2004 Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Don Carlos No. 3

[smbauerllc]

Cigar:
2004 Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva Don Carlos No. 3

Specifications:
Year of Manufacture/Box Codes: 2004

Country of Origin: Dominican Republic

Wrapper Color: Colorado Maduro

Wrapper type: Cameroon

Filler: Dominican

Binder: Dominican

Vitola: Corona (5.5x44)

Manufacturer: Tabacalera A. Fuente

Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente, Santiago, Dominican Republic

Humidimeter Reading: 68% (+/-2%)

Temperature: 46 degrees

Humidity: 100% (Very dense fog from ground to clouds)

Wind: 8mph





Setting: On my nice, comfortable swing bench in the mostly enclosed small glass shelter, unfortunately without my regular view of the mountains due to low clouds covering half the mountains, and desnse fog covering the rest.
Airport lists visibility as 0.13 miles

Paired with: Home made iced coffee

Pre-light draw seems perfect, and I swear I can taste nutmeg.
Wrapper is of medium roughness and very veiny. Cap is also a medium roughness but is nice and long.

Bunch feels very hard.

As far as appearance, invisible seams, nice rich, chocolate color, but very veiny, so only somewhat attractive.

Cigar Aficionado rated a 2005 example an 88, saying “This cigar burns and draws well. It’s cedary and savory, with a woody core and some nose spice. Medium Bodied. "

Lets see what 18 years has done with it.

Burn was slightly uneven at first, but not badly and corrected itself by the second half.

Long, conical coal as expected with an uneven burn. It too corrected itself in the second half and became a nice, flat coal.

Ash color was a mottled white and of typical structure.

Draw was perfect as I expected from the cold draw.

Excellent smoke volume with a faint, subtle, biting aroma of wood.

Had ample richness, mild strength, and generous body and perfectly balanced , generous flavor of herbal, woody and light, unidentifiable spice flavors.

Finish was of medium strength and length consisting of herbal, woody and light unidentifiable spice again.

No sweetness, bitterness, sharpness or saltiness and just a very light burn on the tongue.

Overall a good cigar with a final score of 89 out of 100.

Pretty well matched Cigar Aficionados review of a 2005, fresh example surprisingly.

I friggin love cigars

[Ljutic]

Not too shabby for an old fart. A little disappointed these don't seem to age as well as the Number 2s, but it's still a nice cigar. We all taste a little differently, but my spice is something in the cinnamon family. That's usually with any of the Meerapfel Cameroon wrapped cigars.

I don't smoke many coronas, but do keep these and Ashton VSG Corona Gordas around for when the spirit moves me. I have no idea if the fresh versions of each are worth a flip, but the old stocks really seemed to float my boat.

Glad you liked it. I was scanning your previous reviews this morning. Was the CAO maduro the highest rated selection so far?

[smbauerllc]

@Ljutic

After a quick scan, and to my memory, the CAO Maduro did get the highest score so far at 97.

That's gonna be tough to beat.

As for a specific spice, i really just couldn't put my finger on exactly what it was, but it was a nice background flavor, and even without a great score, still an enjoyable cigar.

I friggin love cigars