Arturo Fuente King B

[H311oLHD]

I'm not too sure how old this King B was, but I know that I purchased it from a BOTL over on CigarWeekly over a year ago. Originally I purchased a fiver of these for a fantasy Nascar league (that I sucked terribly at), but I managed to save a few so that I could try them out. For some unknown reason, tonight was the night that I decided to light up my first AF King B. Tonight was the perfect night for a cigar, the cubs were playing the Tampa Bay Rays, so I turned on the radio and headed outside to a nice 65* night.

Cigar: AF King B
Setting: Back patio
Entertainment: Cubs vs. Rays
Drink: Diet Coke
Total smoke time: roughly 1 hr 40 min.

I've always thought the presentation of this cigar was very classy. I love the gold lettering and how it actually says the name of the cigar on the cello (makes it easy to know exactly what you're smoking!) The wrapper was a nice sungrown brown in color with a reddish tint to it. I noticed that there was one prevalent vein running down the center of the cigar, but otherwise the wrapper was free from any other blemishes. After lighting the stick, I was immediately hit with a very spicey, but somewhat harsh taste. Right from the get-go I knew this was going to be a full bodied cigar! After the first 1/3rd of the cigar, it really settled down and I was hit with a more smooth spicey flavor that had a surprising 'bite' in the after taste, which was quite odd. What I mean by that is the initial aftertaste was very smooth, but once I swallowed I was hit with a burst of spice. The cigar didn't change much from the flavors that I received after the first 1/3rd was over until the very end, which was fine by me because I was really enjoying it! At about the 3/4th mark, the spice picked up once again and so did the strength. Throughout the cigar, the King B gave off a very distinct and pleasant cedar aroma.

As far as construction goes on this cigar, I was very pleasantly surprised at how well it performed. I didn't measure my ash, but as you can see in the photos, I only had to ash once the entire cigar! The cigar never really burned too straight for me, there was almost always one side lagging behind the other, but I am pretty sure the wind played a factor in this. I gave the cigar two small touch ups, but nothing too major.

Overall: I was really impressed with this cigar and I enjoyed seeing it be able to calm itself down after the first third. I haven't smoked too many Opus X's, but I had a hard time not comparing this cigar to the Opus' that I have had in the past. Could this be a poor man's Opus? I realize that the strength nor the construction (read: burn) were up to Opus standards, but the overall flavor reminded me a lot of Opus. That being said, I am a huge light weight for strong cigars and this one almost put me over the edge. I was definitely feeling the sickness after it, but it was well worth it! I think a bit more rest would do this cigar wonders, and possibly even eliminate that harshness I have been referring to. I would absolutely love to pick up a few more of these cigars with some age, but I'm not sure that I would purchase a box of these. I would have to build up my tolerance, that's for certain! Rating: 87/100

(Edit: orginally posted on cp last night..but I wanted to post it here as well.)