Well, it is Christmas(ish) time again, and that can mean only one thing (besides the obvious….ahem)…Arturo Fuente and Company releasing it’s newest creations…

Now, Fuente seems to have surprised a few people with the number of newer cigars it will be introducing this month (and next year), including some vitolas in the Opus X blend (the Love Affair, Magnum O and Shark will all be regular production sticks…or as regular production as a Fuente product can be)…

One of the new releases is the Angelenos brand, blended by Carlos Fuente Sr. and marketed by Prometheus (who also partnered up with Fuente with the God of Fire brand). The Angelenos will come in 4 different sizes: Lonsdale (44 x 6 1/4), Toro (50 x 6), Double Robusto (5 3/4 x 52), and Gran Toro (54 x 6 1/2)…Only the Lonsdale and Toro are being released for Christmas, with the other two vitolas will be available in April of 2010…Each size will also be limited to 5,000 cigars, (hey, it would not be a Fuente release if they weren’t, right?) and will be released in 10 count boxes…

According to the website and info packet, the Angelnos was created to honor the city of Los Angeles:

The Angelenos cigar may be the first to honor a city where cigars are not produced, but enjoyed with gusto and enthusiasm matched nowhere else. I am referring of course to Los Angeles, home of many of the world’s most passionate cigar lovers.

The website also has some tasting notes on the cigar, which I will share with you here, in case you are too busy or jaded to go to their website to read it (and honestly, I always find it amusing to read what the manufacturers think their cigars are supposed to taste like..ahem):

On first light, the Angelenos surprises the palate with flavors of gingerbread and eggnog. Its taste recalls the flavors of nutmeg, brown sugar, and cream, and the aroma is fragrant with subtle hints of cinnamon and ginger.

Unlike most other cigars, the Angelenos has an opening act and a second act. About halfway through, its flavor evolves noticeably. The sweet and spicy notes fade as the leathery, full-bodied taste of the Ecuador-grown wrapper starts to dominate. The Angelenos finishes with a well-rounded flavor that remains robust and smooth all the way to the end.

Enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: Angelenos Lonsdale (2009)
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
• Wrapper: Equador
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Size: 6 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 44
• Vitola: Lonsdale
• Est. Price: $12
• Date Released: December 2009 & April 2010

The cigar itself has a VERY light brown wrapper, and it is slightly box pressed…the wrapper is very smooth to the touch, and has no obvious veins…It also has almost no oil or smell at all, which surprised me a bit…Having said that, the construction looks great on it…

Immediately after lighting, there was just a touch of spice on the tongue, but it disappeared fairly quickly, and was replaced with a very strong flavor of cedar, almost like I was smoking a chunk of wood instead of a cigar…this lasted for the whole first third, and underneath was just a bit of floral note, but not enough to change the overall flavor…

The Second third was much the same as the first…Cedar was the dominant flavor, but it was dialed down a bit (thankfully), not quite as intense as the first third…Still no spice or pepper, but I did get just a little bit of sweetness, sort of a Vanilla taste, but VERY faint…

The Last third was (sadly) much the same as the previous two…Very mild, no pepper or spice at all, quite a bit of cedar (although interestingly, the flavors at the end were seemingly gelling together fairly well)…It stayed that way until I got down to the end, where it turned quite bitter….I was able to nub it, but honestly, I did not want to…

Final Notes:

• If you have not gotten the picture yet, this was a VERY mild (and boring) cigar, almost like smoking air (albeit air infused with cedar)…
• This cigar had a fairly fast burn for the size of it, and the final smoking time was 1 hour and 10 minutes…
• The Draw and burn were decent for the length of the cigar, but not great…

The Bottom Line: While I was expecting a mild cigar (especially considering the color and smell of the wrapper), I was honestly not expecting THIS mild of a cigar…Basically, it is a bland, boring, one dimensional mess that would be an ok $4 cigar, but at an average of about $13 each, it is going head to head with some of the best in the business, and this stick will lose every time…There is a MAJOR difference between a mild cigar with the flavors to back it up, and a mild cigar that has nothing going for it OTHER then being mild…If you are wanting a milder cigar in that price range (or even cheaper), I would try an E.P. Carrillo or a My Father….or hell, even a Hemingway Natural…this is not a horrible tasting cigar by any means, but I would not waste your money on this overpriced, overhyped stick.

Final Score: 79