Nestled within the mineral-rich lands of the Dominican Republic’s Bonao Valley, the famed Chateau de la Fuente tobacco farm belonging to Arturo Fuente has become internationally renowned for its top-quality output, which is considered among the finest in the world.
It wasn’t always this way; prior to the mid-1990s, AF family boss Don “Carlito” Fuente Junior was accused of being a mere ‘assembler’ of cigars rather than a ‘maker’ of them because many of his tobaccos and wrappers were produced elsewhere — including overseas.
Determined to show up his detractors, Carlito purchased a 37-acre plot of land to grow his own Dominican wrappers, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Today, the Chateau de la Fuente is a manicured, 300-acre estate that boasts some of the very best tobaccos produced anywhere. It is these leaves — from the Fuente family’s private reserve — that are blended and incorporated into this Chateau Fuente vitola of the Chateau Fuente line from Arturo Fuente. In this cedar-sleeved, Robusto-shaped cigar, these exquisite tobaccos are surrounded by an attractive, silky, genuine Connecticut shade-grown wrapper, to produce a well-constructed, perfectly balanced, mild and medium-strength smoke with a smooth draw and a dead-even burn.
Rich flavors borne out of these sticks include cedar, oak, nutmeg and toasted nuts; smokers have remarked on the lack of bitterness or harshness. As such, these cigars are excellent for those new to smoking, although for those more experienced, they also present a reasonable alternative to more expensive, full-bodied smokes.