Week in Smoke – TGT Edition posted on February 9th, 2012
Arturo Fuente – Curly Head Deluxe Maduro
Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Maduro
Size Name: Lonsdale
Length: 6.5
Ring Gauge: 43
Strength: Medium – Full
A couple of weeks ago I stopped into a cigar shop located in a local shopping mall. I picked up a few sticks and was on my way. One of these particular sticks was an Arturo Fuente – Curly Head Deluxe Maduro
I reason why I bought a couple of these cigars was solely because I wanted to see first hand what the Fuente budget line had to offer.
The first thing you will notice about this cigar is that it is the ugly duckling of the Fuente line. The wrapper is coarse and veiny with a dry appearance. The overall feel concerned me a bit due to it being hard, but all of the cigars in the box felt the same way. Due to the hard feel I had some difficulties cutting the cap. After I got the cap cut I began the lighting process.
The lighting process was easy. The draw was very stiff producing little smoke. The body was medium with a heavy finish. The flavor had a very heavy Maduro base with hints of coffee. I had some initial trouble with the burn but it corrected itself after a few quick puffs.
After about two inches of smoking, the coffee flavor stopped and I was left with the heavy Maduro base. This flavor was the predominant flavor throughout the remainder of the cigar.
The draw remained tight and began to produce bitter flavors. When I got to the band, the cigar had become too bitter and produced an acrid smoke for me to continue smoking, so I had to put it out.
Overall I think this would be a decent stick in terms of a Yard Gar smoke. I wouldn’t pull one of these out when I planned on sitting down and devoting my time to enjoying a good cigar.
My rating sheet can be found below.
I’m surprised this scored so low…I hear folks recommend them to a lot of new stogie smokers.
Was this your first time buying from the place in the mall? Maybe they didn’t store it properly?
The regular curly heads (without bands) are much better than the curly head deluxe. I agree with your deluxe review, now try the regular curly heads.
Jerry,
Storage didnt seem to be a problem. I also bought a Partagas Black and a couple other sticks. All were fine.
Cigarfan,
Im glad you agree, after trying the deluxe i was a little scepticle of trying the regular line. Ill definately pick one up the next time im at the shop.
Cigarfan doesn’t do curly heads — that’s some other guy trying to capitalize on my FAME by using a name similar to mine!
On second thought, after analyzing my fame quotient, I retract that statement. But I did smoke a curly head once a few years back (the natural version) and thought it tasted really green. Plasencia makes way better cheap smokes, in my opinion.
Thats what i get for reading too quickly lol
cigargar is Gary our guide over at About.com
What threw me off was the link in the username. Usually cigarfan has one in his name as well, must have just read it too quickly.
I knew it was Gary as soon as i hovered the mouse over the name to see the where the link was going. (After cigarfan posted)
Sorry for the mix up Gary. Also, your blog is an excellent resource for information, ive been reading it fairly regularly lately. There is alot of information there to read up on.
The Curly Head is an excellent mild smoke at any price. (Natural wrapper) It’s high-quality ‘medium-length’ filler is better than a lot of other’s long filler. It starts slow in the first inch then builds to a juicy oak/apricot sugarcane taste. If there was a better $2 cigar, 40 of tHem would be sharing precious real estate with my VSG Wizards, Milleneums, et al. (IMHO)
I’ve posted a similar review at Stogie Guys – I really like these. For the price you get a long, tasteful, low maintenance smoke that’s hard to beat (in the bargain lines). 20 Bucks on Friday afternoon gets me six or seven of these. I like them – but that’s just me!
I don’t understand. I’ve smoked two of these nice sticks and loved since the first puff. It’s my third maduro and I think it is quite close to Ashton Aged Maduro #10. The Ashton is better, but it costs 3/4 times more. I think that for the money you’ll get a decent nice cigar. Have to buy more, but in Europe aren’t easy to find.
I bought two curly head deluxe maduros several weeks ago. Just had the second one tonight. I think these are great for the money. Lots of flavor and a bit powerful at the end. I will buy more.
I left a similar comment at the review of the regular Curly Head, but I’d like to mention this here too. Try putting some age on a Curly Head Deluxe Maduro and revisit it. I’ve got a box that I put down in November, 2000 and they ROCK! Unfortunately, I didn’t have the finances to buy more as the years went on (long story) so that I could have a continuous supply of aged ‘gars to enjoy.