Arturo Fuente Royal Salute Maduro, an impressive stick to behold and smoke. Rich, creamy mellow flavours of about light to medium intensity. Nice woody sweetness comes after the silky smooth exhale. Touch nutty and cedary aftertaste that finishes a little short.
As with most AFs, almost legendary impeccable construction, excellent draw although generously filled and weighty, razor sharp burn yielding dense ripple like ash with rings you can actually count. Heady and perfumey scent on the nose.
Now some dark chocolate and milk coffee, honey-floral notes with a nutmegy nuance on the finish. Now we have pure cream mix with mellow cedar. Now some light toastiness and earth with a deep woodiness on the finish. Now we have clean tobacco with some black pepper notes and musty nuance. A stick that evolves with every puff. Certainly more elegant and complex than the Sungrown variant but they both have their virtues. Even the Natural Cameroon is enjoyable albeit slightly lacking in balance.
If you are looking for spice and upfront flavours, this is not for you. This is an essay in subtlety and nuance. But if you enjoy the occasional mild nuancey smoke to be savoured slowly, definitely make room in your humidor for this and its Sungrown counterpart. At only about $6.50 a stick for either, this is excellent value and one of the better NCs in the market. It is not hard to see why the AF brand is so popular and this blend is as perennial as the hills.
As with most AFs, almost legendary impeccable construction, excellent draw although generously filled and weighty, razor sharp burn yielding dense ripple like ash with rings you can actually count. Heady and perfumey scent on the nose.
Now some dark chocolate and milk coffee, honey-floral notes with a nutmegy nuance on the finish. Now we have pure cream mix with mellow cedar. Now some light toastiness and earth with a deep woodiness on the finish. Now we have clean tobacco with some black pepper notes and musty nuance. A stick that evolves with every puff. Certainly more elegant and complex than the Sungrown variant but they both have their virtues. Even the Natural Cameroon is enjoyable albeit slightly lacking in balance.
If you are looking for spice and upfront flavours, this is not for you. This is an essay in subtlety and nuance. But if you enjoy the occasional mild nuancey smoke to be savoured slowly, definitely make room in your humidor for this and its Sungrown counterpart. At only about $6.50 a stick for either, this is excellent value and one of the better NCs in the market. It is not hard to see why the AF brand is so popular and this blend is as perennial as the hills.