With the summer in sight, it’s that time to get out on your porchador or back deckador to enjoy some sticks and your favorite paired beverage. The Fonseca Arana is a great one to consider adding to your rotation. It’s a full-flavored, high-quality handmade from the legendary Fonseca brand. One that’s loaded with flavor and starting at less than 3 bucks a-piece. Now if you like me, that already gets the antenna twitching. The more I smoke and find other brands, the more I see that price means nothing when it comes to enjoying a good smoke. You may be surprised to see at first glance that this beauty employs a sultry Habano wrapper that’s dark, toothy, and oily to the touch which I find unusual for a stick at this price point. Beneath the hood, a savory blend of well-aged Cuban-seed long-fillers from the Dominican is secured within a spicy Criollo 98 binder. I know that’s a lot to digest for most of my readers, but if you have been following me here, that’s a lot of knowledge coming from me and I’m proud to bring it to you!
Construction is nearly perfect on the Fonseca. My only quibble, if you can even count it as such, is that there are some minor inconsistencies with the coloring of the wrapper and full of veins. The wrapper has a nice sheen of oil on it and the tobacco is snugly packed into the cigar. When you first toast this stick, in which I used a torch lighter to do so, the pre-light smell is like freshly baked bread. I must admit, it had been a few days since I had a cigar and as bad as I wanted one, hell, it even had a hint of T-bone in it. The opening draws are a tad tight and require a little extra effort, but about ½ inch in, the draw opens up nicely. The initial flavors are cedar, leather, and a hint of pepper. The strength is mild-to-medium. Right at about the halfway point, the flavors gain in intensity and include cinnamon, nutmeg, and peaty earth. The strength also elevates itself to medium, bordering on full. I’m well into the 2nd third of this cigar and I’m enjoying its lightly spicy taste that is leathery and complex, a taste that I expect out of a much more expensive cigar. I marvel at a stick this inexpensive with these flavors.
If you are like me, you keep cigars lying around for those people that visit you, or you visit, that always want to smoke with you. Want to impress them? Give them one of these.
Final Verdict Ratings:
Flavor: 6
Value: 8
Complexity: 6
Finish: 6
Aroma: 7
Strength: 7
Overall: 8
Great review Rod, i’ve had a few Fonsecas in the past and they are a nice stick. I think you nailed it.
Many thanks for this review, very interesting. Wow, the cigar sounds intersting especially at this price range! But to be honest the coulour inscosistences in the wrapper are not worth talking about, right? I mean this is a natural product… how boring would it be if it doesn’t look like one anymore.
I definitely will try this Fonseca soo, again and perhaps I will put some into my humidor for long term storage.
You’ve got to be kidding! I made the mistake of buying a bundle from Cigars International and I got back one of the worst cigars I’ve ever smoked! Ugh! Unless I’m splurging, I’ll stick to the faithful Flor de Oliva when I do a n everyday-cigar catalogue order. Not often do you get a real stinker from any of the catalogue sources, but I still shudder when I come across the ad for this disaster in the CI catalogue.
The so-called “old-school” Fonseca was a mild Dominican flavor profile. That was prior to Manuel Quesada’s children’s involvementin the company since which time there has been a move into much bolder tastes more suitable with the current market. These are very much the “old” traditional Fonseca flavor that is a quite light and airy cigar. It’s hard to fault a nicely made (burns fine) stick with nary a harsh note at about $2.70 in today’s economy where gas is almost $4 a gallon. If you don’t want a big flavor profile, and appreciate a traditional mild taste, then what’s not to like?
Enjoying one of these as i write this…you nailed the review.
I’ve been eyeing this cigar in my humi for six months at least and finally decided to try it… Dont even remember where i got it from, but man! I was floored by the flavor packed into this inexpensive stick! Will have to start offering these to my customers…creamy, sweet habano flavors dancing on my palate…perfect winter smoke…
Rich, thank you so much for commenting. You’re right, you can’t go wrong with this cigar, especially at the price. We love them here! Have a great day, and thanks again.