Arturo Fuente

Curly Head Deluxe Maduro

Bof. Ça va mais moyen. Quelques dégazages nécessaires.

I'll preface this with: I'm a cigar amateur and my sense of taste is muddled by a remarkably poor sense of smell, so your mileage may vary. I'm also not one for mild cigars, but life gets more interesting the more often you're willing to say "yes." So why not give it a go? At $3 apiece I could relegate them to handouts for get togethers or yard-gar status and not feel bad. Construction looks more civilized than the normal curly heads, which is to say it still looks like it was rolled quickly without regard to exacting quality. The foot was shaggy and the head uneven, but I had no problems cutting or lighting it. Smell was light and it's a short filler cigar, so it's got more give than what I'm used to. Don't expect the ash to cling on longer than an inch before it starts falling apart. Some extended humidor time might improve them, but I wouldn't bet on it. Just stabilize them post-shipping and light up. Draw with a straight cut was good with a touch of resistance. Not nearly as loose as the construction would imply. Burn was even and didn't require touchups through the 75 minutes I had with it. Flavor-wise, this batch was exactly what it said on the tin: consistent, smooth, very subtly nutty and with a short, light finish. Burnt toast never quite went away with hints of vanilla popping up on retrohale every so often. It stayed very consistent, almost painfully so, until the last third when some pepper notes slowly popped up. All that being said, I'm reminded why I tend away from mild cigars in that there was not much depth for my somewhat handicapped palate. Once you got the flavor profile sorted out, it never wandered off. So that 75 minutes was spent sipping some coffee while idly listening to music and enjoying a summer breeze on the patio. If you're looking for something to puff on while otherwise occupied, a starter cigar, or you're just used to cigarettes the curly head is not a bad introduction. Being cheap helps. It helps ALOT.