ThankfulJoe
Rather Be Flying
I'd like to preface this post with a quick disclaimer. This is my first full review so be gentle! I ordered a 5 pack from NHC and after a brief week-long rest in our cooler and a rare chance to enjoy some peace and quiet I decided to break out one of these sticks.
Most of you know that the Fausto is based off of the original T110 blend. I've only had the chance to smoke 2 T110s, but one thing that stuck in my mind from both experiences was the surprising full-strength/body behind the deceivingly small cigars. The quote "Dynamite comes in small packages" comes to mind when reminiscing about my experiences with the OR T110s. I was brought to expect much of the same from the Fausto, and for the most part was not disappointed.
Water is my standard drink of choice only because most of my other more desirable libations are off limits while deployed. I also recently received a (highly coveted over here) package of dark chocolate which I decided to pair with this stick in order to help cleanse the palette. Standard cheapo cutter and matches were used as well. My iPad was also in hand for notes and tunes.
Appearance and Construction: It had a very attractive construction with just a few veins and a dark brown color. There was a slight sheen of oil, but nothing over the top. It had a surprisingly solid weight for it's smaller size, and fairly firm with a smaller tough spot toward the cap that had me somewhat worried about the draw initially. It had been stable at 65/65 for only about a week, but keep in mind it just spent a week and a half in transit from the states so this may have been due to that. Note: After checking the other 4 sticks this seemed to be the only one with the harder section.The other 4 seemed to be flawless. A pre-light draw produced dominate notes of sweet chocolate, leather, and a solid amount of pepper.
1st Third: I was relieved to find a near perfect draw, almost a tiny bit on the loose side most likely due to the dry climate and my impatience. Those of you who have smoked your share of Tatuaje cigars are familiar with the initial peppery blast associated with most of their sticks. The first draw indeed had a fair amount of pepper, but nothing over the top. It was enough to let you know it was there, and resided through most of the 1st 1/3 accompanied by dominate flavors of the same chocolatey leather. Surprisingly large volumes of smoke were produced, and my non-cigar-smoking friend actually complimented the smell. The burn consistently had small variances but only one that required a slight touch up. Again this can probably be attributed to the climate as the construction seemed top notch.
2nd Third: The pepper slowly began to mellow out and was overtaken by more of the same leather/tobacco/chocolate with what I thought might have been a hint of what I can best describe as hay?... earth?... To be honest I couldn't quite put a finger on it. It started getting hard to discern individual flavors as the cigar started to get toward the halfway mark, but I could definitely start to feel the strength behind it. Not quite OR T110 strength, but it was definitely up there. If the T110 was a 10 I'd put this as a 8.5-9 on strength. Still extremely enjoyable and I'm pretty sure I commented to my buddy at least 3-4 times how good it was. My camera battery also died at this point.
Final Third: The same tastes remained throughout what I could finish of the final third, and the strength continued to amp to the point where it was actually on par with what I remembered from the T110. It may have been partly due to the fact that my T110 experience was fairly early in my time as a cigar smoker, and I have built up some tolerance to nicotine. Regardless, by the end of this stick I had a nice buzz going even after eating a full meal an hour prior. I wasn't able to nub it as it began to get excessively hot around the 1.5"-2" mark (again my fault) and started to go downhill, but I enjoyed as much of it as I could. The burn stayed consistent to the end only requiring a total of two minor touch-ups.
Final Thoughts: I always find it interesting how two different people can smoke the exact same cigar and come to two completely different conclusions. It all boils down to whether or not the stick matches your flavor profile. For me the Fausto was a near perfect match of full-bodied strength and a flavor profile that I would smoke on a daily basis without hesitation. I feel like my money was well spent on the 5er, and depending on how I feel after smoking the other 4 I may consider buying a box. I still have to try the Avion as well, so we'll see which vitola ends up being more to my taste.
Total Smoking Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes
Thanks for reading and I hope this helped any of you who may be debating on picking a few up.
Most of you know that the Fausto is based off of the original T110 blend. I've only had the chance to smoke 2 T110s, but one thing that stuck in my mind from both experiences was the surprising full-strength/body behind the deceivingly small cigars. The quote "Dynamite comes in small packages" comes to mind when reminiscing about my experiences with the OR T110s. I was brought to expect much of the same from the Fausto, and for the most part was not disappointed.
Water is my standard drink of choice only because most of my other more desirable libations are off limits while deployed. I also recently received a (highly coveted over here) package of dark chocolate which I decided to pair with this stick in order to help cleanse the palette. Standard cheapo cutter and matches were used as well. My iPad was also in hand for notes and tunes.
Appearance and Construction: It had a very attractive construction with just a few veins and a dark brown color. There was a slight sheen of oil, but nothing over the top. It had a surprisingly solid weight for it's smaller size, and fairly firm with a smaller tough spot toward the cap that had me somewhat worried about the draw initially. It had been stable at 65/65 for only about a week, but keep in mind it just spent a week and a half in transit from the states so this may have been due to that. Note: After checking the other 4 sticks this seemed to be the only one with the harder section.The other 4 seemed to be flawless. A pre-light draw produced dominate notes of sweet chocolate, leather, and a solid amount of pepper.
1st Third: I was relieved to find a near perfect draw, almost a tiny bit on the loose side most likely due to the dry climate and my impatience. Those of you who have smoked your share of Tatuaje cigars are familiar with the initial peppery blast associated with most of their sticks. The first draw indeed had a fair amount of pepper, but nothing over the top. It was enough to let you know it was there, and resided through most of the 1st 1/3 accompanied by dominate flavors of the same chocolatey leather. Surprisingly large volumes of smoke were produced, and my non-cigar-smoking friend actually complimented the smell. The burn consistently had small variances but only one that required a slight touch up. Again this can probably be attributed to the climate as the construction seemed top notch.
2nd Third: The pepper slowly began to mellow out and was overtaken by more of the same leather/tobacco/chocolate with what I thought might have been a hint of what I can best describe as hay?... earth?... To be honest I couldn't quite put a finger on it. It started getting hard to discern individual flavors as the cigar started to get toward the halfway mark, but I could definitely start to feel the strength behind it. Not quite OR T110 strength, but it was definitely up there. If the T110 was a 10 I'd put this as a 8.5-9 on strength. Still extremely enjoyable and I'm pretty sure I commented to my buddy at least 3-4 times how good it was. My camera battery also died at this point.
Final Third: The same tastes remained throughout what I could finish of the final third, and the strength continued to amp to the point where it was actually on par with what I remembered from the T110. It may have been partly due to the fact that my T110 experience was fairly early in my time as a cigar smoker, and I have built up some tolerance to nicotine. Regardless, by the end of this stick I had a nice buzz going even after eating a full meal an hour prior. I wasn't able to nub it as it began to get excessively hot around the 1.5"-2" mark (again my fault) and started to go downhill, but I enjoyed as much of it as I could. The burn stayed consistent to the end only requiring a total of two minor touch-ups.
Final Thoughts: I always find it interesting how two different people can smoke the exact same cigar and come to two completely different conclusions. It all boils down to whether or not the stick matches your flavor profile. For me the Fausto was a near perfect match of full-bodied strength and a flavor profile that I would smoke on a daily basis without hesitation. I feel like my money was well spent on the 5er, and depending on how I feel after smoking the other 4 I may consider buying a box. I still have to try the Avion as well, so we'll see which vitola ends up being more to my taste.
Total Smoking Time: 1 Hour and 20 Minutes
Thanks for reading and I hope this helped any of you who may be debating on picking a few up.
