AF 858 Rosado

I was fortunate enough to pick up a few Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 858 Rosado's from a very generous brother and decided to spark one up this afternoon. It's been a bit windy and rainy these past few days so the patio wasn't an option. I grabbed a bottle of water and it was off to the local B&M lounge to see what awaited me.

A little about this cigar before I delve into my experience with it. There's not a lot of info on this cigar by googling it but according to vitolas.net, this cigar was released in 2002 and only 87 boxes were ever produced. The rosado wrapper was grown by Oliva in Ecuador and is not an Opus X rosado wrapper as sometimes believed.

The cigar was wrapped in a cedar sheet with the tell tale red ribbon on the foot. Flor Fina 858 was printed in gold on the cellophane wrapper. Out of the wrappings, the cigar's light brown wrapper was pretty smooth with a few veins apparent. The bunch looked perfect so I doubt I'd have any draw issues. If there's one thing I've got to hand to the Fuente's, their construction is usually spot on. Under the nose I detected a floral, perfume like bouquet, mixed in with the recent cedar wrapper that adorned the cigar earlier.

The cigar clipped easily and cleanly. It took to the flame pretty easily as well. The burn was relatively even and required only one touch up over the course of the smoke. The 858 Rosado stayed lit for the most part and never went out. Burned cool and the draw was perfect giving off voluminous amounts of smoke. The ash held on for a good bit with a light gray ash.

The initial salvo of flavors were pretty straightforward. No spice however there was a bit of cedar, wood and bitter gourd. The acidity reared it's head front and center. So far a rather bright first third that's mild and light. Things stayed pretty much the same in the second third except a creaminess set in that coated the entire mouth. No real complexity to speak of. Clean toasted tobacco in the final third. What little flavors are present are at least balanced. The finale is rather boring. Wood dominate with a mild spiciness to it. Nose exhalation exhibited a smooth and toasted tobacco exhale.

In summary, I wasn't sure what to expect from this cigar given there's so little information out there about this cigar. Having said that, I was rather disappointed in the overall experience. Not a very complex cigar that was rather mild. It left me wanting more and constantly in search of any real substantial flavor. Of course it wouldn't be fair to judge a cigar bys moking only one so luckily I have a few more in reserve. However I don't plan on aging it long due to the mildness. Would love to hear other's experience with this cigar.