Arturo Fuente Hemmingway Short Story - Cigar Review

PROLOGUE

I don't mean to sound particular, but I ain't sure about these new shoelaces. They're in my old grey shoes now. They're all laced in and up and not smooth, but braided. I'm not certain if it's simply the change raising my irk, or if I shoulda stayed smooth. Braided, huh? Dunno...

I guess I am a tick of a dandy. And that tick of a fancy dandy is well pleased with --

THE CIGAR

Arturo Fuente
Hemmingway Short Story
4 x 48 Perfecto
Cameroon wrapper
Dominican Republic binder/filler

PRE-LIGHT

I do not think a first day on the job Torcedor could pull this partiicular format off. The band is stock Fuente. Upon closer examination, the Fuente, format aside, is a bit...sloppy. Crimped veins. A seam ticked up in a few places. Point of cap a bit off-kilter. Almost zilch as far as sheen. Complexion is, well, a paper shopping bag and slightly uneven, at that -- pock-marked blemish in a few spots. A slight and seldom marbling trace offers up a coffee bean hue. Tobacco peeking out of the lotus-style tiny bound foot is auburn.

Hand-feel is on the dry side, but fine. Some light oils can be felt and all but one of the veins are fingered smoothly over. The one at apparent issue runs the entire first half of this four inch Fuente. "Four Inch Fuente." lol. Anyways, for the near comical shape, balance is quite nice. Schnoz-notes are a floral woodsiness at the shaft and sticking the perfecto tapered foot up my nose like a rubber hose, I get more of the same. A light but pretty tobacco note is the under-tone throughout.

I employ my gifted Xikar Xi2 cutter and like buttah! Full review. Back in well-appointed box. Simple addition to my smoking experience of roughly eight (8) steps. Cold draw is woody and floral and a nice sweetly spiced tobacco. Perhaps some pale nuttery. Little sugar vibe. Very sweet to the lips, and uncumbersome.

LIGHT

2:40pm
Toasting the nipplesque foot lets loose a sweet wood aroma. First hot pull is wood-led sweet spices with a leather backing. Pretty straight-forward. Nice tobacco finish, -medium length and tobacco. More spicy than sweet. Tingly mouth-feel. A bit of smoke leaks out from a flawed seam about a 1/4" post foot. I'm still seemingly getting good smoke-hole delivery, as on the second hot one, I retro-hale. Primarily very woodsy morphing to a seasoned cedar and a semi-sweet spices of a comfy level. Second, there is a fleeting floral and pale nut that swirl but never dance with one-another. Leather is the main occupant of the middling. Underneath is that nice tobacco, ballsy-mild, 60/40 spicy/sweet but kindly so. Palate is a tick sharp, if not dry. Third hot pull is samesville, Daddy-0.

Burn is very even given the format. Its line is a medium thickness. Ash is pale grey to medium, with new growth paling further in tight ladder-rungs. Draw is a very impressively smooth medium. The leaky seam is but an ashy memory. Profile is mild and strength-o-meter has not seen its needle budge. Smoke out-put is full, but light and white. Room-note is a very pleasing sweet cedar with floral and sweet tobacco vibes. Package density has not budged. Nice start!

ACT I

There’s a little of everything. If "everything" consisted of cedar, sweet spices, leather, and tobacco with a sweet floral leaning. Spices go up 70/30 over sweet on the retro-hale now. Tingly tongue. Palate moisture is correcting. I'm having a full on sweet and spicy Cameroon experience. Some vague other woody note comes in, toasted. I'm too getting some earthiness I'd been expecting and with it, a bit of a grassy note. Mini zetz of white pepper now on the draw and retro-hale. Still the forefront is a very woody mix of toasted sharp woods and sweet seasoned cedar. White pepper is there for a tick, then falls back to secondary. Leather leads the secondary which is fleshed out by sweet spices (on occasion, they leap over into the primary), a diminished floral, a ramping dry earth and grass. White pepper continues its subduing. Backing is a sweet tobacco which absorbs much of the secondary notes and extends into a medium+ finish.

Profile is medium+, strength is light. As the half-way point looms, I have not lost one iota of ash from this Short Story. Its cracked on one side, but pale grey and dense ladder-rungs hold. Even as I've been typing with it in my hand. Construction nor draw have strayed any part of a tick. Very impressive not only given its format -- but any format. Combustion has not wavered from a very middle of the road burn. Only the slightest of waver from even on a -medium burn-line. It even balances well in the smoke-hole, leaving a nice sweetness on my lips. Kiss me, ya fool. I get a nice zetz of flowers and cane sugar on a white pepper retro-hale.

Flavors keep chugging along. I wouldn't say simple, as much as calming and kinda reassuring. Solid. Stout. Fireplug-ish. Almost thuggish in a 1930s cartoon sense -- and that's the image any good Perfecto should conjure.

ACT II

All of the opening act's ashes clump on my Chromebook keyboard. Dry, cool, solid, a bit coarse. All that applies to myself and the ash. A bit of dark toasts finds the lower secondary. Packaging loosens a half-tick as the shaft narrows. A seam gets a bit loose ahead of the burn-line. There's a thin hint of graham flour. Still very wood/cedar. Retro-hale picks up a sharp dustiness and waters my eyes whilst dulling my notes.

Linear and one-dimensional, maybe. But a nice line and good dimension. Construction is splendid and the format quite fun. Not a whole lot more to report, really -- and I don't foresee a lot more coming. Nuts roast nicely and attract some cane sugar, head to the top of the middlings. There's a playing of citrus rind. Ash gets quite dry and jagged, darkens two ticks, so I rolls it off in my $0.99 Walmart ashtray. I never get a tingle sans a slight drying of palate. At times, not so much slight. Room-note has a nutty nuance to it.

As the band approaches, the sweet tobacco bottom stretches vertically through to the top. I feel as though I've been somewhat turned on my side. Profile remains the same, as doth muscle. White pepper sharpens and soars. Cedar drops and woods scorch. Slighter nuances go kaput, but for the graham, of all things. Smoke is quite warm. Pulls crackle the leaf now. Strength sucker punches with a weak arm. Not a spectacular end.

NOTES

A fun Fuente. A good option for a cold day outdoor smoke, or a squeeze into a busy schedule. I've been wanting to try one a' these forever. Glad I did. All told, and given its format, great construction -- delivering sorta mundane but well-formed flavors.

PAIRINGS

A blonde latte with that fancy caramel over-top whipped cream. Hot cocoa in a Superman mug... or is that just me?

FINAL GRADE

****B+****

LESS SCHTICK MORE STICK

Letter grades are graded on a scale of K A P L O W I T Z.

K being the least, Z the greatest

Appearance W
Construction I
Combustion T
Flavors/Body O
Strength A

EPILOGUE
3:45pm
It's my Birthday. I got a couple loaves of french bread, a brownie, and a Bijou waiting on me.

It's not every day ya turn 39!