God of Fire Carlito 2017

Note: This post was written last night, but I had issues logging in to update the site. Any reference to “today” being “Fuente Friday” is due to when the post was written, not when it was posted.

Getting back in it tonight, with one I've been keeping in my humidor for a couple months... it's a rare stick, and I didn't just want to break it out and burn it casually, but I haven't been taking as much time to write reviews since I got back from leave. So here we are, finally bringing out the God of Fire Carlito 2017 on this Fuente Friday...

Cigar: God of Fire Carlito 2017

Vitola: Diademas 56 (5 3/4” x 56)

Price: $26.00/stick

Origin: Dominican Republic

Wrapper: Cameroon
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Body: Full

Rating (out of 10): 10

Appearance:
There's a softly-rounded taper at both ends of the stick, which features a deep-red, almost maroon-colored silk band near the foot, and a red, gold, and white band with a portrait of Prometheus, the Greek God (one of the Titans, rather than an Olympian) of Fire. There's a secondary band in the same color motif, with Carlito's name written on it.

The wrapper has a light golden-brown tint to it, with light veins and completely invisible seams. Even the cap is so expertly placed, it's impossible to find any seams.

Construction:
Fuentes are always well-constructed, but this isn't just any Fuente stick; this one carries the name Carlito, and it certainly lives up to that honor. Perfectly balanced, absolutely no blemishes, and cuts cleanly and evenly.

Aroma:
The barrel carries a kind of barnyard, hay-like aroma, and I get whiffs of something familiar from the foot... almost like holiday baking spices, and a touch of pepper.

First Third:
The cold draw is sweet and creamy, almost like hot cocoa with a bit of caramel.

After lighting, the flavor is more like cedar and tea leaf. There's definitely some pepper on the finish, but it doesn't hit as hard as I'd expect. It's for sure not Nicaraguan.

The smoke is dense and chewy, and the burn leaves behind a flawless, almost perfectly-white ash. This burn is perfect.

This is proving itself to be a smoke that's full-bodied, and yet it smokes so smoothly, it almost feels much milder than it is.

Getting the faintest hints of that holiday spice again, almost like a very subtle undertone of gingerbread.

Not even a whole third of the way through, and I'm already willing to drop almost $300 for a box of just 10 of these...

Second Third:
The tea flavor is becoming more prominent moving into the second third, with a bit more black pepper on the finish.

Absolutely flawless burn. Razor-sharp burn line.

I think I'm detecting a bit of coffee in here, but all these flavors are melding together so perfectly, it's actually hard to be sure!

Final Third:
Bit more charred cedar in the last third, black pepper remaining consistent on the finish. The spice has been slowly building in intensity as the cigar has been burning, like Prometheus bringing fire to mortal men.

The burn line is still razor-sharp, all the way down to the end.

Closing Thoughts:
I knew to expect greatness from this cigar before I even lit it; its reputation precedes it, and it lives up to that reputation. What I did not expect, is just how incredible it would be. This easily just became my favorite cigar, and, honestly, I think $26 per stick is outright theft. This thing should easily cost $40 or more, and I'd still pay it. Better than Opus X, in my opinion. And I love me some X.