Letting My Mind Wander With A: Forbidden X: Keeper of the Flame

[polarbear]

Living in Australia and smoking Non Cuban cigars on a regular basis I tend to get a bit of flak from some people. The reason for this is often that we have easy access to most of the HSA portfolio in various B&M’s around the country. The people who give me flack are usually from what I like to call the Internet Free Cigar Club (or IFCC for short). These are guys who don’t surf forums, read online cigar blogs or import their own cigars. They walk into their B&M and buy all of their cigars from them. Most of the B&M’s don’t carry a decent stock of Non-Cuban cigars, and if they do they are normally very cheap lines kept in stock for people who just want to smoke a cigar, regardless of what it tastes like. The sad thing is, that since the embargo against Cuba in the 60’s and then the US Cigar Boom of the late 90’s, American cigar manufactures have stepped up their games and now are producing some of the best hand rolled cigars in the world. I will admit, Cuba is still king of the premium cigar world, but countries like Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic are nipping at Cuba’s heels a little more every year.

This brings me nicely to today’s cigar. This is not a Cuban cigar, but if you live in the US it comes from one of the “Ultra-Premium” marcas. The Opus X line is one of the few cigars in the US you can spend $20+ dollars on that will offer the complexity and quality of the best Cuba could offer. The profiles are worlds apart, but in terms of flavour complexity and quality, Cuba had better watch out. $20 for a cigar may not sound like a lot to us Aussies, but when you consider that the average price of a premium cigar in the US is around the $7 mark, you sorta see what I’m saying. The Opus X line is one of the most sought after and limited of all regular production cigars in the US. Couple the HTF nature of the Opus with its high price point and the generally rave reviews that everyone who smokes them tends to give, and you have yourself a recipe for a VERY popular cigar. Few manufactures in the US are able to expect their customers to not only pay north of $20 for a cigar, but have the consumer say that it’s worth every penny. Today’s Opus X is a little different from the regular line. Today’s cigar is from the Opus Limited Edition marca Forbidden X. This particular cigar was released as part of a range of sizes celebrating the Fuente Company’s 100^th anniversary. They were released in very limited numbers, packed in boxes of 13 and sold for a RRP of around $15 a stick. This size is called “Keeper Of The Flame” and while not the largest or most expensive in the Opus portfolio, was one I remember being seriously impressed with when I smoked the first of the 3 sticks I managed to get my hands on. Over a year later, I figured I’d see where they were at.

So, let’s get down to business, shall we?

Considering the Non Cuban industry recently released an 80rg monster to the market, the KOTF’s 6.5x49 seems almost Corona like when compared with some cigars you can find these days. The cigar looks perfect. The coffee brown wrapper is smooth like silk and the triple cap is has been applied flawlessly. My eyes drift back to the cigars dual bands, and while I’m not one to hold too much stock in a cigars packaging, I can’t help to notice how intricate this particular band is. It has to be one of the more beautiful bands ever made and certainly helps to show some of the effort that went into every aspect of this cigar. I cut the cap and check the draw. Not only is it perfect, it gives me notes of Cinnamon and Mild Tobacco. I grab my lighter and toast the foot. Ironically, the Keeper Of The Flame takes a little longer to get going than I would expect, but it’s off and burning shortly and I take my first draw. A wonderful opening of Sour Dough, Cedar and some Lemon Tang through the nose. It is a nice night for a good cigar. I settle in, put my feet up and allow my mind to wander.

A question I’m often asked is “what is your favourite cigar memory?” I’ve had some many amazing cigar stories over the years but I can never pick a single story. One of my favourites takes me back to this cigar and the time I spent in Sweden. I was in Europe for a month visiting my friend David. His parents had a holiday house over the border from their native Denmark, in an old Swedish pine forest. David’s family were well off, but not so well off they could afford a holiday home in another country, so when I enquired as to how they came to have such a place I was told “the house is the middle of a commercial pine forest. The guy who owns the house and the forest had no interest in the house so it sat empty for a while, falling into disrepair. Around 15 years ago Dad offered to fix it up and continue to maintain it to be used as a holiday home for his family and any close friends that wanted some peace and quiet. They negotiated some stupidly low rent (I later found out it was around $2500au a year, a pittance in anyone’s currency) and signed a 50 year lease on the place. Dad pays the power annually and the guy agrees to keep the wood shed stocked year round in case people come to stay.” We had arranged to head to the house for a week with some of David’s uni friends. The house had 4 bedrooms but comfortably slept 10, more if you didn’t mind sharing a bed with someone. The house had no TV, no Internet (no phone connection or coverage of any kind actually) and no radio. It had an old fashioned wood fire oven and was a short walk from a massive lake that was used for water skiing in the warmer months. The floors were all polished wood and creaked when you walked on them. The only modern convinces in the whole house were a stereo that you could connect an iPod to, a small refrigerator and semi reliable power. David liked to call it Casa Del Tolstrup. Me, I called it heaven.

A third of the way in, this cigar is kicking goals already with notes of Red Pepper Spice and Leather with some of the Cedar from the opening lingering in the background. The ash is a bright white and a little flaky but it holds on for almost 2 inches before I err on the side of caution and knock it off before it falls onto my lap and my couch. The finish on this cigar goes on forever. Leaving a strong liquorice note that only dissipates when I take another draw of the cigar or a sip of the Gin and Tonic I am pairing it with. I’m left wondering if I only took one good draw on this cigar how long the finish would linger for.

Peace and quiet is a term that is thrown around a lot in the modern world. I guess it has come to mean something like an absence of background noise, but I think many people don’t really know what true peace and quiet feels like. I would sit on the back porch of this house in the mornings, while the rest of the gang were still sleeping, I’d sip my freshly brewed coffee and smoke a cigar while the peace and quiet of this place engulfed me. There was no noise. No cars or sirens in the distance. No TV’s blaring away in the back ground. No horns or bells to break me from my daze. Pure peace and quiet. Don’t get me wrong, there was sound, but it felt like it belonged. Birds chirped and the Moose and Deer in the surrounding forest could be heard grunting to each other off in the distance. I remember hearing this hollow knocking sound at one point and wondering what it was. It continued for about 15min until I spied a Wood Pecker just down the path, trying to break into a tree before giving up in search of softer targets. It was wonderful. David would often come down after he woke up, sporting a fresh pot of coffee and his pipe. He wouldn’t say anything, just refill my cup and light his pipe, happy to be engulfed by the peace and quiet. The morning sun would shine on the porch and help to cut a warm patch through the cool morning air. Every morning, I made sure to get up early, regardless of what had happened the night before, and sit on this porch with a coffee, a cigar and the sounds of the forest. I would sit there in silence, eyes and ears open, trying to savour each moment of this place unlike any I had known before. By the time my cigar was finished, the rest of the house was beginning to stir and it was time to embrace the madness of the day (and night that would follow it). I’d then get up and go and start on some breakfast.

Two Thirds in and the cigar has lived up to all the hype it’s been given over the years. The burn and draw a still perfect and the smoke output is at comfortable levels. The Sour Dough note from the opening has returned as well as a touch of black pepper through the nose. The smoke is delicate but flavourful while keeping the strength at a solid medium. Perhaps the 18 months this has been sitting in my humidor has helped to refine this cigar, as I remember them being Full Bodied at a minimum. Regardless, I am, having a wonderful time, allowing a little more time between draws in order to savour the long, luxurious finish that has morphed into a bitter black coffee note.

The week passed quickly. Quicker than I liked. The 10 of us spent the time talking, drinking, playing board games and walking through the forest in search of Mushrooms for dinner (the regular kind, not the fun kind). On the mornings we were especially hung over, we swam in the lake before breakfast, hoping to have the cold water curb our sore heads. Before I knew it, it was our last night in Sweden. I had a special cigar picked out for my usual after dinner smoke. I offered David a cigar I knew he had a soft spot for and was even joined by David’s friend Becs. I knew she didn’t mind a cigar and picked her up a nice little Cohiba while I was in Prague, just for her. We’d shared a large Cohiba together before David and I left for Dublin, so I knew she’d appreciate a smaller Cohiba all to herself. After a hearty meal of Danish Schnitzels the three of us gathered our coats and headed out the back to the porch. The rest of the gang sat in the kitchen, drinking, smoking cigarettes and carrying on as the music got progressively louder. David, Becs and I sat around the table and lit our cigars. From the first puff I knew this would not be session where there would be much talking. David was blissed out, lying back in his chair with his eyes closed, trying to devote all of his senses to his cigar. Becs sat there with a cute little smile on her face, looking at her cigar as if it was a question she had yet to formulate an answer to. Me, I just sat and enjoyed my cigar and the sounds of the forest, interlaced with the sounds of chaos coming from in the house. I had every intention of joining them, but I wanted one more cigar on the porch first.

He cigar has moved to it final act, and what an act it is. The strength has kicked up and now is on the fuller side of medium. The profile is like a greatest hits of what has come before. Sour Dough and Cinnamon on the pallet, returning from the opening and dry draw. A good hit of baking spice through the nose that progresses into a pepper spice towards the end. The lingering liquorice finish that I so enjoyed has returned and I savour it. Almost letting the cigar go out between draws in the hope of seeing just how long the finish will last. The smoke wafts round my head and I enjoy the sensation of smelling a cigar as a bystander would. It reminds me of an old saddle. Mild leather with a touch of barnyard manure. It’s not unpleasant at all.

As the cigars progressed I would look over to David. He rarely moved from his original position, if it weren’t for the occasion puff of smoke coming from him, I would’ve thought he’d nodded off in his chair. I would look over to Becs and she and I would lock eyes, she would offer me a smile and a nod, as if to say she approved of the cigar, then we would both look back to David and the ash on his cigar that was in danger of falling on his face. For 90min no words were spoken, but much was communicated. We all sat and smoked in silence, swapping looks and smiles as we went. No words needed to be spoken; the peace did not deserve to be interrupted by idle chit chat. It was just 3 people with their cigars enjoying the quiet joy of a friendship. Towards the end of my cigar, David sat up and smiled. He put his cigar down in the ashtray, nodded at me and then went inside to the noise, leaving me and Becs to finish up. Her cigar was almost done too. She took the band and put it in her pocket before placing the cigar in the ashtray next to David’s. She got up and walked over to me. She kissed me on the cheek and whispered “thank you, that was wonderful” in my ear before walking inside to the party. I sat there, with my cigar in hand and a smile on my face. My cigar was also pretty much finished, but I tried to persist with it for a few more moments, hoping to take in a little more of the darkness of the forest before joining the party and the noise. All too soon, the cigar was burning my fingers and forcing me to put it to rest. I placed it in the ashtray next to what was left of the other two. As the remaining smoke wafted round my head I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the forest. I’m not sure how long I stayed there, maybe a minute, maybe an hour. I was lost in the sounds and the smell of the forest, mixed with cigar smoke. I heard my name mentioned from the party and decided it was time to join the gang. There were drinks to be drunk and merry to be made. As I walked back inside I turned my head to catch one last glimpse of the night time forest before joining the lights and the noise for the final time.

The sun has set and once again, this cigar is burning my fingers. I take one more draw on it before tossing it into my garden. As I exhale the smoke, I listen to the sounds of suburbia. Cars, buses, loud music and people yelling. Not exactly the peace and quiet I was looking for. I think back to that house in Sweden. That small unassuming cottage and the week I spent there with friends. The quiet mornings and loud nights. The people I met and cigars I smoked. However, my mind always comes back to that Opus I smoked on the last night with 2 friends and the enjoyment of silent conversation that it included. I smile at the fact that over 90min of conversation the only words that were uttered were “that was wonderful” from the lips of a pretty lady. I miss that place. I miss the smell of the forest and the quiet mornings I had. I miss the conversation around the kitchen table every night. I miss the smell of fresh coffee and Danish bacon mixed with the smell of pine, but most of all I miss the quiet. I miss the sounds. I will go back one day, whether I do as an old man or a young one remains to be seen, but I do know this, in that place, at that time I found a peace unlike anything I have ever known. How can I not return to that.

[Rye]

Another fantastic tale!

[Pedro2486]

Another cool story and review bro.

Been waiting for you to do another

[polarbear]

  On 2/28/2014 at 10:05 AM, Pedro2486 said:

Another cool story and review bro.

Been waiting for you to do another

Thanks bud

I'm gonna try and put one up at least once a month from now on

[Chunks96ss]

Great review and a great story of a wonderful memory

[LordAnubis]

Great story mate, didn't read a word of the cigar, but loved the story! My favourite memory on holidays is similar to yours... on top of a sand dune in the sahara desert watchign the sun rise and sun set in Morocco. A group of us, no animals, no sounds, jsut the wind howelling if there was a breeze. The only thing i was missing at that time was a cigar

Good stuff !!!

[earthson]

I've always been partial to the Anejo versus Opus X - and not just because of price. After 3 years or so, the Anejo really comes into its own and can give most cubans a run for their money. I've smoked 5-year-old Opus Xs that were pegged at 65%RH and still wouldn't burn right.

I'm a big fan of the ~49~ double corona - there's just so much balance and enough flavor transitions to hold your attention for the 2 hrs or so it takes to burn one.

[bradbrennan]

Very nice! I've been able to find some Opus X at MSRP, Belicoso X3, 4.5/8x49, over two hour smoke, good value! But I'm sure looking forward to my first shipment from here!

[finecigar]

Great review and story as always. Opus X is bittersweet for me- most I have smoked are pleasant (when not factoring the price) but ultimately missing a component, but I can say that I have had very memorable experiences with the Opus X Petit Lancero vitola unlike any others I've sampled... I had a box of those many years back that were glorious cigars. Keep up your reviews... I always look forward to them

[Stogiedude3]

Another great read n review!

[Stogiedude3]

Another great read n review!