2 Big Brand Cigars Equally Unflattering

[Catfish]

I always preface my reviews by stating I do not have a well-developed palate further hampered by a lack of proper vocabulary to express the flavors I come across. It takes at least a medium-bodied cigar to even keep my attention. Perhaps it is this personal failing to be able to fully appreciate mild bodied cigars that lends certain blends to come up short of my liking. But I digress...

The AF 858 Flor Fina 858 and the Rocky Patel Vintage 1990 toro.

This review is short and sweet because both sessions with each of these cigars was the same.

Construction and Appearance: Both cigars are equally impressive considering the differences in their appearance. Attractive, near veinless wrappers. A deep ( unfortunately, I suspect dyed ), oily maduro wrapper of the 90. The 858, I would guess a more sun grown shade. Both cigars were firm, hefty sticks with no soft spots. The 90 sports a box-pressed appearance. An impressive stick to look at. Pre-light draw of both was perfect, if unflatteringly lacking in pre-light flavor.

Both cigars lit easily thanks to my trusty Ronson Jetlite. Both cigars burned razor sharp even though I was sitting on my porch overnight as Hurricane Sandy sent a pretty much constant 30MPH wind across the deck.

While the 90 presented a seriously thin offering of smoke, the 858 more than made up for it with a billowing ribbon of unbidden smoke coming from the lit end that sent a mouthful of smoke my way with very little effort on the draw. Not too easy of a draw, just fine.

And that ends any kind words about these 2 sticks.

Neither stick made it past the 1/2 way point. And trust me when I say, i'm a patient smoker. Maybe it comes from my frugality and I insist on getting every pennies worth of any cigar I purchase. Whatever the case may be, I don't give up on a smoke unless the effort is truly wasted.

It certainly was on these 2.

I have multiples of each of these sticks and maybe down the road I will smoke either one of them again and update this thread. More than likely, they are going into the troop box at EPIC. Then again, I truly do not know if I want to subject any of the fine fighting men of our armed forces with such torture.

Thanks for reading my review. I wish it had better news to report. I do not recommend these cigars to anyone and will never purchase either again.

[Mattso3000]

Hmmm...I generally like the 858's. The RP 90, on the other hand, not so much.

[emopunker2004]

I'm with Matt but 858s are definitely on the milder side

[bighairlogo]

i like both these sticks

[RobR1205]

Never had a bad fuente yet... But hey, it's possible. Thanks for the review!

[omowasu]

I really like the 858s too, especially the Maduros, and especially with a little bit of age on them... when they are on, they are really ON... but when they are off - . Probably had an off stick... Ive had one too, it wasnt fun...

The Rocky Vintage 90s and 92s for me have been entirely for the last few years, way off their initial tastes...

[Nelenea]

I haven't had the RP, but I do smoke 858 Nat's often. I do like them as a cheaper smoke, but the Nat wrapper is somewhat brittle compared to the Mad wrapper... Refined smoke? probably not, the 858 has a bit of an edge or young taste to me, but I do enjoy the amount of stogie for the cent I obtain with them and am able to smoke them without feeling bad )

[T.G]

Which 858?

Cameroon/natural: has the Fuente band with the green stripe at the bottom.
Maduro: same as Natural - obviously different cigar by the wrapper shade.
Candella: same as Natural - obviously different cigar by the wrapper shade.
Sungrown: has the Fuente band with black stripe at the bottom of the band, plus cedar wrap w/ black ribbon at the foot.
SG Rosado: has the Fuente band with green stripe at the bottom of the band, plus cedar wrap w/ red ribbon at the foot.

[Catfish]

Cameroon/Natural

[T.G]

Thanks.

Not a fan of the 858 Natural myself, then again, I find most cameroon wrapped cigars to be rather acrid.

[forgop]

Who knew Rocky Patel was a "big brand"?

[Catfish]

Originally Posted by forgop

Who knew Rocky Patel was a "big brand"?

I would consider RP one of the bigger brands. By all means, though, correct me if I'm wrong.

[Coach Deg]

I am a fan of the 858 Maduro and Sun Grown. I started out smoking everything Rocky( 90, 92, Edge, and SunGrown) now I am not a big fan of his stuff. I think most is ok, but there is a lot out there that is better.

[Buckeye Jack]

Sorry to hear on the 858. I don't smoke too many B&M cigars anymore, but I started off with Fuente (especially the 858) and still like them to this day. Mainly the Maduro and Sun Growns. Maybe you just had a bad one?

Cant say I have ever had the 858... but in my experience... the RP 1990 is a decent stick...

[oooo35980]

I haven't had the RP 1990, but hearing it's bad doesn't surprise me. I don't think I've had a single RP stick that's been better than decent. I've never liked the 858, I've only had a couple but they were both pretty bad, awful even.

How many of each have you smoked?

[Catfish]

2 of each.

[dubleuhb]

The 858 Maduro is the cigar that sentenced me to this addiction. Though mild it still has a place in my rotation, but they must have a couple years of nap time to bring back that memory of the first one. As consistent of a cigar as you can find IMO.

[milhouse]

hey nice review... I'm just a bit confused, what 858 did you smoke?

I am assuming it was the natural, but you mentioned it was sun grown colored... Did it have a black ribbon on the foot?