One Minute Review- A. Fuente Work of Art Maduro ('99)

If only all art could be this tasty...

I recently bought a box of Fuente Work of Art Maduros from 1999 from a fellow BOTL after running out of my stash...I had been looking for some aged sticks, and these fit the bill nicely... I was also interested in seeing how the 10+ years of aging had changed the taste of the sticks, as most of the WOA I have smoked before have been more recent years...

For those of you that don't know, the Fuente Work of Art Maduro is an extremely limited edition cigar, produced in small numbers and only released around Father's day and Christmas (and this year, apparently only Christmas). It is a 4 7/8 x 60 Dominican Figurado with a maduro wrapper that SCREAMS wonderfulness (is that a word?)...I have been hooked on these ever since I have tasted my first one many years ago...

As is normal for this size and shape cigar, the burn is uneven (and the draw a bit tight) until after the "hump" of the stick, then evens out perfectly...This is one of the most interesting and complex cigars I have smoked in a while, with flavors of Dark Chocolate, Cedar, Pepper, Cinnamon and leather phasing in and out for the entire length of the 52 minute smoke...and underneath it all is an exquisite sweetness that is what dreams are made of...As I was smoking this, all I could do was thank God I have a whole box left :)

Now, you are probably wondering (as I did) about the differences between a 10 yr old WOAM and one from, say, 2008...well, the two major differences I noticed were that the aged stick is quite a bit stronger in terms of the Nicotine kick that I got, and the sweetness and Pepper in the cigar is quite a bit more pronounced in the '98 version...the recent version is great, but the '98 beats it HANDS down...

The Bottom Line: This is one of the best cigars I have smoked, and honestly, I don't think there is one in this size that even comes close...If you can get your hands on an older one of these, I would do everything I could to procure it :)

Final Score: 94

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