Fuente Fuente OpusX—The Angel’s Share
The man who started the power cigar trend has blended a milder version of his most famous smoke.
Carlos Fuente Jr., creator of the Fuente Fuente OpusX, the high-octane Dominican puro that has been one of the most sought-after cigars in the world since its debut in 1995, has created a somewhat more easygoing version of the smoke. Called Fuente Fuente OpusX The Angel’s Share, the line is made with old wrappers from the middle of a tobacco plant, rather than high-priming leaves that grow near the top.
“It’s a totally different blend,” Fuente Jr. told Cigar Aficionado during an interview at the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show earlier this month. “For Fuente Fuente OpusX, we always used the very top of the plant [for the cigar’s wrapper leaves]. The yields were very low. Production was low. Classically, the true wrapper leaves came from the heart of the plant.”
Fuente said that he has been holding onto wrapper leaves taken from the heart of the plant—the middle primings traditionally used for cigar-industry wrapper—from his family farm in El Caribe, Dominican Republic, called Château de la Fuente.
“We were putting it aside,” Fuente said of the wrapper leaves, which are light tan in color. “We selected the best of the best for this cigar.”
Cigar Aficionado smoked a sample Fuente Fuente OpusX Angel’s Share cigar, in the corona gorda format. The cigar had some of the trademark Fuente Fuente OpusX leather notes, but with less red pepper spice than found in traditional FFOX cigars. The cigar was balanced, elegant, and slightly sweet, with cedary flavors that evolved into cocoa notes later in the smoke. It had a nutty and slightly leathery finish that lasted for a long, long time.
The term “angel’s share” is common in the spirits world. Makers of Cognac, Scotch, Bourbon and other brown, long-aged spirits lose a great portion of their product to evaporation. The lost liquid is said to be enjoyed by the angels in heaven, and has been dubbed “the angel’s share.”
Fuente had a severe fire last summer, when one of the company’s tobacco warehouses in the Dominican Republic burst into flames, ruining thousands of bales of tobacco, including some that had been aging for decades. Fuente Jr. has said that the angels enjoyed the smoke, and where he got the idea for the name of this line.
Some of the cigars are coming out now, in limited-edition humidors made by God of Fire/Prometheus, and a full release is expected later in the year. The cigars will be limited in production.
Look for more information on pricing, sizes and release dates in the future.
