Vitola: Father & Son
Size: 6.25″ x 49 ring gauge
Price ~$20.00
Was a gift from a friend
Background
A friend of mine knows I like Opus Xs and gave me this cigar as a Christmas present. Since this a very limited production and I probably wouldn’t get another chance to smoke one, I thought I’d do a review of it here. From what I was able to find this cigar was actually supposed to be released in 2015 for the actual 20th anniversary of the Opus X but some delays didn’t see it released until late 2016. They are comprised of tobacco completely sourced from the Fuente farms but not all from the traditional locations that the Opus normally comes from. The wrapper is also a lower priming than normal. They are offered in four sizes: Believe (5.75″ x 52), Father & Son (6.25″ x 49), God’s Whisper (6.5″ x 56) and Power of a Dream (6.375″ x 52) and all packed 20 to a box. I’ve seen the box and it is very well done and quite substantial. The prices range from $18-$20 per cigar.
Prelight
The first thing you might notice is the band is blue rather than the normal red. Apparently this was the other color originally considered and Carlito wanted to use it for the anniversary cigar. The second thing you notice is the wrapper is definitely lighter and more golden in color. The wrapper does have some tooth and some oils to it, that can be seen better once I removed the cedar wrapper. Giving it a squeeze I didn’t detect any soft spots and it was fairly firm. Putting my nose to the wrapper I got the aroma of hay, with the aroma raisins coming from the foot. After clipping it and taking a cold draw I got a slightly tight draw with some sweetness.
Flavor
It starts off with a good amount spice, but not the blast I usually get from the Opus X. The flavors at the beginning were of hay, cedar, cinnamon and some sweetness. It started off maybe medium-full strength. As I moved into the second third the spice had definitely toned down a lot. I noted hay, leather, earth and cinnamon flavors in the second third. Even without the spice it stayed medium-full strength. The spice did come back in the final third. The flavors didn’t change though, with the strength building a bit.
Construction
It started off with a fairly tight draw, and after warming up a bit it did open up. The burn also started off wavy but straightened out without needing correction.
Value
It is surprisingly priced similar to the regular release, but wasn’t anything special.
Conclusions
I went in with high expectations, but the cigar didn’t deliver. While it didn’t have any negative flavors, it just didn’t really catch my attention. I don’t know if the delay caused them be released early and age would do them a favor. Or that the blend isn’t to my liking.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10
