Serviceable Exquisito

Review of Arturo Fuente Exquisito Maduro:

The fact that I'm reviewing several cigars today does NOT mean that I smoked all of them in one day. It's been a few weeks since I hit the keyboards but in the meantime I've had a cigar now and then. So before memory fades, let me comment on the Arturo Fuente Exquisito Maduro.

Truth is, I only bought this little thing (4.5 inches by 38 ring) because I hate laying out 8 or 10 bucks for full-sized stogies at my local cigar shop in this most heavily taxed of states. Instead, I'll often bring in my own bombers from home and buy something short from the shop to smoke later. This seems more respectable than some of the other cigar lizards who actually go straight to the lounge and fire up their own homeys without as much as a glance at the store humidor. Call me a do-gooder, but I call it good citizenship to buy something.

So, this time the shorty that I happened to purchase was an Arturo Fuente Exquisito maduro. Being a Fuente, this dapper twig cost more than some of the cheaper Churchills I've smoked (damned near 4 dollars after taxes). I tucked it away and proceeded to smoke a big fat Omar Ortez, which jangled my nerves and addled my brain.

About a week later I had recovered, and found myself experiencing extreme cigar jones. It was too late to make it to the cigar lounge, so I bundled up, took a beer out to the porch and lit up the Exquisito. Since this is my first experience with the Fuente brand, I can't compare it to any other of the other more fabled lines such as Hemingway or Don Carlos. But I must say it performed mighty well for a thin cigar. Compared to the barren H Upman Demitasse, for example, it was fabulous. A rich, woody smoke that sated my desire for 30 minutes and sent me to bed a happy man, where I proceeded to have dreams of bigger, fatter smokes.

Despite the quality of this little Fuente I must say that I have yet to find a slender cigar with quite as interesting a flavor as the El Rey Del Mundo Cafe au Lait. The Fuente Exquisito burned better and produced fuller smoke, but the El Rey plays something unique and exotic on the taste buds. At nearly half the price, that's a compelling feature.

After having tried three different slender cigars (38 ring or under) my experience has been that no matter how high the quality, you simply cannot experience the mouth feel and fullness that makes a cigar truly rewarding. Even the Fuente Exquisito couldn't overcome this limitation.

Therefore I find it more rewarding to smoke short, fatter-ringed cigars which, althought tending to burn too hot at the start and the finish, nevertheless provide several minutes of full-bodied smoking in the middle. If it's not at least 40 ring, it just won't smoke like a real cigar. If you're pressed for time, short and fat is the way to go.