Fuente Fuente Opus X Super Belicoso

The cigar:

First impressions:

The cigar is heavy for its size and firm to the touch.
It’s listed as a 52 ring gauge but for some reason seems slimmer. I don’t have a method for measuring so I’ll take their word for it.
The wrapper is dull brown with a hint of red.
I was a little surprised at first by the dull brown color on the wrapper especially considering that it’s an ultra-premium cigar. Although, on second thought, this is not completely surprising considering that Fuente ages these cigars before shipping. Aged tobacco tends to lose some of the sheen and oils seen on fresher, premium leaves. It does have a slight oil sheen, best seen on the cap in this picture.
It has minimal small veins and appears nearly flawless other than one small defect along one of the seams (not shown) but this shouldn’t affect its smoke ability.
Overall, it’s a good looking cigar but if it didn’t have the telltale Opus X banding, I might be deceived into thinking that it was a lower quality cigar.

Prelight:

The scent coming from the foot consists of topsoil, wet cedar mulch, and raisin… in a way that kind of makes me hungry even though I ate recently.
I clipped the cap with my trusty Xikar and took a few draws.
Prelight draw is firm but not too tight… perfect, actually.
Definitely a little black pepper in there but mostly dry cedar.

Ignition:

Using my Alec Bradley tabletop burner, I toasted the foot until glowing amber.
I blew some air through it (reverse draw), then took my first puffs.
The first few puffs are red pepper and vinegar, not terrible, but not great either.

First third:

Settling down now to leather, bitter chocolate, but still a lot of pepper; mostly black, some red. Lots of smoke.
Burning slightly uneven. I’ll give it a chance to correct itself. (It did)
The smoke is extremely fragrant… Almost like it was an infused cigar but not quite.
Taste is now mostly cedar with a bit of cinnamon, acidic lime (in a good way), and still with peppery undertones. Really, really good.
Burn line straightened out

Middle third:

This is where the flavor profiles really took off.
Very juicy, citrusy flavors with cinnamon and nutmeg and some other flavors that I can’t quite put my finger on. It’s kind of like a warm spiced wine or warm spiced rum punch.
I’m not sure my palate is sophisticated enough to describe the complex flavors.
The aftertaste is mainly cedar, wood, leather, with a bit of pepper.
Lots of smoke.
Flawless construction.
The complexity of flavors in this cigar are startling. I’m not a supertaster by any means, but this thing is downright entertaining.

Final third:

It’s developed some kind of a minty, menthol-y, burning or tingling sensation in my mouth and sinuses. Not a minty FLAVOR, mind you, just the tingling/burning sensation. Actually, I’d have to say it’s more like sucking on a cinnamon candy or something which is very pleasant and soothing. The citrusy flavors continue but the aftertaste is mainly a lot of leather and cedar.
This cigar is an experience and highly entertaining.
Closing in on the final stretch and it’s lost the majority of the complexity. It’s mainly just peppery leather with a bit of acid lime. Still good, but nothing compared to that middle third.
Now down to the last inch and it’s burning a little hot and the complexity has completely left the cigar but it’s still flavorful and smokable.
I had to get out my cigar tool for the last inch and I accidentally cracked the wrapper slightly while mounting it. Still very smokable for another 5-10 puffs. I finally put it down when my tongue started to burn.

Ratings:

Impression:

Overall score – 9/10 (Highly recommended)
Wow. This was a nearly perfect cigar. This was one of the best cigars that I’ve ever tasted. The complexity of the middle third was unparalleled. I really wanted to give it a perfect score but there are some very minor, nit-picky items that detracted from it slightly including the loss of complexity at the end and a very minor construction issue. However, these things really didn’t detract from the overall experience. It was WELL worth the price of admission.

Additional notes:

I’ve had less than 5 Opus X cigars in my lifetime at this point and every single one of them was a fantastic experience.
Reading this review, I noted my description of “warm spiced wine or warm spiced rum punch” when describing the middle third. I actually don’t really care for either of these things but, apparently, I find them to be highly desirable flavors in a cigar.
The Opus X is definitely in my Top 5 favorite cigars of all time.
I’ve heard that these get even better with age. I did age one for about a year once but that was over 10 years ago so I don’t remember if it was that much better. The problem with aging is having the willpower not to smoke one of these cigars. Maybe if I invested in a whole box of them someday. Also, they are already aged significantly. The tobacco has already been aged for several years before creating the cigar and then they are aged for another year before they are sold. There’s no guarantee that they’ll be better with age. In fact, cigars are known to lose some of their strength and spiciness with age although this often comes with improved smoothness and complexity.