Fine Cigar AZ Phenom No 3 Review (Rated 90)
See original article here: https://finecigaraz.wordpress.com/tag/fq-cigars/
Introduction:
The FQ Cigar line is a branch of Fernandez Y Quiroga, LLC is the work of Matthew Hunt and was founded in 2013. As of now the have three offerings on the market, the Phenom No 1, Phenom No 2, and the Phenom No 3. All three are robusto vitolas in a 5×50.
The cigars smoked for this review were provided by Matthew Hunt and were the Phenom No 3.
Appearance/Construction:
The Phenom No 3 cigar is a very nice looking cigar. The color of the wrapper is a nice medium brown and is smooth to the touch and has minimal veins, visible seams, and some tooth on the wrapper. There are tons of oils present and visible. The cigar sports two bands stacked on top of each other, both bands feature the same black background with golden lettering and design. The main band calls out the name FQ Cigars, and the secondary band calls out the Phenom name.
Flavor/Taste & Aroma:
The aroma of the cigar pre light is medium/full. Cold draw has aromas of espresso, tobacco, and mild spice. After toasting the foot and taking the first few draws you are greeted into a cigar that has tons of pepper and spice, dark chocolate and espresso notes. The finish is smooth and creamy; it has notes of warm spices, and cedar. As the cigar moves into the second third the pepper and spice find the perfect balance with the chocolate and espresso notes of the cigar. The cedar notes stays well in the background but present enough to be enjoyed. The final third of the cigar finishes closer to the first third tons of pepper and spice backed up by chocolate and espresso.
Smoking Characteristics:
The construction on the cigar is well executed, and this lends to a slow and even burn from head to foot. It is producing a solid white ash on the end. The ash was solid for about a third of the cigar before it fell off. There is a good amount of thick creamy chewy smoke being produced with each puff. The draw was on the tight side of open and allowed for a fair amount of smoke production on both ends of the cigar.
Conclusion/Overall Impression:
The Phenom No 3 is a solid cigar that has some well balanced consistent notes from start to finish. There will be no major surprises in this cigar. The solid construction adds to the enjoyment of smoking a cigar that needs not effort to smoke. The burn was perfect and needed not attention from start to finish. I would suggest grabbing a few some to smoke now and some to see how these age and try them again after a year or so resting.
4.5 /5 – Very Enjoyable
