Decided to go after one of my rarer smokes tonight, an Arturo Fuente Between the Lines. This stick had 6 months in the Vino.
Size - 4"x54 (same as Short Story)
Wrapper - Connecticut Shade & Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro
Binder - Not a Clue
Filler - Same as other Hemingways as far as I know
Location - Yard, 70's, slight breeze, humid
Drink - Water
Price - Enough . . . but I think $17.00
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Appearance and Construction - Amazing. The skill that it would take to roll one of these this even, perfectly firm, and being able to keep a perfect draw even through that tiny tip is beyond me. The wrappers are perfect, minimal viens, a nice tan Conn. Shade and a jet black Maduro. Just look at the pictures and see for yourself.
Overall Appearance and Construction - 20/20
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First 1/3 of Cigar - This cigar lit super easy with the small nipple tip. Right away a toasty flavor was present with an amazingly smooth butter and cream flavor through the nose on the exhale. From the start this thing was pouring out a velvety smoke that coated your entire mouth. As the burn made its way past the tip onto the main body of the cigar, very evenly I might add, a pepper spice began to present itself. The spice stayed very mild through the first 1/3 and was only present when exhaled through the nose. As the cigar progressed, a caramel sweetness appeared that balanced with the other flavors perfectly. The cigar had a solid medium body, and an absolute perfect balance. Every puff saw the flavors develop more and more complexity.
Overall score for First 1/3 -19/20
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Second 1/3 of Cigar - The opposite of most cigars, the farther into it that you got, the less complex the cigar got, but not at all in a bad way. The toasty flavor began to move to the forefront and each puff saw more pepper spice. The finish after each puff began to build with a toasty flavor carried seamlessly into it. Progressing towards the last 1/3 the sweetness and creaminess had started to fade. I would say it was like a relay team. The cream and sweetness started, and the spice and toasty flavor slowly ramped up until they were at the same speed and then just started to pull away. It was really a wonderful transistion that lasted over the entire second 1/3. The burn also stayed sharp and level and the white ash held firm.
Overall score for Second 1/3 - 19/20
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Final 1/3 of Cigar - Going into the final 1/3 of the cigar, the cream had disappeared, replaced by the spice and a building woodiness. Leather started to present itself on the finish which stayed long and enjoyable. The toasty flavor persisted, and the flavors continued to be perfectly balanced right up until I layed the nub down.
Overall score for Final 1/3 - 18/20
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Overall Experience - Honestly, I am completely blown away by this cigar. The flavors were 100% balanced and the complexity, while not over-the-top, was more than enough to keep me satisfied until the final puffs. I have seen several reviews of this cigar, most of them not being great, but I went into this open minded and ended up with a great smoke. While this is not an everyday cigar, I may be one of the few people that feels it was worth the money spent on it. This was a very nice 'halo' cigar that was a different experience then the Padron Annis or something in that vein. All in all I am totally satisfied and happy with this smoke. (If you couldn't tell by the wall of text)
Overall Experience - 19/20
Overall Score - 95/100
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