2003 Fonseca Reserva Especial Torp 7 x 52
Wrapper: Honduran Criollo
Binder: Dominican Olor
Filler: Nicaraguan ligero and Dominican
Storage: 72 RH at 72 F (smoke fresh at the shop).
Construction: Incredibly gorgeous toothy, oily, deep chocolate brown wrapper with a couple veins. This cigar looks like a bruiser and it is. Solid roll with no soft spots. Clipped clean.
Prelight: Toasty and earthy tobacco, light cedar and sweet aromas. Very sweet, toasty tobacco, cedar and light eathry flavors. Medium draw.
Burn: Lit evenly, fairly straight burn with no touch-ups. Very firm off-white ash tinged with grey.
Drink: Iced tea.
Smoking Notes: Initial impression is distinctly Dominican with nice deeply toasty tobacco with some light cedar and coffee notes. There is an incredible brown sugar sweetness on the finish. The smoke is very thick and oily. By 1/3 the cigar has warmed and the Nicaraguan ligero just begins to make its mark by adding some excellent earth and cocoa notes to the core. The finish is very sweet and has very oily and woody notes. By mid-point, the flavors have deepened to a more Nicaraguan profile of earthy, oily wood, leather and strong espresso and cocoa notes with the Dominican toast and light cedar notes as counterpoints. The finish is still very sweet with some interesting tangy and peppery notes. The ligero is really making itself felt – no power-puffing this cigar. At 2/3 the core has darkened further and is definitely Nicaraguan, and strong. The Dominican notes remain as occasional light overtones. Never turned bitter or tarry as I nubbed it. An excellent 2 and a half hour smoke.
Overall Impression: This is not your typical mild, dry Fonseca – it’s a full-flavored fairly full-bodied smoke. Not as strong as a BBF or Opus, but easily a match for VSG. This is a superb cigar and I will definitely smoke more. Aging at a lower RH should really improve. Not quite sure how high to rate this right now since I’ve only smoked 2, let’s say a strong B+ to A- right now with solid A potential after some aging.
