Arturo Fuente Fuente Opus x Twenty Twenty 2020 Arena d’Amor (english)

Arturo Fuente

Fuente Opus x

Twenty Twenty 2020

Arena d’Amor

The life of this line began in 2017 with a cigar made exclusively for the United Arab Emirates (UEA); but in 2020 on the occasion of the World Expo, the line expands and comes out in 3 modules each with its own name and box of 20 cigars (which makes it a very rare and limited line).

This exit can only happen with a close partnership between Fuente and Zainal Mohebi Holdings, the company's distributor in the UEA, and Jeremiah Meerapfel, who manages the company's distribution outside of the United States.

Tonight I share with you my tasting of Arena d'Amor (love of sand), a name that perfectly suits Carlito's vision: From the first moment my foot touched the sand, my eyes stared at the horizon and I felt the unique fragrance that only the desert can offer.

At the packaging level, if I find what makes the brand Arturo Fuente and even more Opus X, I am surprised by the colors that are red, green, white and black. These are in fact the colors of the flag of the UAE.

On the main ring, the rest is classic with the Opus X logo, 1912 (date of the creation of the company, the initials AF and of course the signatures of the Fuente clan).

Underneath we find another ring with the same colors, but this time it has on each side 2020 and in the center in red: Amor del Desierto (Love of the desert).

Finally a beautiful white ribbon tops the foot of my tasting. If this color in our country symbolizes the sacred, the purity, in Dubai it is the symbol of neutrality as the red represents the unity and the black the wealth (brought by the black gold).

I remind you that we are at the Dubai World Expo, so we get out of the bling-bling clichés and influencers, the Expo 2020 Dubaï World Expo is the largest event ever held in the Middle East. On 4.38 km² and for the first time, the expo brings together 192 countries under the motto Connecting People. And if we don't talk about technologies, what connects the most people? Obviously the tasting of a good cigar. So you understand that Carlito and his partners could not miss this event.

But now it's time (some readers might say) to taste.

I have a nice light colored cape with subtle veins that are quite visible and give it a more lively look. It is soft to the touch, a bit like a velvet of very good quality.

A last contemplation and then comes the sacred hour of the lighting. A straight cut, a cold draw that already leaves me in awe. I am in the Khor Dubai with its 500 tons of flavor ships or its nature reserve of 20,000 migratory birds because with the palette of aromas before the lighting, I can only migrate to another state of consciousness.

Backyard, walnut, cedar, high quality dark chocolate, tanned leather, vegetable, espresso coffee, white pepper...

I crack a match, I wait a moment until the smell of sulfur disappears (yes old reflex which is not at all useful nowadays) and I light the foot of my cigar. The starting is done correctly and without any difficulty.

The smoke brings its first flavors of black pepper and clove before it diminishes to take me to other aromatic lands; and I enter a culture of green asparagus, cream and cedar, but the current of the river is already taking me to freshly ground strong coffee beans, nutmeg, freshly cut grass.

If I pass the first few strong puffs, my vitola oscillates tirelessly between mild and medium. The smoke has a good volume and fills the room quickly while the draw is perfect.

Barely time to put my thoughts in order and hop, the prevailing winds of the Persian Gulf take me to cinnamon, dry leather, almonds, black pepper and a hint of citrus.

My vitola passed the Strait of Hormuz to reach a very respectable level of mediumstrength.

On two tests, the combustion remained good, in any case it did not require human intervention.

Quietly not quickly, my tasting comes to an end and delivers its stream of new discoveries: red fruits, hay, grilled meat, cinnamon, peanuts masterfully coated with cream and fatty earth.

What also scotches me is the amount of smoke that remained imposing from the beginning to the end.

Let's go crazy, two more puffs! Now I feel the heat with a warning signal: it's time to stop.

Another butt that will not end up in the garbage: what comes from the Earth goes back to the Earth.

The tastings were done on two puros with tobacco specially selected in the reserves of Chateau Fuente, of 12.7 cm for a cepo of 52.

In conclusion: I can say without hesitation that this is the best cigar I have ever smoked and yet I have tasted a bunch of them.

It has a richness in the palette of flavors, a perfect draw and a combustion more than good. This cigar made me travel without any difficulty, but for this attention a single word of order: to settle down before the lighting then to take the time to taste.

The Fuente clan has done it again in the design of this vitola for our best pleasure.

I can't tell you the price since it's not sold here, but I can tell the Swiss readers that you can find it here at a price between 80€ and 90€ depending on the civet and the currency.