My First Anejo, Anejo #50 Review

[Seanohue]

I've been waiting months to light this beauty up and I felt christmas was appropriate. So, after the company left I snuck out on the screened-in porch and lit it up. Unfortunately, it was raining but it was pretty warm, about 50. The cigar was a beautiful chocolate brown wrapper, flawlessly rolled and excellently presented in it's trademark cedar sleve with the red band. The cigar gave off a wonderful aroma of the coffee, chocolate and nuts. These smells then turned into flavors as I indulged in the smoothest cigar I have yet to try. Harshness? HA! This cigar knows not the meaning of that word. My palate was hit with a wonderfully balanced combination of coffee, chocolate, and toasted nuts with a subtle hint of leather. But the one thing that really turned me onto this cigar was there WAS NO EARTHINESS, the one thing that turns me away from maduros. Yes, ladies and gentleman, I have found a maduro to enjoy! The smoke was about middle range, not thick, not scarce. But I ran into several problems: it took much longer than normal to light, the burn required constant corrections and about 1/2 way through it started to go out. I am going to attribute this flaw to the weather, because as I said before it was raining outside. The draw was a little tight in the beginning as well, and it got to the point where I needed to recut it. The next cut was great! Draw was perfect and I was in heaven The chocolate and coffee subsided a bit and the leather became more pronounced, and with it came earthiness. It was not to the point of making me not enjoy this cigar, the rest of the flavors compensated for one that I do not particularly enjoy. This cigar burned very slow too, took me about 1hr to get through the 1st half. I unfortunately did not have time to finish it, my lighter was running out of juice and I was tired of fighting with the burn problems, so I dropped it and half of it's goodness is in my stinky.

Great cigar though, just in flavor alone. I definitely hope to get my hands on another one of these, and smoke it under better conditions (this thing has been resting for about 3 months so that was not a factor in it's many issues) because this was a wonderful end to a pleasant holiday

Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a goodnight

[Bubba -NJ]

Nice review . I've had problems when smoking during the rain . Wind can cause plenty of burn issues as well . Glad you enjoyed it while you had the chance .

[mhillsing23]

I think you caught a glimpse of how great this cigar can be. I always smoke my Anejo under prime conditions becuase I don't want to hinder the moment with these beauties!

[punch]

I've had burn issues with both this and the Opus X. I don't think that weather was all at fault since I try to smoke both the Anejo and Opus under optimal conditions. I had an Opus for a Christmas smoke. Same thing. I let it sit for six months so the draw was half way decent, but I used a LOT of butane smoking it.

[fireman43]

Nice review, and congrats on your first Anejo! I didn't smoke my Shark yesterday because it was rainy, windy, and nasty all day. I want to savor the moment when I smoke this beauty, and we were on the road most of the day visiting family and friends. I did manage to get in a Short Story and a 8-5-8 though.

[boonedoggle]

Nice review. Still haven't had a 50, but I really REALLY enjoyed a #46 with some humi time on it yesterday for the big day.

[steelheaderdu]

I've got a couple of sharks swimming in the humidor. As soon as the opportunity presents itself, you've convinced me to fire up an anejo. Very nice review.

John

[Dgar]

I smoked a #48 Anejo, Saturday night this was from 12/05, the cigar burned perfect, the taste changed throught the cigar. I smoke only one or two anejo's a year and my last was Christmas 05, I had forgotten, but these are full bodied smokes in my opinion.

Dgar

[PUFFNMO]

Interesting how the same cigar can give a different experience under various conditions.
I too smoked an Anejo # 50 yesterday, before the company came. I sat in the garage with a diet Pepsi and Bob Newhart's new book. Conditions were ideal, about 60% hum. This one had been in the humi 4 months. It had an easy draw, never needed a touch up. The smoke was everything you described, soft and billowy. I LOVED IT! Loads of flavor, loads of smoke, totally delicious flavors.
I made the mistake of lighting a lesser Fuente (Cuban Corona) right after, and it simply was a letdown. So, my advice is... (drumroll)... always make the Anejo the last cigar y'all smoke.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Larry.

[Bubba -NJ]

Originally Posted by PUFFNMO

So, my advice is... (drumroll)... always make the Anejo the last cigar y'all smoke.
MERRY CHRISTMAS! Larry.

Dig it , not much else can stand up to it . Or just smoke more Anjeo's .

[Boston_Dude05]

Nice review. What RH did you keep the Anejo at? Just curious if that affects the burn on these babies.

[jesto68]

I too just enjoyed my first Fuente Anejo 50. My brother scored a box from a friend, and I couldn't wait to get my paws on them.

Our box had been aging for 3 years in a 60% humi. When I cracked the box open, just the aroma almost sent me to heaven, let alond the view. What beauties!

I am a relative newcomer to the Fuente line - the only 3 I have ever tried were all this month. While I didn't enjoy the Opus - I loved this and the Hemmingway. They were great from the first puff until I singed my nostrils on the nub. (I almost broke out the hemostat from my college days )

The only drawback of these sticks is - I now feel the compulsive urge to get my hands on as many Fuentes as I can!