The Particulars

The Review

This review for the Arturo Fuente Fuente Fuente OpusX Angels Share (Perfecxion X) - Toro (6.25 x 48) is based on the journal entry dated 2025-08-22

Appearance & Construction (0-3):  Good (3)

This wrapper is a warm, tannish brown that has a slight orange hue to it. It has a lot of oil, giving it a nice shine and a lot of mottling—so much that it feels oily to the touch and leaves a light residue on your fingers. There are a lot of veins, but they’re all thin, giving it a slightly weathered look but not creating any lumps. All the seams are tight and the cap is perfect. The cigar has a very firm and dense feel to it. Like all Opus X cigars, the bands are high quality and super detailed with a mix of full color, embossing, and gold metallic overlays on high-quality stock.

Draw (0-3) & Burn (0-4):  Average (2) / Great (4)

There’s extra resistance here. It’s smokeable, but any tighter and I’d be going for the draw tool. It does slightly improve with heat, which helps. The burn starts off wavy and uneven but quickly starts to improve and gets to dead even by the end of the first third. The ash is a light gray with heavily rippled striations. The ash stack curves heavily and drops the occasional flake.

Flavor Profile (0-5):  Excellent (5)

First notes are cedar and baking spice with cinnamon. Then a strong citrusy zest and mild honey sweetness come in. I’m getting a lot of saltiness off the wrapper that’s mixed with the citrus qualities of the sweet. Earth and leather are both picking up with maybe a hint of chocolate mixed in. Mild coffee is picking up as well, but I’m not detecting any real pepper yet. This is starting off with great complexity and a lot of flavor for something that is very woody at its core, but wrapped up in a smooth and creamy finish.

There are no major changes getting into the second third. Just a nice complexity of woodiness, sweet, salt, earth, leather, and baking spice. Pepper is slowly ramping but still mild. The woodiness is complemented by sourdough notes and mild hay-like grassiness. Leather is one of my least favorite flavors on the wheel, but this is a highly refined leather and it really works in harmony with the other flavors. This is where really nailing the blend pays off in complexity, balance, and nuance. I’m a fan.

This carries into the final third, with an uptick in leather and earth offset by a reduction in the breadiness and sweet. Bitterness is creeping in with more coffee as well. The Angel’s Share had really shined in the middle and while this is still quite good, it’s not the perfection (ahem, perfecxion) that it was. I’m also wondering where the “full” strength is. This has struck me as a medium, maybe medium-full at most in the middle. At the very end of the smoke, flavors started to recede which is disappointing, but it’s an excellent and refined profile overall.

Overall Experience (0-5):  Great (4)

Beautifully balanced and nuanced, but just short of perfection (shit, sorry, perfecxion). I have the regular Opus X queued up next for comparison. There are times I wanted just a little bit more oomph and I think the higher priming might deliver? Or will it lose the balance?

The biggest issue as always is the Fuente Tax that comes with anything in the Opus X line. This is a fantastic cigar, but it comes at a premium price. I’d certainly buy this again at another event or when available locally, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to source it. You’ll probably never find a discount on these, but I’d definitely avoid any premium surcharges.

Review Base Rating (0-5):

4.50

Would I Buy It Again?

Most likely (good stick, but look for a deal)

Review Final Score (0-10):

8.33

Overall Score and Individual Journal Entries

While the review is based off one instance of journaling this cigar; there’s a number of reasons you can have different experiences smoking the same cigar multiple times. A blend can evolve with age (for better or worse), palates evolves, preferences change, and sometimes you just get a bad example!  This section captures the ratings from each journal entry and the related journal photo.  Below you’ll find an aggregate score based on every time the cigar has been journaled. Unless it was a gift or on-off smoke, this section will be updated every time I journal this cigar!

The Flavor Wheel

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.

With every cigar I journal, I capture simple ratings of the basic flavor categories that I experience.  These are more generalized than what you would see in a review, but a distinct profile can still be built out.  When multiple instances of the same cigar have been journaled, the scores are averaged out in an attempt to build a reliable flavor profile based on my palate.

The values entered for the strength of each flavor range from 0 to 3.

• 0:   No flavor detected
• 1:   Mild flavor
• 2:   Medium flavor
• 3:   Strong flavor

Note: desktop / large screens will see a flavor wheel while mobile / small screens will see a bar chart.