Guest Review by Josh Wolfe–on Twitter @lonewolfe97
size: 5×44 Original and 4 7/8 x49 Robusto
THE GET: Paul was sent an amazing sampler pack of the J. Fuego line by Jesus Fuego himself. Paul has kids, a wife, a job, and various other commitments so he passed this review on to me. I have smoked quite a few packs of the Origen originals and found them wonderful small cigars (stc’s review of the Original can be found here); I was excited to try others from the J. Fuego line. I smoked the Sangre De Toro (Spanish for Blood of the Bull or Bull’s Blood) original first and was intrigued, so I decided to smoke both sizes back to back and see how they differed.
THE PACKAGING: The Original comes in a 5-pack, wrapped up in yellow paper with J. Fuego written over a black tobacco leaf. Sangre De Toro is written in red below; it looks as if it is written in blood with a finger. A perfect fit for your shirt pocket. The originals do not come with a band and I applaud this; I am reminded of the old western movies where the cowboys have a cigar sticking out of the corner of their mouth. The Robusto comes in a box of 21 in a 7×3 configuration. The band on the Robusto is the same as the packaging on the original; a great look on this band and wrapping. The Sangre De Toro comes in six sizes, from the 6×60 Grande to the Original and everything in between.
THE CIGAR: Both cigars are made with the same construction and are Nicaraguan puros; they have a Sun Grown Corojo wrapper, Criollo wrapper, and Criollo and Corojo binder. The J. Fuego website gives a great background on the family, company, and cigars.
“The Fuego family has been in the business of growing, blending, and rolling cigars for five generations (since 1876 when J.Fuego was founded as a leaf growing company) in “El Corojo” farm, Cuba.
It was in 1995 when the family migrated to Central America. In 2006, after years growing, blending and making cigars for other companies, Jesus Fuego launched “Tabacos S.A.” with the release of the “J. Fuego” brand with his Natural and Gran Reserva lines. This, as a celebration of 130 years of his family in the cigar industry.”
When you look at the original, it is not the prettiest cigar in the world and I think that is by design. It has an uneven look to the roll and each one has its own uniqueness to it. The Robusto is more classically rolled and has a uniform look to it. The Corojo wrapper is dark and has a slight oily look to it. Both cigars are solidly built with a firm feel. The original has a lighter feel than I expected, while the Robusto had a heavier feel to it. The veins are the most prominent part of the wrapper on these cigars; I am a little leery of these veins, as wrappers tend to split along a large vein as you smoke. I cross my fingers as I light up.
THE SMOKE: ORIGINAL: With no cap to cut I dove into the pre-light draw. It was open and airy with spice, earth, and a nice flavor that I could not explain. The foot torched off immediately and had an even burn from the beginning. The pre-light draw flavors were intensified when lit. I focused on the unknown flavor as I smoked through the first half, but still could not put words to it. The draw stayed consistent and was easy. I could never produce a lot of smoke with this cigar and that may be a by-product of the size. As I moved into the middle part of the cigar, the earth notes and spice were overtaken by a leather and tobacco flavor. The unidentified flavor was still there on the back of my tongue. I would have to rank this cigar as medium-full bodied, leaning slightly to the full side. The flavors blended well with the strength giving me a great smoke. I smoked this down to the nub and the flavors stayed throughout. The veins were never a problem and the ash was a nice mix of dark grey and almost white. I will look to the Robusto to help me identify the unidentified flavor.
THE SMOKE: ROBUSTO: The cap cut smoothly and the pre-light draw was tighter than the Original. The flavors mimicked that of the Original so I lit up right away. The foot took the torch well and evened out after a half inch. The flavors were muted compared to the smaller stick, but I was still able to taste them all. A third of the way through the cigar the strength picked up and the flavors became more prominent. The leather and earth tones took over the spice and I settled in for the meat of the cigar. I noticed a significant uptick in the smoke produced over the Original. The ash remained a mix of white and dark grey. As I came to the last third of the cigar the spice came back. I searched for the unidentified flavor and could not find it. I put out the Robusto as I felt my fingers start to burn. The strength and flavors stayed the same until the end without the acrid taste you sometimes get in a cigar.
THE SKINNY: I was actually expecting a big difference between the two sizes of the J. Fuego Sangre De Toro. The flavors were very similar however I have to give the edge to the Original on the overall blend. I was never able to identify the flavor on the back of my tongue, it may be a spice I am not familiar with but I enjoyed it. The Robusto lasted for an hour; the Original was a 25 minute smoke. I love having the option of a quick hitter cigar with the flavor of larger stick. I highly recommend either of these cigars, but my personal choice will be the Original. I will have to try a few other sizes to see how they stack up. Pick up a pack of five, or a box of the big sticks and you will be glad you did.
