J. Fuego Edicion de Familia 2012

By Jeremy Hensley | January 16, 2013

Back in October of last year, Tony and I (with our significant others) made a road trip to Gilbert, Arizona to attend Fox Cigar Bar’s Foxtoberfest.  The attendees included Jesus Fuego of Tabacos S.A., Eddie Ortega of Ortega Cigar Company, Rocky Patel, Clint Aaron of 262 Cigars, and  Matt Booth of Room 101 Cigars. Hundreds of cigar consumers were in and out throughout the day, still Tony and I managed to find some time to introduce ourselves to most of the company owners.

I have been a huge fan of J. Fuego cigars, especially the Origen  in the Original size which I have been smoking by the brick.  With the awesome discounts they were offering at the event, I could not turn down a brick purchase of the J. Fuego soft packs.  I was set on purchasing a brick (12 soft packs) of the Sangre de Toro.  The sales representatives for J. Fuego informed me that I could mix and match any of the lines available in soft packs.  I ended up walking out with three soft packs from each line, Origen, Origen Maduro, Sangre de Toro, and Gran Reserva #1 Corojo, which I have been smoking the heck out of since.  I also was tempted to grab a box of the newly released Edicion de Familia, but hesitated since I had yet to fire one up.  Luckily enough, I ended up winning an Edicion de Familia 2012 through a giveaway cigarbrief.com was sponsoring a day later.  I’ve been looking forward to lighting this baby up since I received it back in November.  Based on my past experiences with J. Fuego cigars, I have high expectations for this Edicion de Familia 2012.

About J. Fuego Cigars:

The Fuego family has been in the business of growing, blending, and rolling cigars for five generations (since 1876 when J.Fuego was founded as a leaf growing company) in “El Corojo” farm, Cuba.

It was in 1995 when the family migrated to Central America. In 2006, after years growing, blending and making cigars for other companies, Jesus Fuego launched “Tabacos S.A.” with the release of the “J. Fuego” brand with his Natural and Gran Reserva lines. This, as a celebration of 130 years of his family in the cigar industry.

Since then Tabacos S.A. has introduced the J. Fuego Delirium, the 777 brand with Maduro, Corojo and Zero lines. The Origen brand was also introduced in 2010 with great acceptation from the consumers.

We are proud to offer a wide variety of flavors and prices in our cigar selection, made with tobaccos grown exclusively for Tabacos S.A. Enjoy. – jfuego.com

There is not much information available on the J. Fuego Edicion de Familia but you can find some background on it here at stogieguys.com.

The Facts
Price: Won from a Cigar Brief Giveaway
Format: Robusto Tubo
Size: 4 ⅞ by 49
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan and Honduran
Pairing: Club Soda

Pre-light

The J. Fuego Edicion de Familia sports two bands.  The primary band contains the common logo of the J. Fuego signature on top of a black tobacco leaf.  Additionally, the words “Edicion de Familia” are located at the bottom of the primary band.  The secondary band, located on the foot of the cigar, indicates the release year of the blend.  This one is of course the 2012 release.

My attention is immediately drawn to how rustic the wrapper appears.  Prominent and minor veins web across the entire cigar with several imperfections in the rusty brown color.    There are several bumps in the wrapper. This is something I have noticed with well aged cigars, especially aged Cubans, when the wrapper begins to form to the underneath binder. The cap has been neatly applied on the head of the cigar.  I am not able to pull much off the wrapper or foot of the cigar other than a mixture of manure, cedar, and a slight acidic note, possibly ammonia.  The cap clips easily but not much more is present on the cold draw.

First Third

I am a big fan of secondary bands on cigars for the visual impression they make on the shelf.  However, it gives more room to damage the wrapper.  I am happy to report that no damage was done on the removal of the band. The foot torches easily with my Zippo Z-Plus lighter, filling my mouth with a copious amount of smoke.  Instantly I am greeted with a bouquet of flavors that balance beautifully, making it hard to identify and pinpoint specific notes. As the cigar and my palate warm up, I note flavors of cedar, pencil shavings, salt, pepper, and a vegetal flavor.  The cedar is showcased in the retrohale.  The oils on the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper begin to come out next to the eye liner burn line.  The layering ash is holding strong as I close out the first third.  Flavors are medium at this point and I’m feeling no nicotine.

Middle Third

The ash finally dropped as I entered into the second third.   The cedar continues to be the most dominant flavor.  Charred meat and a peatiness enters the profile.   In the background there is mixture of the saltiness picked up in the first third complimented by a tad of sweetness.  This reminds me of eating French fries while drinking a milkshake.  Just not as in your face.  The burn line is absolutely perfect.    Flavors have moved up a notch, while the strength remains in the middle of the road.

Final Third

The main band comes unglued easily without any damage to the band or wrapper.  Being a cigar band collector, it is a minor annoyance when I have to tear the band to remove it without damaging the wrapper.  The cedar and earth notes have become much deeper, and a vegetal flavor remains behind the scenes.  As I nub the cigar, I once again welcome the balance and complexity of flavors I picked up on when I first lit up the Edicion de Familia.  It has been very rare in my limited smoking experiences for a cigar profile to return to the profile that began the journey.   I do not want to let this puppy go out.   The smoke has stayed cool and the burn has remained razor sharp to the very end.

Wrap-up

I do not have much experience with Sumatra wrappers, but if this stick is any indicator of the “Sumatra Profile” then I’ll be seeking more out.  The cedar core held strong till the very end with complimentary notes entering and departing from the flavor make-up.  Boxes were being snagged for $75 at the Foxtoberfest event.  If I had a few more bucks at the time, I would have picked up a box and now I regret not doing so.  Online the Edicion de Familia can be picked up for $10 for a single or $100 for the ten count box.  If you are ever in the Phoenix area, make arrangements to spend a day at Fox Cigar Bar.  Not only do they have an awesome cigar selection, but a bar stocked with tons of craft beers that rotate often.   I look forward to future visits to Fox Cigar Bar and I’ll definitely be grabbing a couple J. Fuego Edicion de Familia 2012 cigars, if they are still available.