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| Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 |
The Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 is the third installment in what seems to have become an annual limited production release by Arturo Fuente Cigars. For the most part, this has been a series that not only is not only “unnamed”, but has a cloud of mystery around it. There isn’t much that has been disclosed on this series. The only thing we really know about the Unnamed Reserve 2014 is that it introduced a 6 x 60 gordo vitola into this series. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014. While I found it to have its moments, I didn’t find this lived up to what the previous year’s edition.
It was in 2012 when Fuente launched the first Unnamed Reserve cigar – a 5 3/4 x 48 Toro. Last year, there were two vitolas of the Unnamed Reserve released – a 5 3/4 x 50 Toro as well as a 5 1/4 x 48 Robusto. It was in 2014 when the 6 x 60 version was released. In terms of the blends, it is not known any of them are and how much they differ from one another.
Without further ado, let’s break down the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
No specific details on the blend of the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2013 have been disclosed:
Wrapper: Not disclosed
Binder: Not disclosed
Filler: Not disclosed
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera A.Fuente y Cia)
Vitolas Available
As mentioned above, the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 comea in one size – a 6 x 60 Gordo
Appearance
The wrapper to the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 is a light brown color that I would classify as one to two shades darker than an Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade wrapper cigar. The wrapper has some very light oil on the surface. The wrapper seams are well hidden and wrapper veins are visible.
The band to the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 is a classic Arturo Fuente cigar band – that is a combination of red, gold, and white on the upper part with black and gold on the lower portion. The band features a white shield in the middle with the letters “AF” in gold font sitting on a red circle in the middle of the shield. The shield is surrounded by gold and sits on a larger red circular background. In gold font is the text “A. FUENTE” and “GRAN RESERVA” on the top and bottom of the red circular background respectively. There is a variety of gold adornments that surround the red circular background. On the lower left and lower right of the band is the text “HAND” and “MADE” respectively – both in gold font sitting on a black background. There is a red ribbon on the footer.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
Prior to lighting the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, I proceeded with the pre-light draw. The cold draw provided a mix of earth and hay. There was a slight cotton candy-like sweetness as well as a light tingly spice on the tongue. Overall I considered this to be an excellent pre-light draw experience. At this point I removed the ribbon around the footer, lit up my cigar, and awaited what the smoking experience would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 delivered a mix of natural tobacco and red pepper spice. There was a slight cotton candy-like sweetness in the background. The sweetness didn’t take long to come into the forefront. The sweetness and red pepper alternated in the forefront as to which was the primary note early on. Meanwhile the natural tobacco moved into the background where I also picked up some grassy notes. The pepper notes could also be detected on the retro-hale.
Later in the first third, the pepper diminished on the tongue and moved into the background. I found the natural tobacco and grassy notes move into the forefront. During the second third, the natural tobacco and grass converged into more of an earthy note. The sweetness also became less prominent and by the end of the second third it was more of a secondary note.
During the last third, the pepper increased again and moved toward the forefront. The earthy notes were still quite prominent. The sweetness now was quite distant. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and lukewarm in temperature.
Burn and Draw
From a burn perspective, I found the burn line to meander quite a bit during the cigar experience. This cigar required many touch-ups along the way – more touch-ups than I would expect from a cigar like this. The resulting ash was on the firm side and had a salt and pepper color. The burn rate was ideal. The burn temperature was also ideal until the final stages where it did get a little lukewarm.
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| Burn of the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 |
The draw was ideal. It was not too tight, nor was it too loose. It was very easy to derive flavors from this cigar.
Strength and Body
The one thing that was more noticeable to me about the Unnamed Reserve 2014 as opposed to the Unnamed Reserve 2013 was that this was a more dialed back cigar in terms of strength and body. I found both the strength and body to fall into the medium range – down from the medium to full strength, full-bodied smoke of the Unnamed Reserve 2013 Toro. Overall, I found the strength and body balanced each other very nicely on the Unnamed Reserve 2014 with neither attribute overpowering the other.
Final Thoughts
The Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 came out of the gate and impressed me. While this cigar wow’d me at the start, the wow factor soon was gone somewhere in the second third. On the plus side, there was some decent complexity to this smoking experience. The end result is that I found the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014 to be a good cigar, but not a great one. This cigar just didn’t match up to the level of the Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2013 Toro that I enjoyed so much. Since not much is known about this blend, I can’t infer that this because the 2014 was a 60 ring gauge. I still would recommend this cigar to someone who is a Fuente fan. As for myself, this is a cigar I’d revisit again – and it’s one certainly worthy of a “Try One” rating.
Summary
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: 2.5 – Try One
Score: 87
References
News: n/a
Price: $16.00
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 124
Stogie Feed: Arturo Fuente Unnamed Reserve 2014
