Fuente Fuente Opus X Lancero NCRW

[RichG]

Fuente Fuente Opus X Lancero - From what I recall 2019/2020 Opus 6 release. 

I decide to pick up this smoke, and continue with the bottle of Zacapa I cracked earlier this evening. 

 

Aroma and cold draw exhibit dark pronounced, deep tobacco, prunes and raisins. 

 

I twist off the pigtail to find an open draw. The pigtail reminds me of Pink Floyd, so I flip on the album Animals. 

 

The cigar opens mushroom/mustiness on the retro, wood, espresso and big dark sweetness on the draw. Voluminous smoke output, thick viscous mouth-coating, pieced occasionally by sharp dry tannic moments. 

 

The smoke continues through the first third earthy and sweet on the draw with notes of spiciness and fungal, shroominess on the retro. 

 

As it enters the second third the mustiness and the woody darkness begin to blend together more, and become less pronounced. Notes of black licorice slip in between the mustiness, and the cigar feels more balanced than previously. 

 

This cigar is strong and full bodied. I feel the nicotine creeping up on me even through the rum. Dark coffee, wood, nuttiness, tar, backdrop of mustiness and spice continue through the second third. 

 

Going into the final third the spice kicks up a notch and the fungal, umami mustiness is mostly blended into the background. Eventually the flavors begin to die off, and strangely this is the point where even though most muted, I find this cigar most acceptable. 

With a couple of inches left I let it die out.

 

This cigar reminds me of something Hamlet said about blending lanceros on a video about the Nudies, that in a cigar of this format one leaf of ligero was enough to overpower the blend. Looking back on this experience while the specifics of that comment don’t necessarily apply, it strikes me that in my opinion this blend is way too much for this format.

 

I am also reminded that for me, many of these Dominican cigars feel like a mashup of round flavors, as opposed to smoking a Cuban with sharper, more individually pronounced characteristics. 

 

It also doesn’t help that I smoked a Partagas 898 a few hours ago, so try as I may, it’s hard to judge this cigar without recalling that one. 

 

Perfect draw and construction. I’m sure some would love it, but it’s not for me. 

 

7/10
 

 

[BoliDan]

Opus x is not what it was a decade ago. Even aged. I stay away from ultra premium NCs these days. They are attractive to try but never perform that much better than a $10-$15 cigar. Money is better spent on regular production habanos imo.

[TheDonTX]

Fully agree with the comment above and this review. Although I have not dived into Davidoffs. I really want to try the grand cru. 

[Bigkahuna]

 Msrp is about $60 and secondary market groups have them at $100 all day. They are good but almost hold a cult like following from some. 

[Aznyse1]

sadly I was a big buyer of the opus cult  for a brief period during the depths of covid . due to what was mostly boredom, I ended up with quite an extensive collection of all types of opus x while my pallet has gone all the way over to CC for much of the reasons in your review . I will be getting slapped in the face with a reminder of my impulsive purchases next week when my last 100 opus x shows in the purple rain humidor that i ordered last year. I really regret that purchase and  probably will sell it if I can   ,the humidor is nice but its really expensive for something that isn't Elie bleu and probably retains little value . I also have very little desire for the 100 cigars that come with it and already have more Opus than I will ever smoke .

here is a link to the humidor I purchased

https://halfwheel.com/fuente-aged-selection-unveils-purple-rain-humidors-ashtrays-for-december-2021-release/402760/