Vitola: A- 9.25” x 47 ring gauge
- ~$35 (2-pack)
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
I had pretty well exhausted all the material I picked up at the Tatuaje event earlier this year. I reviewed the Pork Chop and Pork Tenderloin. I published a 2-part look at some of the sticks from the big Broadleaf Collection. I reviewed the new regular release, Negociant, and the hard to find event-only stick, Halloween. And I published some pictures from the event itself. I almost forgot…but there is…one last thing…
As a “Saints and Sinners” store, I was able to purchase one of the SnS club exclusive coffin boxes that were also made available at the event. These coffins include two “A” size sticks that are rolled only for these boxes and only SnS members are allowed to buy them…one Fausto and one Mission du L’atelier. I decided to present them as a couple “Cigar Extra” length posts…
Fausto is a brand that was officially released to under that name in 2011, though it was based on some limited release cigars that had preceded it. This blend uses Nicaraguan filler and binder, along with an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper. It isn’t really stated anywhere that I could find, but I would call this wrapper “oscuro” just based on its very dark coloration. The blend is quite strong normally and also shows up under the Avion name…basically, Fausto-branded cigars are parejos and Avions are figurados (and the Avion 13 is a “Reserva” version, featuring a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper…but that’s a discussion for a different time).
Notes
It’s worth noting that as I was getting ready to light this up, I heard back from Sean Johnson about getting officially into the SNS Club. I ended up getting into the sign-up process and forgetting about firing up the cigar…and so before I actually lit this beast, I became a full-fledged member of the club.
Then I did light it up, of course…as I recalled the Fausto blend is strong and full-bodied, which plenty of earthiness, but a very potent cedar component, as well, and an amazing pepper spice on both the palate and the nose.
Through the first third, the Fausto burned slowly and produced thick, oily smoke. The cedar note took the fore with earth following closely. There was a slight sweet note in the mix, as well, almost a dried berry note, but very subtle.
Deep into the second third, the sweetness increased, but so did the pepper. It was at a point where it left a burning residue on my lips long after each puff.
And then I got to the point where…I was bored. The cigar was still good, but it burned so slowly that by the two hour mark I hadn’t even finished the second third. This is why I tend to stick with Robustos and Corona Gordas usually…I just get tired of the same thing for so long. So I let the cigar go out and I went back inside.
This ended up feeling kinda like failure…I set out to smoke a big damn cigar and wasn’t able to make it through it. At least it wasn’t because it was too strong. (Though, truth be told, if I had smoked it all the way to the end, it might have been.)Hopefully I would fair better with La Mission in the A size.
