Taking time with a Fuente by Parker Shelato

Lately we have been blessed with an Indian summer, something completely unexpected, and something I have been trying to take advantage of fully. I find myself so often racing around to do the next thing, trying to occupy all my time with different endeavors that I make myself crazy. The past couple months have been very tedious for my little family - I spent over a month in the hospital recovering from a back surgery, and my wife has been finishing up her Masters Degree while taking care of me. I was lucky enough to have spent that time at Walter Reed Medical Center with some of the most inspiring wounded Veterans in the world.  They were able to remind me through their actions, that what we have is fleeting and it's all a matter of attitude how you allow problems to affect you. Since that time I have tried to find time everyday to slow things down and just enjoy what is around me. Today was especially beautiful, 65 with a light breeze, and I was determined to slow it down and enjoy it, so I went to the humidor to find something to enjoy the day. After a little digging I found what I was after, a Fuente Fuente Opus Forbidden X. I am not a big Fuente smoker, occasionally smoking an Anjeo, but the beauty of this cigar grabbed me when I saw it at my local B&M, so I had to try it. This cigar was beautifully dark, with only one real vein running down one side, and glistening with rich oils. Chelsea (my dog) and I went outside to enjoy the day. I slowly toasted the foot of the cigar, admiring the oaky smell coming from the first wisps of smoke. Finally, after toasting I was able to take my first puff from the stick and not in my wildest dreams would I have expected what greeted my palate. The smoke tasted like the inside of a well aged bourbon barrel, with hints of honey and sweetness mixing into the oak flavors I had first smelled. There was a pepper flavor that lingered in the back of my mouth and on the roof of my mouth, never overpowering, but always there, teasing my tastebuds, leaving me in anticipation of the next draw.  For the next half hour Chelsea and I wondered, chasing soccer balls, and enjoying our Spring day in the middle of January. It was just past the first third of the cigar that the creaminess of the smoke began to dissipate, along with the strong pepper flavor, mellowing the entire cigar out slightly. The oak and honey remained, but was joined by a white pepper that would linger more on the tip of the tounge and on the lips. These flavors remained throughout the second third, with an earthiness ever present just underneath of the bourbon barrel type flavors I was really enjoying. By this point I was an hour into my smoke, and was really enjoying it, not wanting the experience to end. The final third of the cigar was filled with the same oakiness the rest of the cigar had contained, but now took on a bittersweet coffee undertone. Along with the new addition to the flavor profile, the pepperiness from the first third came back, but not as potent. To me there aren't many ways to make a 65 degree day in January much better, however, adding this cigar to the mix managed to do that.  Some days you just need to go outside, enjoy the things around you, savor the moment, and thank God for the opportunity - if you can do that with a cigar in your hand, even better. This little adventure was not an adventure at all, but just an opportunity to slow things down and drink in one of the moments we allow to pass by too often during our normal lives.

Parker Shelato