2012 Fuente Cigar Family Charitable Contribution (Opus X & Julius Ceasar)

2012 Fuente Cigar Family Charitable Contribution coffin box with Fuente Fuente OpusX Toast Across America Figurado (2012) and Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toast Across America Figurado (2012) cigars.

The cigars were purchased in 2012 from a brick and mortar shop. The have been stored in a humidor at 65% which was stored in an air conditioned house since purchase. Cigars are in perfect shape and the cellophane has developed a yellow tone.

Cigars will be shipped securely with humidification.

Halfwheel Review

2012 marks the 10th year of the Toast Across America, Arturo Fuente and the J.C. Newman Cigar Co.’s limited edition two-pack for the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation. The charity, a venture between the two companies and families, aims to provide a significant humanitarian impact to communities in the Dominican Republic resulting in a better quality of life to those who experience a lack of education, poor access to health care and nutrition and who have little or no sustainable employment.

J.C. Newman announced the contents of this year’s Toast Across America set in July, while the cigars were displayed and sold shortly thereafter at IPCPR 2012. The cigars were said to ship September 1 with Toast Across America release parties happening across the country through January 31.



Fuente Fuente OpusX Toast Across America Figurado (2012)

The OpusX Toast Across America Figurado is a very interesting looking cigar, sort of like a BBMF sans the more interesting cap. The wrapper is a reddish brown color, very even and the cap and nipple foot are obviously very well made. The cigar is a bit hard when squeezed, but not so bad that I think it will cause problems. The wrapper is dry to the touch, but smooth, and smells faintly of barnyard, wood, leather and chocolate.

The Opus X TAA Figurado 2012 starts out the first third with a nice mellow spice on the tongue, a bit of pepper on the retrohale while flavors of cedar, leather, dark chocolate, coffee and slight earth fight for dominance. There seems to be a sweetness underneath the other flavors, but it is just not strong enough to pinpoint yet. Burn and draw are both excellent so far, and the strength surprises me by remaining firmly in the medium range for the entire first third. Smoke production is impressive: dense, grayish white and copious.

Coming into the second third of the OpusX and the sweetness present in the blend has increased enough for me to identify it as a slight raisin note. The profile has also gotten quite a bit more creamy, but is still unbalanced overall. Other flavors of leather, cedar and espresso glide in and out, never overly strong nor distinct. The Rosado wrapper splits when I take the band off past the halfway point—causing the wrapper to unravel a bit—but nothing I can’t handle easily with a little glue. Other than that, the burn and draw are quite good and the strength stays firmly in the medium range.



Diamond Crown Julius Caeser Toast Across America Figurado (2012)

It’s hard not to be immediately struck by the shape of this Julius Caeser Figurado with what appears to be absolutely perfect construction from head to foot. The wrapper is a light brown with a smooth texture and just a few small veins that shows a bit of give when squeezed. The cold draw was perfect from an air flow perspective but lacked slightly in flavor, showing a mild, woody flavor with a touch of sweetness, making up for a minimal pre-light aroma caused by the very small foot of the cigar.

The first third of the Julius Caeser Figurado starts out fairly mild and approachable – there’s no big hit of pepper until the burn line makes its way to the larger part of the cigar and what I presume to be the additional leaves adding some extra flavors. By the time the first clump of ash drops off about an inch in, the flavors remain very palatable—mild-plus or medium-minus—though with some definite character. The burn line is solid to this point, not requiring any touch-ups as the burn line moved from the small tip to the more bulbous foot of the Salomon. The flavor profile stays very measured in this section, with just sprinkles of leather and wood and dashes of sweetness and spice hitting the palate.

Through the bulk of the second third, the flavors stay more or less the same: very controlled amounts of cedar wood, leather and spice with the sweetness seeming to fade away around the midpoint, or possibly just becoming overpowered by the uptick in pepper. The flavors of the Julius Caeser Figurado seem to separate more once the cigar crosses the midway point; in the first third it is much more about picking out the individual notes, whereas in the second third there are points where the cedar or leather really rise up and stand on their own. As such, the nose gets rewarded with some distinctive aromas – fresh cut wood being the first – that weren’t present earlier in the cigar.

The spice component really comes to life in the final inches of the final third with a lighter pepper note jumping out of the smoke that gives the impression it’s making up for its general absence earlier in the cigar. The burn rate seems to speed up a bit here, providing far too little time to enjoy the final flavor transition that brings in some coffee and leather and creates the highlight of the cigar. If you have anything to help hold the cigar so that you don’t burn your fingers, you’ll want to have it at the ready as it’s hard to resist burning every last bit of leaf. The draw and burn remain absolutely perfect, with the ash holding well all the way to the very end.