Cigar Review: Arturo Fuente Between The Lines

Between The Lines

The Arturo Fuente Between The Lines is a rare smoke. Not many stores get them and they usually fly off the shelf. I came across two of these cigars via a trade with a great brother of the leaf on twitter by the name of Matt. The cigar is also an example of cigar websites that need to be updated as the JC Newman website makes no mention of them, and other limited releases.

Vitolas.net has the following information posted about the Between The Lines: “The BTL was originally created at the request of Cynthia Fuente, who wanted a cigar that wasn’t too heavy but still had an enjoyable smoking profile. The maduro spiral is not simply added to the cigar after the Connecticut shade wrapper has been applied. During the rolling process, the two wrappers are cut to the same size, placed one on top of the other so that they overlap, and then the two wrappers are wrapped as one onto the cigar. This means that there are equal quantities of maduro and Connecticut shade wrapper tobacco on these cigars, influencing the taste profile of the cigar.”

Cigar: Arturo Fuente Between The Lines
Origin: Dominican Republic
Size: 4.5 x 54 (Short Perfecto)
Wrapper: Connecticut Shade/Maduro (Stripe)
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican

Appearance & Construction (20/20): One of the best looking barber polls in the cigar industry today. The foot of the cigar is evenly split on the roll, with one side being a maduro, and the other side Shade. Everything about the cigar is a vision of beauty.

Flavor & Notes (27/30): As we light the nipple on this perfecto the first third of the smoke offers a dominant note of what one can best describe as toast that has been toasted just a little too long. It’s note quite burnt, but it is well done.  That flavor continues past the nipple as the cigar burns into the body of the smoke where it is joined by subtle notes of chocolate. As we approach the second third of the smoke the cigar the notes of toast remain joined by coffee notes and a very subtle chocolate. The final third of the smoke finishes out with some notes of chocolate and coffee.

Burn/Ash/Draw (22/25): The burn is a bit uneven but that can be attributed to the barber pole. It never gets out of hand even though at times it might appear it is getting close. The ash held for an amazing 3/4 of the cigar only needing to ash in order to remove the label. The draw was very typical of a short story, with just enough resistant to make it pleasurable.

Overall (22/25): This smoke is a stick I will always grab when I have the chance, but it is because of how rare it is, not how great it is. Given the choice to smoke this or the Short Story I will almost always opt to smoke that. But for a rare smoke, this cigar is definitely worth the MSRP.

Rating: 91
Price: $15.00

Cigar Review: God Of Fire ’05

God Of Fire

Well it is that time of year where you reach into your humidor and pull out a special smoke. I had this beauty given to me by a sponsor of this website, Cigars Direct. I smoked it while attending a holiday party at my local B&M Barrister Cigars.

The God of Fire cigars were first introduced in November 2004 in limited edition humidors produced by Prometheus. Since then, they have been sold through an exclusive group of authorized God of Fire dealers in 10 countries, and cigar connoisseurs all over the world have given the God of Fire cigars raving reviews.

Cigar: God Of Fire 2005 (Carlito)
Origin: Dominican Republic
Size: 7 x 48 (Churchill)
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic

Appearance & Construction (19/20): The cigar was nicely coated in oils with some veins. The label has colors of red and gold which gives it a very Roman feel about it. At the foot the cigar looked a little loosely packed, but it had a nice weight to it. The roll was perfect right down to its well placed cap.

Flavor & Notes (28/30): The notes on this cigar prior to lighting was a musky oak and a slight molasses. I notice a lot of my aged cigars have a sweetness to them that fit into this molasses category and I enjoy that. On the draw the cigar offered notes of cinnamon and caramel. I was having second thoughts on smoking this cigar because it is so rare! The 1st third of the cigar offered notes of  nuts and a a peaty oak that was reminiscent of some single malt scotches. The second third peaty oak notes remained but slowly began to fade before giving way to notes of caramel, and cinnamon with a touch of oats. As I finished the smoke, notes of nuts and oats were joined by a hint of leather.

Burn/Ash/Draw (25/25): The cigar had an exquisite burn line that was straight until the end. The draw was flawless and the ash held very well with just a touch of flake. I was able to hold on to the ash for the first half of the cigar before it fell as I went to flick it into the ashtray.

Overall (23/25): I am still undecided about the peaty notes I had with this smoke. It worked well because I was drinking some Glenfiddich 15 year old while smoking, and although the scotch is not peaty it paired well. Despite some great notes, and a terrific burn line something was missing and I can’t quite place it. So rather then a perfect score here, I will deduct 2 points for that something I can’t put my finger on. I also reviewed this cigar live and on the fly while on Twitter. Feel free to add me if you are a twitter user, my name on there is nyisles which I also go by on cigarlive.com and cigaroutcast.com

Rating: 95
Price: $24.95 at Cigars Direct

Note: If I smoked this cigar prior to my Top 10 list being written it would of been placed around the # 5 slot.

Cigar Review: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos

Don Carlos

With my buddy Joe heading overseas for work we decided to meet up yesterday for a quick smoke of a cigar. It was a last minute thing, and since I am no longer carrying cigars with me other then my morning smoke due to the lack of natural humidity outside I had to stop at a local B&M to pick up these smokes.

I stopped over at The Humidor located at 9212 3rd Avenue in Brooklyn, NY which is where it all began for me as a cigar smoker. The well stocked humidor is full of goodies, and they have a nice little smoking area with comfortable chairs and tables.

Cigar: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos
Origin: Dominican Republic
Size: 5.75 x 52 (Double Robusto)
Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Strength: Full

Pre-Smoke: The scent of the foot was an odd mix of some sweetness and peppercorns in this well rolled cigar which was firm to the touch  The wrapper looked very aged with little magnesium bumbs all over the place which for me is the sign of a cigar that will be enjoyed. The pre-light draw was that of anise.

Smoke: This full strength cigar offered some nice notes throughout the smoke, that starts off with some anise and nuts which is different then a lot of cigars I have reviewed lately. As I moved on to the second third of the cigar the nuts remained but were joined by some nice coffee notes. The final third of our smoke the coffee was joined by strong earthy notes. As a result the cigar had a very earthy finish.

Overall: The cigar was a little annoying for me from the start as I had draw issues that did not clear up til halfway through, but being this is a cigar I smoke on a semi-regular basis I can’t recall it happening in the past so it will not reflect the final score. As a rule of thumb I believe at least one cigar in every box will have some type of construction issue. It is not acceptable, but it does happen.

Rating: 89
Price: $11.50