Fuente Fuente Opus X Stefano Ricci

I remember, a few years ago, reading a story about Stefano Riccithe eponymous Italian fashion house and its founder. The profile of New York Times began as ridiculously as any story:

• Ricci himself smokes a cigar in his castle with its giant windows overlooking the Tuscan hills.
• The second and third paragraphs deal with a set of three-carat diamond cufflinks ($100,000).
• The fourth paragraph deals with an $80,000 tie.
• The following paragraph explains how a customer lost a set of cufflinks

I should point out that the stock was Stefano Ricci, Clothier at 0.001%. At no time did I think of writing about Stefano Ricci. But a year later, I was in Dortmund, Germany, for Intertabac 2018 and saw Filippo Ricci, the company's creative director, on the Arturo Fuente International stand.

He was there for the start of a new partnership between the brands.

Stefano Ricci is a fashion house dedicated to luxury menswear, but more like luxury menswear. Dress shirts start at $750, standard jackets start at $4,600 and Stefano Ricci suits regularly cost as much as a nice car. Beyond clothing, the company produces accessories such as the aforementioned cufflinks and, indeed, cigar accessories. The company also has lounges in some of its locations where it will cater to the needs of its high-spending customers, including giving them a high-priced cigar to smoke during the purchasing process. As part of its new partnership with Arturo Fuente, it now has its own cigar to distribute.     This is a Churchill 7 x 52 supplement that carries the Opus X brand with a special secondary group with Stefano Ricci's eagle logo. The blend has never been disclosed, but as Carlos "Carlito" Fuente Jr. explains above, it's not the normal Opus X blend. At the time, there were conflicting ideas about how, or if, the cigar would be sold. Technically, the cigar was not marketed, meaning that the cigars were gifts given by Stefano Ricci, the company, to clients and friends. There are, however, a few more or less guaranteed ways of obtaining them, with the cheapest starting at $4,760.     If you buy a Fuente travel humidor for Stefano Ricci, you'll probably receive eight cigars, which fit easily inside. The Italian-made humidors are superb: high-gloss black lacquer with incredibly detailed mother-of-pearl and gold accents on the outside and a mahogany interior. What's more, each cellar comes complete with humidifier and hygrometer. The humidor itself costs 4'620 CHF ($4'766) and there are add-on modules and more expensive variants. A calfskin case to protect the humidor can be purchased for CHF 1'870.     There is a variant of the humidor, although not branded Arturo Fuente, which is available in briar wood and holds nine cigars of various lengths, including four of the Churchill 7 x 52 extras, which cost the same CHF 4'620. This same model is also available in crocodile leather, which sells for 10'400 CHF.     Finally, there are variants for seven cigars (5'060 CHF and 11'000 CHF) which use palladium and come with slots for cigar accessories, which are not included. It should be noted that the shorter cigars in the photos above are smaller versions of the Stefano Ricci blend. Rather, these are just cigars that have been cut to show the different lengths. This means that there's a scenario in which you could get a travel humidor, cutter, lighter and leather bag for your travel humidor, and probably eight cigars, for just under $16,000. This price includes CHF 385 for the calfskin box.    

• Name: Fuente Fuente OpusX Stefano Ricci
• Country of origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
• Cape: undisclosed
• Tripe: undisclosed
• Binder not disclosed
• Length: 7 inches (17.78 mm)
• Ring: 52 (diameter 20.47 mm)
• Vitola: Churchill Extra
• Estimated Price: $595.75 *
• Release date: 2018
• Number of cigars released: undisclosed

* This includes the cost of the humidor. I don't know how to evaluate the humidor compared to cigars that have the humidor. If it weren't for the secondary group, I doubt I'd notice that this isn't one of Opus X's 14 regular sizes. To be fair, it's not that far off the size of the Reserva D'Chateau, which measures 7 x 48. The cigar has a slight box press, something I'm not sure is intentional. It looks like an Opus X and smells like a sweeter Opus X with lots of Spanish cedar, some varnish and earthiness. The foot is quite different with a distinct mushroom flavor - not the musty olor feel that dominated Davidoff's of yesteryear - as well as a touch of floral flavors. These floral flavors command the medium-complete cold draw, joined by a bit of gingerbread cookie. The first puffs of Fuente Fuente Opus X Stefano Ricci are super-sweet with a big, crunchy nuttiness. After a few puffs, smoke density and production increase, although it's certainly a little harder than a typical OpusX. The main profile doesn't offer a laundry list of flavors, just a very nice semi-sweet base that's floral and nutty over a bit of lemon. Retrohales offer even more floral flavors as well as burnt cookies and hazelnut. The flavor intensity seems to be complete for five minutes, but finishes with each puff thereafter, while the body and strength are medium-plus. This cigar had a small crack that I noticed before lighting, it gets a little bigger once lit but doesn't seem to affect things. The ash isn't particularly pretty and is rather leafy, but the construction is fine in terms of draw and doesn't need touching up.     I think the most fascinating part of this particular Opus X is what isn't there: the pepper. As I finish the second third, I still haven't tasted the pepper. The flavors on the palate are similar to the first third, although there's a bit of creaminess and some cognac. I think the floral flavors are still there, but my palate is slightly immune to them given that this has been a floral bomb from the start up to this point. Retrohales have orange bitters, floral flavors and an added sweetness that reminds me of POM Wonderful. I try to push the cigar a bit to see if I can get pepper or irritation and sometimes it seems like I'm about to get white pepper, but it mixes strangely with hazelnut and reminds me of peanut butter. In the end, Opus X Stefano Ricci just seems to want to be a well-developed blend of floral and nutty flavors with some secondary sensations sprinkled in. Like the first third, the finish is simply an extension of the main flavors, i.e. even more floral flavors. The flavor is full, the body is medium-plus and the strength is medium-plus. I don't have to fix the construction issues, but the ash remains ugly and flaky.     There's finally a little change as a toasty sensation emerges in the final third. It lasts an inch, but eventually it also seems to lose a nut with some floral aromas remaining underneath. Occasionally, OpusX Stefano Ricci shows other flavors - sunflower seeds, leather, dark chocolate - but none of them stick around long enough to have much impact on the dominance of the two main flavors. Fortunately, the retrohales provide a bit of a change of pace; there's a distinct yellow mustard flavor on some of the roasted and sunflower seeds. The flavor is full, the body is medium-plus and the strength is medium-plus, though it's getting stronger.     Final notes

• Although the cigar is listed at 7 x 52, I measured it at 6 15/16 x 51. We don't regularly measure cigars before reviewing them, I suspect that if we did, we would find this to be a below average level of variance.
• It was a rather mild cigar, several steps removed from a typical Opus X. In fact, I think this is probably a good thing given who is likely to end up smoking these, i.e. not the regular Opus X customer.

   

• One thing I don't remember seeing on a ton of Opus X is that distinct dark swirl of tobacco in the filler. Maybe I need to pay a little more attention to cigar bottoms, but it caught me off guard.
• I'd love to sit down with Carlos Fuente Jr. in front of a table or tables full of tobacco and find out what makes an Opus X, what makes an Opus X 20th Anniversary, what makes this cigar, what makes the new Opus X 2020 , and so on. There have always been a ton of variations on the normal Opus X blend, but never much explanation of what makes them different.
• While most would tell you to age Opus X, I've really enjoyed them fresh over the last few years. It's nothing like these Opus Xs: little cedar flavor, no pepper and medium strength.
• These cigars, humidors, were mainly sold in Europe, but Holt's brought two for its annual Fuente Mania event last year.
• The packaging of the humidors and the cigar is quite remarkable. Given the fluidity of its flow with the cigar, you'd find it hard to believe that Fuente hasn't used the eagle on Opus X over the past two decades.

   

• Stefano Ricci has some absolutely stunning cigar accessories, some of which existed before the Fuente partnership. My favorite is this ashtray with the mother-of-pearl inlay. Seeing it in person, the ability of the mother-of-pearl to be transparent in the octagon is astonishing. It's also 2'750 CHF ($2'800), which means I don't think my mom will buy it for me next year.
• While I'm no expert on $30,000 suits, I feel pretty knowledgeable about cigar accessories. Stefano Ricci items aren't great value, but you get what you pay for. They're unique, apparently well made - I haven't tested any of them - and the detail work is better than anything else on the market. I can't tell you how incredible that mother-of-pearl was on this particular ashtray, I had to look at it for five minutes trying to find an octagon-shaped seam.
• There are other Stefano Ricci accessories, including a cigar case that sells for less than $1,500. I'm told it's unlikely that anyone purchasing this item would be offered an Opus X Stefano Ricci with the purchase.
• I won't say I've had long conversations with anyone at Stefano Ricci, but I have spoken with a few people from the company on trips to Dortmund and found them all relatively down-to-earth, a stark contrast to what you might expect given what the company does and the customers it has.
• The first half of this review might sound like I'm trying to make fun of prices. That's ridiculous, and I think that's all anyone can do in this situation. Charging someone $400 for a box for their $11,500 travel humidifier isn't normal, although it's also the result of customer demand, albeit, a very specific type of customer.
• Arturo Fuente International, a partnership between the Fuente and Meerapfel families, is the exclusive distributor of Stefano Ricci cigar accessories worldwide.
• The Meerapfels are also the most prolific Cameroonian tobacco growers/brokers in the world.
• Arturo Fuente advertises on the half-wheel.
• The cigars in this review were given to the half-wheel by someone involved in the project, but not an employee ofArturo Fuente / Arturo Fuente International.
• The final smoking time was two hours and 50 minutes.

90 OVERALL SCORE The Opus X Stefano Ricci is a cigar I'd be very happy to smoke regularly, but it wasn't very similar to the Opus X. I don't know if it's as anti-Opus as the Opus X Football Brooks reviewed in 2012, but in many ways I felt like I was smoking a slightly milder 858 Sun Grown. The floral flavors that were ubiquitous before lighting the cigar continued until my last puff. I'm a big fan of cigars with floral and nutty flavors and they were good in this cigar, but I really would have liked more contrast in the first two thirds. Original article by : Charlie Minato