Cigar Facts
Cigar: Arganese FDW (First Draw Wrapper)
Wrapper: Milan Marble Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Origin: Dominican Republic
Price: $157.99 for a box of 40 from the boys at Tex Cigars
Initial Thoughts: This is a nice looking cigar. It has a nicely done pigtail cap, which I am always a sucker for, and has loose wrapper at the foot. The loose wrapper at the foot is the reason they call it FDW (First Draw Wrapper) because the first draw from the cigar should be all wrapper. The marble look of the wrapper is pretty neat too. The cigar feels normal, not too hard, not too soft and the construction is great, in fact it is hard to see where the seams of the wrapper are.
Flavor: Sweet chary earthiness, with traces of coffee, semi sweet chocolate and faint pepper. The flavors do back down in richness after the first couple puffs but after that the cigar remains generally the same for the entire length of the cigar. The cigar does have a tinge that makes if different from other Domincan Maduro’s I’ve had, almost a nicaraguan twist but I can’t put my finger on it. The body of the cigar is on the lighter side of medium.
Smoking Characteristics: Draw is good. The Burn is slightly wavy with a few touch ups with the torch but is still considered acceptable in my book. The ash is firm and falls off at the one inch mark.
Final Thoughts: I’ve been smoking a lot of Maduro’s lately and this cigar was a nice change of pace from the CAO Mx2’s, Mx3’s, Camacho Triple Maduro’s and Perdomo Habano Maduro’s that I’ve been smoking. The flavors are not as bold and in your face as those Maduro cigars, but it isn’t meant to be a full bodied cigar. I have to tell you guys I was not looking forward to this cigar. I have had the Arganese Maduro’s in the past and severely disliked them; thank God this one was different. Overall I did enjoy this cigar and I could see myself with this as a nice morning or early afternoon cigar.
Worth a Try: Yes
Buy it Again: Probably but a box of 40 is more than I would want
Enjoyablity: Medium
Similar Cigars: Arturo Fuente 858 Maduro, Los Blancos Maduro, again it has a tinge to it that I can’t compare to another cigar.
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I stopped by the store today just looking for something different and not wanting to spend a lot on speculation. I picked up this very cigar and just finished it. Adam absolutely nailed it down – I can’t add a thing. It was a lot better smoke than I bargained for, and I could see getting some more. At the price ($3.75), I might want to snip a few of them back to a 5″ because at 6″ it’s a very long smoke. Now that’s a good thing, but I’m not used to a full hour, being an Acid Kube Kuba smoker mainly, and the ‘first draw’ concept only means ‘hard to light’ to me, although I fully understand the purpose of it. I’d put the strength at ‘medium’, with the flavors being subtle but full of nuances. Like Adam’s smoke, mine maintained it’s quality down to the ‘finger-burning’ stage and I did only one burn correction. Since getting started on the Acids, I’ve occasionally looked for a very good non-flavored cigar at this price point, and this is certainly one to remember. This is certainly a legitimately good cigar, particularly for indoor smoking when you have time to relax and enjoy the whole thing. Again, the combination of a fairly easy draw, good flavor and slow-burning in a well-made cigar is rare at the price, in my book.