A Brief Cigar Review – Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8

This Cameroon wrapped gem is the reason I fell in love with cigars. Flor Fina was my first real hand rolled premium cigar, over 7 years ago.   

Wrapper: African Cameroon
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Size: 6.25 x 47  
MSRP: $5 

Inspecting the cigar before lighting reveals a smooth wrapper with no tears or large veins, but the wrapper shows some sunspots, for some reason this is common with the Fuente's Cameroon wrapped cigars. It has a bit of a spongy feel. The pre-light aroma is that of cedar and a little floral.  

The first few puffs provide A great amount of smoke with some nice nuances of cream and a little citrus type sweetness. 

The Fuente Flor Fina 858 tend to be a little bit loosely rolled, so it's advisable to not smoke them too fast or they can get hot and bitter.   

After the cigar gets a chance to warm up you get some very nice mellow flavors of dark cedar, cashew, a little bit of cocoa, and some dark cherry notes.  There is very little spice.  The construction is on point, the burn is razor sharp and will produce a long ash.  The cigar doesn't change much throughout the smoking session, but sometimes that is better than a complex ever-changing smoke. 

The Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 858 always brings me back to my first cigar, my first year of exploring and experiencing great and sometimes not so great hand rolled premium cigars.   It happened one day when a random thought popped into my head, I wondered what real cigars were all about.  After my first Fuente Flor Fina, I became obsessed and spent multiple hours a day researching, interacting with other cigar smokers, buying sampler packs, and of course puffing cigars.   I've built up a nice collection since then, and I have met great people I otherwise never would have.  

The Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8 is the perfect cigar for beginners,  it is mild, not too complex, and not expensive.  I rate it  8.75 out of 10