs. Do cigars normally stay satisfactorily lit even if left for a couple minutes without a puff?

I think you were right about the wind as it seemed to wreak havok with the flame. The last puff just before the first commentary reveals a black spot on the foot of the cigar right under where it looks like the burn issue occurred. Maybe they had a stem in there or something.

If AF put serial numbers on their cigars like Padron, I'll bet they'd find the roller who rolled that one and demote him to the curly head line.

Keep up the great work! It's nice to have a reviewer out there that doesn't pull punches, no matter how prestigious the cigar. I would definitely expect an OpusX to have a not subtle flavor. I'll take your advice and look for the Robusto or Super Belicoso for my first X.

 

[Jfire]

xXx is prob my favorite of the Opus line. But I tend to not smoke them in 20 plus mph winds.

 

[dpricenator]

xXx is prob my favorite of the Opus line. But I tend to not smoke them in 20 plus mph winds.

LOL, yeah the wind will mess up a cigar's burn. Thus causing different parts of the cigar to burn at different rates.

 

[kaelaria]

WAY over analyzing guys

I'm not smoking this in the wind, clearly. Yes it's common for a cigar to stay lit for a few minutes between puffs, at least to the point of not having to relight. I didn't review or present this any differently than the hundreds of my others No I do not edit out puffs LOL

 

[megladon8]

WAY over analyzing guys

I'm not smoking this in the wind, clearly. Yes it's common for a cigar to stay lit for a few minutes between puffs, at least to the point of not having to relight. I didn't review or present this any differently than the hundreds of my others No I do not edit out puffs LOL

They just can't accept that an Opus could be less than perfect :rolling:


Great review as always.

 

[kaelaria]

And BTW I have no idea how you got '15 minutes of commentary' since the whole thing is only 12:36 LOL

EDIT Oh I see what you meant now - the 15 minute point!

 

[Docbp87]

They just can't accept that an Opus could be less than perfect :rolling:

To be realistic, the attention to detail paid to these, generally is pretty great, and a dud like that is pretty rare.

 

[megladon8]

To be realistic, the attention to detail paid to these, generally is pretty great, and a dud like that is pretty rare.

I agree it's rare, but like I've said many times in the past, I've had more construction issues with Liga Privada than I have had with 5 Vegas.

 

[DanLW]

I think this really goes to show how hard it is to make a great cigar every single time. I saw a video on the making of the OpusX line, and they have a rolling room just for the OpusX line. But it's gotta get tedious after a while. I'm just really curious if AF is going to do an audit of their OpusX rollers. I mean face it, if something like this happened to one of the small cigar brands, a lot of us would avoid the line, possibly even the entire company. But since we're talking about Arturo Fuente, they get a pass. Indeed, I know I'm still looking forward to trying their cigars!

Here's the video I referenced. In general, it's a History Channel piece on making cigars. The OpusX line just happened to be the one they got all the footage of and talked about.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pVVOju8M0sE

 

[Docbp87]

I think this really goes to show how hard it is to make a great cigar every single time. I saw a video on the making of the OpusX line, and they have a rolling room just for the OpusX line. But it's gotta get tedious after a while. I'm just really curious if AF is going to do an audit of their OpusX rollers. I mean face it, if something like this happened to one of the small cigar brands, a lot of us would avoid the line, possibly even the entire company. But since we're talking about Arturo Fuente, they get a pass. Indeed, I know I'm still looking forward to trying their cigars!

Wait, because one blogger posts a review about having had a poor experience with a single cigar, people are going to write off the whole brand? Eh...

 

[DanLW]

Wait, because one blogger posts a review about having had a poor experience with a single cigar, people are going to write off the whole brand? Eh...

If they're somebody like me, probably. I'm a fairly new smoker, but 1) don't want to smoke a cigar every day, and 2) can't afford to try everything out there. So if I saw a bad review of a relatively unknown brand, I'd be more inclined to move along and try a sampler from a different brand. I don't have time and money to waste on questionable sticks.

Now, in this case, there is enough info out there to know that this is by far the exception rather than the rule for A. Fuente. But if I was looking at brand Z, and all I could find was a review where the burn was awful and the body was light, it would sound to me like a rather boring cigar, and I'd keep looking.

 

[Alwayslit]

How old was the stick? What was the storage humidity? The way it was going out it sounds a tat over humidified.

 

[kaelaria]

Nope. It was 65% like all my others. This one was sent in some time ago from a viewer and sat next to the last several that I reviewed with no problem. All my humidors are kept with beads and monitored with digital gauges.