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| Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 |
The Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 is the third release in the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario line. The story of this cigar goes back to 2006. That was the year of the 30th anniversary of Arturo Fuente’s Don Carlos line. The original Don Carlos line was created and blended by Carlos Fuente Sr. However for the 30th anniversary Carlos Sr’s son, Carlos Fuente Jr. wanted to create a cigar to commemorate the occasion. To do this, he swapped the Don Carlos’ Cameroon wrapper with a Fuente Dominican Habano leaf, wrapper thus the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2006 was born. This was followed by a Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2007 and now a Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008. Today we take a look at the Aniversario 2008. Overall, I found this to be an excellent release by Arturo Fuente.
The original Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2006 was not released until 2008 to allow two years of age on the tobaccos. The next release, the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2007 would age for five years before being released in 2012. In terms of the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008, it was this past year where it was released. A total of 27,500 Aniversario 2008 cigars were made in three sizes.
How does the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 perform? Let’s take a closer look at this cigar and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 is a Dominican puro featuring the Dominican Habano wrapper.
Wrapper: Chateau de la Fuente (Dominican)
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Vitolas Available
As mentioned the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 was made in three sizes. The cigars are all packaged ten per box.
Robusto: 5 1/4 x 50
Double Robusto: 5 3/4 x 52
Toro: 6 1/4 x 48
Appearance
For this cigar experience, I went with the Double Robusto vitola. The Chateau de la Fuente wrapper of the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 Double Robusto is a light brown color that I would categorize as “one or two shades darker than a Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade”. There is some oil on the surface of the wrapper. There are some visible wrapper seams and visible veins. There is a flat Cuban-style cap on the cigar.
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| Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 Unwrapped |
There are two bands on the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008. The primary band is gold, red, black, and white. The band features the gold and white Fuente shield logo in the center. Below the logo is the text “EDICIÓN DE ANIVERSARIO” in thin gold font. The logo and text sit on a red oval background surrounded by a black ring. The top of the black ring features gold adornments and the lower part features the text “DON CARLOS” in gold font. There are gold, red, and black adornments going around the band. The lower part of the band features the text “FUENTE FUENTE” in gold font. On the far right (sitting on the back of the band) is the Fuente Fuente OPUS X logo with the text “1976” and “2006” in gold font.
The secondary band is also red, black, and gold. It features the text “2008” in gold font which Carlos Fuente Jr’s signature in black. In small gold font is the text “A TRIBUTE TO MY HERO CARLOS ARTURO FUENTE – CARLITO” in gold font.
Finally there is a cedar sleeve from the footer to the bottom of the secondary band with a black ribbon on the footer.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
To start things off, I removed the ribbon and cedar sleeve from the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008. I then moved on to clipping the cap using my usual choice of a straight cut. From that point I began the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw provided a mix of cedar sweet-spice, a little natural tobacco, and a little pepper. Overall I considered this a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up my Aniversario 2008 and see what the overall smoking phase would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 provided notes of toast, pepper, and natural tobacco. In the background I also detected a slight herbal component. At the same time, there was a strong herbal spice I detected on the retro-hale.
Around the five percent mark, the pepper, natural tobacco and herbal notes were in the forefront. The toast notes became more of a secondary note. By the end of the first of the first third, it was the natural tobacco and herb notes that were primary and the pepper notes were secondary. I had found the toast notes had dissipated.
For the most part, the flavor profile held steady for the remainder of the cigar experience. I did find the pepper returned into the forefront in the second half of the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.
Burn and Draw
The Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 is a very well constructed cigar and this construction is reflected in both the burn and draw. The ash had some light flowering early on, but for the most part remained a firm ash. The ash also was a light gray color. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 |
As for the draw, there was a little bit of resistance to it – which is something I like. I will say it was right on the upper threshold of resistance that I like on a draw and any more resistance would have started to produce diminishing returns in my book. This was still an excellent draw overall.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, I found that the Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 produced the right amount of kick. I assessed the cigar as being right in the middle of the medium to full strength range of the spectrum. I found the depth of the flavors also fell in the medium to full-bodied range. Both the strength and body balanced each other very nicely from start to finish.
Final Thoughts
The Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 is a very good cigar. If one is a fan of Arturo Fuente, this is a cigar that will be seemed out – especially due to its limited qualities. This cigar does have a hefty price tag of $29.99. While this is a very good cigar, in my opinion there are better options in this price range – such as both the Davidoff 2013 Year of the Snake and the Davidoff 2014 Year of the Horse. However, it’s still a good cigar and one I would encourage an experienced or even novice cigar enthusiast to smoke. As for myself, I’d still smoke this again. However, given there are better cigars in this price range, I’d probably only go for a fiver here.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium to Full
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Good
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 90
References
Price: $29.99
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 81 – “Deflowering”
Stogie Feed: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Edicion de Aniversario 2008 Double Robusto
Smoking the 2013 double robusto right now. It’s a decent smoke, nicotine kick is strong from the start. In terms of flavor the stick I’m smoking just isn’t up to snuff. Some interesting flavors but they dissipate too quickly to a simple smooth aged tobacco flavor. Smokes vary from stick to stick but with high priced sticks it’s always a disappointment when it doesn’t hit with a strong wow factor. If the flavor notes I detected were stronger and stuck around longer this would’ve been a very good smoke but the one I’m smoking right now just isn’t delivering. I’ve got 4 more of these so we’ll see how it goes with the others.