Casa Fuente 808 Maduro

Today, we take a look at the Casa Fuente 808 Maduro by Arturo Fuente Cigars. This cigar is a part of Casa Fuente’s Series 5 offered in natural and maduro. Casa Fuente is a brand initially created for the Casa Fuente retail store in Las Vegas, Nevada. The store licenses the Arturo Fuente name. Over the years, Casa Fuente has established itself as a destination in Las Vegas, and one of the main attractions has been the ability to get the various Casa Fuente offerings. In 2021, things would change a bit when Arturo Fuente announced the offerings in Casa Fuente would be made available to its retailers on a limited basis. At the time, the cigars were released to retailers in place of an expected shipment of Rare Pinks due to supply-chain issues. Since then, Arturo Fuente has done some subsequent releases of the Casa Fuente line, including the Series 5 releases.

The Casa Fuente retail store opened its doors back in 2005. The original Casa Fuente line made its debut that year. This is a Cameroon-wrapped cigar that is available in seven sizes. The Series 5 collection followed in 2012 and is available in the natural and maduro offerings. The original Cameroon cigars are denoted with an orange-colored ribbon around the footer. The Series 5 cigars are denoted with a yellow-colored ribbon around the footer.

Let’s break down the Casa Fuente 808 Maduro without further ado and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Casa Fuente 808 Maduro Cigar Review

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia

Vitolas Offered

Both the Maduro and Natural blends of the Casa Fuente Series 5 line are available in three sizes. Each of the three sizes is a 52-ring gauge but differs in length. All of the sizes are presented in 25-count boxes.

806: 5 1/4 x 52
807: 5 3/4 x 52
808: 6 x 52

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Maduro wrapper of the 808 Maduro had a cocoa/chocolate color to it. The surface of the 808 Madura’s wrapper was toothy. The surface of the wrapper had some visible veins. Most of the wrapper seams were well hidden due to the dark color of the wrapper. The footer of the cigar has a pale yellow ribbon around it. I also detected a distinct unsweetened cocoa/tobacco aroma from the footer.

PERFORMANCE

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of the 808 Maduro. Once the cap was detached, it was on to the pre-light draw experience. The excellent cold draw delivered a mix of bittersweet cocoa, cedar, and slight fruit sweetness. At this point, it was time to remove the footer ribbon of the Casa Fuente 808 Maduro, toast up the foot, and move on to the smoking phase.

Tasting Notes

The 808 Maduro opened with notes of bittersweet cocoa, cedar, fruit sweetness, and hay. Early on, the cocoa notes moved to the forefront. The cedar, fruit, and hay notes settled into the background, with the cedar notes the most prominent of the three. Meanwhile, the retro-hale delivered red pepper and fruit.

During the second third of the 808 Maduro, the cocoa notes transitioned into a black coffee note. The black coffee note remained in the forefront and became richer. Meanwhile, some red pepper notes merged in the background. I detected a slight increase in both the red pepper and cedar. The fruit sweetness remained distant, and the hay notes dissipated entirely.

The final third saw the coffee notes remain in the forefront. Another increase in the pepper made it the most prominent of the background flavors. Meanwhile, the cedar and fruit notes remained more distant. This is the way the 808 Maduro came to a close. The resulting nub was cool in temperature and slightly soft to the touch.

Burn

The burn line of the Casa Fuente 808 Maduro was generally on the jagged side. The cigar needed several touchups to keep to a straight burn path. While the touchups did their job, more than I prefer were needed. This wasn’t a loose ash but prone to some flowering and flaking. The ash, for the most part, had a silver-gray color. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.

Burn of the Casa Fuente 808 Maduro

Draw

You will know I like a touch of resistance on the draw if you have read my assessments. In the case of the 808 Maduro, the draw was tighter than I preferred. No relight was required, but the draw had to be worked on a lot more than what was my sweet spot.

Strength and Body

The 808 Maduro started out with medium strength and medium-bodied flavors. Both attributes increased in intensity as the cigar experience progressed. By the second third, the flavors progressed from medium to full-bodied. They continued to increase in intensity but remained in the medium to full range. Meanwhile, the strength had also increased but remained in the medium range. In terms of strength versus body with 808 Maduro, the body had the edge over the strength.

BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES

The packaging for the national release of the Casa Fuente 808 series is pretty much the same as the house release. The brown, gold and orange Casa Fuente band is a personal favorite of mine. I am also a fan of the varnished cabinet style boxes these cigars come in. What I always liked about Casa Fuente branded cigars is they were packaged like a premium cigar should be. Today, when many companies use craft paper bundles for house cigars, I’m more appreciative of how Casa Fuente cigars have always been packaged.

I still wish there was an easier way to identify the maduro. The Series 5 800 natural and maduro cigars share the pale yellow ribbon. It would be much easier if there were something to differentiate the maduro and natural without having to rely on the wrapper color.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

Over the years, I have lost interest in the single-store release market. However, one single-store release I have always liked has been the Casa Fuente brand. This assessment cycle was my first with the 808 Maduro. The 808 Maduro is a solid blend. While I enjoyed it, there are many other Arturo Fuente cigars I would reach for before this. The 808 Maduro carrying a price point over $30.00 further emphasizes my previous point. While this was enjoyable, I’ll still recommend trying a sample and seeing if this is for you.

Summary

Key Flavors: Cocoa, Coffee, Cedar, Hay, Fruit, Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Very Good
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium (1st Third), Medium to Full (Remainder)
Finish: Excellent