Arturo Fuente Opus X Forbidden X 13 No. 4 Review

Wrapper: Dominican

Filler: Dominican

Price: $11.50

As many people would say, the Opus is one of the most sought after cigar around. Last week I heard that Holt’s Cigar Shop had got a few boxes of these Forbidden X 13s in. So that Friday, I went over to their Center City location to grab a couple. When I walked in, I was kindly greeted by their General Manager, Anthony. He informed me that they sold out there in no time at all. He then said that their location in Northeast Philadelphia had a few left. So Saturday morning I got up there just after they opened. I asked if they had any left, and they showed me their remainder. There wasn’t much, but I managed to snag a couple of these since they were the only ones left.

The first thing that I honestly noticed about this cigar was the very detailed and ornate bands. The colors just popped out. This cigar features a very nice dark brown wrapper that has a nice oily shine to it. There are no veins running throughout the entire wrapper. There are a couple layers of tobacco that make up the cap on this cigar that are laying perfectly flush. This cigar is very solid as well. There isn’t a single soft spot throughout it. The smell of this cigar is very strong. I was picking notes of spice, oak, and chocolate off of it right away.

As soon as I lit up this cigar, I was hit with that Opus spice. There were also some very strong earth and wood notes that came out right away. Not even five puffs into this cigar, there was a creaminess that built up on my palate. The spice stuck to my tongue fairly quickly as well.

By about an inch into this cigar, it exceeded my expectations of it. The flavor turned and became very strong and centered around an oak flavor. As this flavor began to steadily increase, a slight bitterness came out to accent the oak. This flavor actually tasted like a mix of a good blended Scotch and some coffee.

The second part of this cigar was even stronger on the oak notes. The earthy tones were strong as well, but nothing like the oak. The spice actually dulled down to just a minor accent, but it was still noticeable. The creaminess actually was gone by now, and the oak naturally took over the palate.

Around the halfway point, there was a very mild sweetness. I was getting the notes of chocolate ever couple puffs. It wasn’t too distinct, but that is because the oak was so strong. There was also a little bit more coffee flavor that came out right around the end of the second third.

The last couple inches were fantastic. The oak completely took over and coated my tongue as well as my palate. The mild sweetness and coffee notes were gone which lead the spice to pick back up. The finish was very good. The flavor combination, although not complex, was outstanding.

The ash was a very light gray, almost white. The ash also held on for about an inch and a half at a time, which surprised me a bit. The burn was even all the way through. The draw was a little tight, but it really wasn’t that bad. There was a good amount of thick white smoke that was produced, and it gave off a strong oak aroma.

This cigar flavor profile is one that I feel would go great with a glass of Scotch. This is definitely a box-worthy cigar, except with its price point, I am not going to be able to buy a box any time soon. I give this cigar a 9.25 out of 10.

Thanks for reading,

Zack the Stogie Man