Agile Cigar Reviews are cigar assessments where we use a lightweight, shorter format. These will never take the place of our comprehensive reviews. They are only used on blends we have previously assessed. This might be a blend we are re-scoring or giving a score for the first time. It might be a blend we are looking at in a different size. Today we look at the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Happy Ending. This is a cigar line that has been previously assessed, most recently back in October 2021 in the Work of Art size.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
Happy Ending: 5 1/2 x 53

In 2020, Arturo Fuente did something it doesn’t often do – it released an all-new cigar line known as the Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s. It’s a cigar line blended by Carlos “Carlito” Fuente. As the name indicates, it pays homage to the era of the 1960s – a time when company chairman Carlito was growing up. It also is a line that is meant to raise awareness and money for breast cancer research. Carlito got the inspiration to support this cause from his daughter Liana, who had both her grandmother and aunt to breast cancer. In addition to its retro vibe, the “Pink” theme on the packaging and band also represents the color for Breast Cancer Awareness. The Fuente family pledged $13.00 to Breast Cancer research from the sale of each box. Today we take another look at the Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s series – this time in the Happy Ending vitola.

The Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s line features an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper over a Dominican binder and filler from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic. Like the Hemingway line, the Rare Pink line is an all-figurado line. Three of the six figurado sizes of the Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s line are also found in the Hemingway line. The Happy Ending line, a size unique to the Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s, measures 5 1/2 x 53.

The Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Happy Ending started out with notes of natural tobacco, baker’s spice, earth, and wood. Early on, the natural tobacco had some inherent sweetness and moved to the forefront with the baker’s spice. The earth and wood notes moved into the background and were joined by some citrus notes. On the retro-hale were notes of baker’s spice and earth. Midway through the first third, the natural tobacco notes took over as the sole primary note and the baker’s spice joined the other notes in the background.

The second third of the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Happy Ending saw the earth notes join the natural tobacco in the forefront. The sweetness subsided with the natural tobacco. Meanwhile, there were notes of wood, citrus, baker’s spice, and now black pepper on the tongue. By the final third, the earth notes became primary and there was an increase in the pepper notes. The cigar finished up with the earth notes being rounded out by the wood, citrus, black pepper, baker’s spice, and natural tobacco. The cigar finished with a soft, cool nub.

The flavors of the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Happy Endingwere medium-bodied and countered by medium strength. Both the strength and body balanced each other with neither attribute overshadowing the other. The burn required some maintenance in the form of frequent touch-ups to keep it on a straight path and have a straight line. The draw was inconsistent – sometimes tight and sometimes too open.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

From a flavor and complexity perspective, I thought the Arturo Fuente Rare Pink Vintage 1960’s Happy Ending performed the best. This cigar didn’t perform as well as I expected when it came to the burn. While the burn was rated as a “good,” it still is something that falls short of making a cigar reach the plateau of the Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence. As for the draw, I was also surprised by the inconsistencies I noted. Still, some folks might have more patience than I do, so because the flavors were so good, I’m inclined to recommend the Happy Ending to both the seasoned and novice cigar enthusiast. As for myself, it’s a cigar I would buy and smoke again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Earth, Wood, Citrus, Pepper
Burn: Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good