Arturo Fuente Añejo Reserva No. 888

The Añejo No. 888 first made its appearance at the 2014 Cigar Family Charitable Foundation Celebration Fuente-hosted event, given as a gift to the attendees. No one knew at the time whether this vitola would become a production cigar or would be an event-only cigar. Fuente has done a number of CFC event cigars in the past that were never brought to production. It was soon learned that this would indeed be the eighth production cigar in the Añejo line and was released as such in late summer of 2014.

This 888 is a 6-5/8″ x 44 torpedo wrapped with Connecticut Broadleaf. It has a Dominican Binder and Dominican filler. The torpedo head is not fully closed at the tip like most other torpedo-shaped cigars. Instead, it is left open at the very tip, which gives the 888 a very interesting and appealing shape.

I’d like to say this cigar surprised me in some way, but it really didn’t. It has the same basic flavor profile of other Añejos of similar ring gauges—e.g. No. 46 and No. 48.–but to me that’s a good thing, as I love both the 46 and 48. I wanted to try this stick and see if the elongated torpedo head would make a difference in the classic Añejo flavor profile. And it really didn’t, but let’s look into those flavors a little…

Añejo Reserva No. 888 Breakdown

As with most cigars, the ring gauge on the Añejo makes a big difference to the flavors. I find the smaller RG are more sweet and buttery, while the larger RG sticks are more to the cedar and leather spectrum. The No. 77—Shark, well, that’s in a smoking stratosphere all its own. It transcends the flavor parameters of the other Añejos.

The 888 starts off brilliantly, with a buttery, somewhat salty, honey sweetness. Pushing on, I do get a bit of fleeting cedar and leather that is rapidly replaced with a full palate of cherries. The rich cherry flavor, combined with the saltiness, becomes the mainstay of the 888 through the middle of the cigar. Toward the band point the flavors change quite a bit. The sweet, fruitiness dies and I get more of a white pepper and roasted meat flavor – those flavors I don’t recall from other Añejo cigars. I’m thinking those flavor notes were present because I started to smoke the cigar a little too fast. It’s been my experience that, at times, those types of flavors do indicate too hot of a burn – not always, but often.

The overall strength of this cigar is right up to medium-full. It starts out relatively harmless but soon ramps up to medium plus and finishes tipping the scales just under full strength.

Would I smoke the Arturo Fuente Añejo Reserva No. 888 again?

Oh absolutely! At a price point of $10 – $12, this cigar is hard to beat. I would happily fill a hundred-count humidor with them if I could. Put in the effort, Dojo Nation, find this cigar and smoke ’um. Well worth the effort.

Truth be told, the No. 46 and Shark are easily two of my top cigars of all time. The No. 888 isn’t in that category, but is definitely one of the three or four best cigars I’ve smoked this year.

– Until next time, Dojo Mojo, Ya’ll!!

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