TX Duo Review - Fuente OpusX Pussy Cat 2014

[Çnote]

I thought @Capn_Jackson was behind, but it seems he smoked this months ago. 

20+ years ago I frequented a B&M enough to be offered a couple Opus a year, I honestly don't remember much about them but I do remember passing on them after a couple cycles. 10ish years ago I got back into cigars and Opusmania was in full force. I really can't remember an Opus that smoked right beginning to end, but often they have been right off the shelf or loving kept at 72%.  I did once get a larger size with age that I held on to for a couple years and smoked in a lounge. The burn was so bad the owner offered me a replacement from across the room, assuming I was smoking his stock. When finding out it was an old OpusX he laughed and said something to the effect of 'yeah, burning money there.'

Blast of creamy cedar to begin. A great start, but it decides to be an Opus.

10+ years old, 6 or so months of stabilization, and 5 days of dry boxing, yet it immediately starts to burn weird and has a obvious tunnel. It's got a borderline unpleasant sourness like kiwi or starfruit. The smoke texture is fabulous, thick creamy & mild, but the flavors aren't.

My retrohale isn't working today, North Texas is changing seasons so I have some sniffles. The smoke is very rough on the sinuses and extremely unpleasant.

Once the burn settles we're back in business with toast and almond cream, but we're half done so whatever. The iron fist / velvet glove is certainly here, lots of big punchy flavor but very graceful. Chocolate egg cream? Pain de chocolate? It's very pleasant.

The nub is explosive, thick viscous smoke, spicy molasses and cola.

Really a tale of two halves. I'll continue buying OpusX for now as the trade cache is unparalleled, but it's not my smoking stock.

78 for half a cigar

Maybe Jackson enjoyed his...

[Capn_Jackson]

Disclaimer: I actually smoked this one probably a couple months ago, and can’t find the pics now. I take way too many pictures with my phone. Daughters, cigars, scenery, they all jumble together.

Cold draw is coffee, hay, perhaps a little sandalwood. Opening is a bouquet of nuts and coffee. Very good starting puff.

Going on, I get some good nuttiness, a bit of antique store mustiness (enjoyable), and hay. A little graham cracker and honey. Lots and lots of cedar.

Second third is a little more muted, but I can faintly trace some fruity notes. A little stone fruit, brioche toast, and a whole lot of custard. Nutmeg shines at the midpoint. Nutmeg and roasted pecan.

The last third is pretty dark. Agave, coffee bean, turning to molasses and stout. Not as delicate as the beginning or as rich as the middle, unfortunately. The construction has been spot-on throughout, great burn. Excellent oily mouthfeel. I’d love to give this a higher score, but the end was a bit of a letdown. 86-88 from me. Nonetheless, thanks for the smoke, @Çnote!

[Capn_Jackson]

On 10/22/2025 at 2:30 PM, Çnote said:

I thought @Capn_Jackson was behind, but it seems he smoked this months ago. 

Oh brother I’m so far behind. Yet, I did indeed smoke this one a while back and forgot to mention it until last week.

A crazy part of the semester, I’ve got a couple reviews written, but not posted, and there are at least two more I need to smoke still.

[Capn_Jackson]

There’s really only been one Opus I can remember immensely enjoying, or rather one line of Opus. The 20th Anniversaries (Opus Blue) have made me very, very happy every time. The 20th God’s Whisper is great to me, the 20th Believe is good, but the 20th Father and Son perhaps my favorite. I got to smoke a 20th Lancero, a true unicorn, and it was honestly very good.

Other than these, I have had mixed experiences with Opus. I’ve got one OpX Cigar in a Bottle from I think 2013, thinking of burning it soon.

[Çnote]

3 hours ago, Capn_Jackson said:

I’ve got one OpX Cigar in a Bottle from I think 2013, thinking of burning it soon

Talk about a unicorn.

[Çnote]

3 hours ago, Capn_Jackson said:

two more I need to smoke still.

To my recollection you are only back one smoke, full moon. You're caught up with pork chop and full moon.

[Montezüma]

I would say that the Opus of this period is better than of recent years. I have never been so keen on the new varieties, most seem to be marketing to cater a wider audience despite what I assume to be production constraints of the original. But it's the original that has puzzled me in particular, as of late, seem to emanate a scent of what I think is ammonia off the cigars. I find it odd and have been removing cellos during dry boxing to mitigate. Recently picked up Lost City though, curious to experience the hype.

[Çnote]

12 hours ago, Montezüma said:

I would say that the Opus of this period is better than of recent years. I have never been so keen on the new varieties, most seem to be marketing to cater a wider audience despite what I assume to be production constraints of the original. But its the original that has puzzled me in particular, as of late, seem to emanate a scent of what I think is ammonia off the cigars. I find it odd and have been removing cellos during dry boxing to mitigate. Recently picked up Lost City though, curious to experience the hype.

Just to be clear, you are saying that the OpusX 10 years seemed better than now with regards to ammonia? The worst OpusX construction I've had are reliably 2010-2015 rolled tins and 'regular' FFOX from Newman. I would hope OpusX were still all quite aged tobacco and well rested before shipping so as to curtail ammonia, but with the stresses of demand who knows? There's not much backstock on cigars these days unless you really dig in to inefficiencies.

I would say there is a big difference in availability and price from what is Newman distributed vs Prometheus distributed. I personally think the broad range of Newman distributed is more about the broad range of OpusX level qualified wrapper available than anything else, and of course satisfying demand and expectations. There's a lot of expensive Fuente tobacco and a lot of people buying wrapper shade, vitola, and exclusivity. 

In my (limited) OpusX experience, Prometheus Opus6 is probably the best buy, even at the $. I've not had a bad roll from a Prometheus sampler, but humidity can be an issue. Same with Lost City. I've had generous company buy these to smoke immediately, but B&Ms are often wet and sometimes the company is indulgently distracting. So $40+ cigars that barely stay lit and get lost being smoked in conversation and oneupmanship. Lost City is a big $ part of CFCF, I haven't heard anything bad about what they do.

[Çnote]

On 10/24/2025 at 2:08 PM, Çnote said:

To my recollection you are only back one smoke, full moon. You're caught up with pork chop and full moon.

Oh. And Viaje Summerfest. And Tiff, she's going down soon.

[Capn_Jackson]

12 hours ago, Çnote said:

Oh. And Viaje Summerfest. And Tiff, she's going down soon.

And Shade.

[Capn_Jackson]

9 hours ago, Çnote said:

In my (limited) OpusX experience, Prometheus Opus6 is probably the best buy, even at the $. I've not had a bad roll from a Prometheus sampler, but humidity can be an issue. 

Prometheus stuff always needs extreme dry boxing, for me. Then they can be kinda good, maybe, sometimes. 
 

9 hours ago, Çnote said:

B&Ms are often wet and sometimes the company is indulgently distracting. 

Surely you’re not talking about me? Also, good thing you didn’t switch those two.

[Çnote]

On 10/26/2025 at 1:24 AM, Capn_Jackson said:

Prometheus stuff always needs extreme dry boxing, for me. Then they can be kinda good, maybe, sometimes. 

For both of us, it's hard to commit to $30+ cigars as an everyday event, and Opus6 samplers are closer to $50/cigar these days. 

On 10/26/2025 at 1:21 AM, Capn_Jackson said:

And Shade

I'm definitely not counting Shade.

On 10/26/2025 at 1:24 AM, Capn_Jackson said:

Surely you’re not talking about me? Also, good thing you didn’t switch those two.

No, I'm remembering some guys who were in a much better position than us to throw money around on cigars.