Arturo Fuente Flor Fina Claro / Candela 8-5-8 - pics Review

[omowasu]

The candidate for this review is the unique Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8 Candela. While the maduro and sungrown 8-5-8's are stealing the stage right now, the Candela waits patiently for a buyer in the hands of a few select merchants. I have liked the 8-5-8's in the past, and wonder whether the Candela wrapper that is traditionally associated with mild cigars will be able to hold its own against its more recognized brothers.



This green stogie uses a Dominican filler and a Dominican binder. Wrapper origin is said to be Connecticut, but I havent seen many Connecticut candelas, so take that with a grain of salt. At 6x47rg, I am expecting an hours smoke. This cigar, like all 8-5-8's is nice to look at, although the green wrapper is reminding me of some overly mild candela experiences I have had in the past.

The candela wrapper on this one was silky smooth, almost velvety - one of the nicer candelas I have seen. Odors were vegetal and sweet in nature. Pre-light draw didn't yield many flavors, but post light was the typical 8-5-8 but a little lighter than the cameroon or maduro. Mostly vegetal flavors with some bitterness in the background and overtones of spice - typical Gran Reserva Fuente flavors. The smoke coming fron the candela wrapper was not particulary satisfying - it smelled more like burning leaves in the backyard than that nice tobacco plume typical of darker wrappers. This one also became bitter sooner than other 8-5-8's, about halfway through the cigar. I am not sure if this was due to the candela wrapper or just overall youth (this one had 3 months of age). Either way, this cigar was put to pasture at the 2/3 mark, it was becoming too bitter for my tastes.



Overall, this was not a bad cigar and certainly beats some others I have had in the price range. But for me, I would much prefer the 858 Flor Fina maduros. The maduros deliver much more in the flavor department while costing the same amount of money.

[ikwanjin]

GREAT review with some very nice pics..

[kvaughan]

Nice review. Been trying to find some 8-5-8 Candelas but have thus far been unsucessful...

[fireman43]

Great review! I love the Maddies in this line!

[muziq]

Review is much appreciated...haven't tried a candela before, and I'm not sure I will any time soon! Didn't sound too appetizing...

[LORD PUFFER]

Nice review. I have had both, but will again try the candela and maduro to record the difference in taste on the two.

[BigVito]

this was the first cigar I smoked

[berk-m]

Are those pics of the Candela cigar? I bought a couple of these a while back just to try them out, the green wrapper looks weird against the binder, I wasn’t as disappointed with the smoke as you were, but I wouldn’t smoke these on a regular basis, for me they are a nice change of pace every now and then. Thanks for the review.

[SMOKESTACK]

Amazing smoke. Without a doubt the best candela on the US market, the green color in these cigars are so pretty and minty-fresh, under bright lights they look white (no joke). After i tried the candela 8-5-8 I orered a box of Fuente Candela Churchills. But the 8-5-8 has a better blend, so in the end it's best to stay with those. But for the price and the unique taste.... you can't go wrong by just trying one!- They really are minty,spicy and yummy. If the cigars weren't so close to the camera and were all lit up brightly, they would look irresistable. Everyone should try one. In fact I have 2 in my humi right now, which I think I'll toast up.

[jxpfeer]

nice review indeed. i've never had a candela before, i've been thinking about trying one one of these days...

[BigVito]

Originally Posted by berk-m

Are those pics of the Candela cigar? I bought a couple of these a while back just to try them out, the green wrapper looks weird against the binder, I wasn’t as disappointed with the smoke as you were, but I wouldn’t smoke these on a regular basis, for me they are a nice change of pace every now and then. Thanks for the review.

They don't look green enough to me.

[Papichulo]

I love these smokes! Great detail and pics!

[BigVito]

candela

[KASR]

Good review! I have a few of these tucked away - just haven't had a chance to try one yet.