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Stogie Reviews: Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8

21 Jun 2007

The Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8 is one of Fuente’s most reasonably priced smokes, and often cited as a bargain that gets you a lot of bang for your buck.

Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8While Fuente’s Hemmingway, Anejo, Don Carlos, and Opus X lines all regularly sell in the double figures, this six inch by 47 ring gauge smoke can be had for around $3 in many local cigar shops – far closer to the price of Fuente’s mixed-filler cigars like Brevas Royal and Curly Head. Yet the Flor Fina features a Cameroon wrapper around a binder and long filler from the Dominican Republic.

One thing I’ve often heard about this cigar is that it really benefits from some aging. So, due to that suggestion – and the fact that these 8-5-8’s remained at the bottom of my humidor where they were less able to tempt me – the two cigars that are the basis of this review had nearly a year of age in my humidor before they were smoked.

When I did finally retrieve these cigars, I found a rough and rustic Cameroon wrapper with a lot of veins. The classic Fuente band is reassuring around an otherwise unimpressive looking cigar.

After clipping the head and lighting up, I noticed a loose, easy draw. The toro-sized cigar started out with some nice nut, pine, and herbal flavors, but the finish was harsh and bitter. As the cigar progressed, the spice from the Cameroon wrapper came to the forefront as most of the nut and pine flavors faded, but unfortunately, the bitter finish remained.

This is one of the most aromatic cigars I’ve ever had; a spicy, toasty aroma radiates from the warm and bountiful smoke. And despite the persistent loose draw and dark gray ash that was a little flaky, this grand corona kept a razor-sharp burn.

Overall, the Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8 is a solid medium-bodied cigar that yields delicious smoke and has a complex blend of flavors. Unfortunately, due to its underwhelming looks and bitter finish, I can only give it a rating of three out of five stogies.

[To read more StogieGuys.com cigar reviews, please click here.]

Patrick S

Tags: Cigars

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5 Responses to “Stogie Reviews: Arturo Fuente Flor Fina 8-5-8”

  1. jabba Thursday, June 21, 2007 at 8:26 pm #

    If I'm not mistaken MSRP is $4, I also find them to be average smokes

  2. Peter the Habana Guy Thursday, June 26, 2008 at 6:53 am #

    Having just returned from China where I was able to spoil myself with real Cuban cigars I picked up a handful of 8-5-8's at Bevmo.

    No time to age so smoked one right from the store wrapper. My first one had a firm draw, solid whitish ash and thin smoke, agree with the complex flavors and the bitter finish. After a spell RyJ #1 and Short Churchills in abundance I thought I might be disappointed but this is really quite a decent smoke.

  3. KPI Tuesday, July 21, 2009 at 11:02 am #

    I've smoked a couple of these in the maduro version. I found them to be good enough for every day smokes and have a box I've laid to rest in my humidor. The 2 that I smoked both needed to be relit several times and had a terrible burn line. They were also a bit firm in the draw. If not for the poor construction these could well be worth much more. But then, I'm happy to be paying less for a decent smoke. Definitely a good value and perhaps the burn issue will improve with age. A thought just came to mind. Could it be that these were produced intentionally less than perfect in order for more people to be able to afford them? The man is definitely an artist. And perhaps he's got rookie rollers assembling these. Whatever the reason these are a new addition for me and I intend to enjoy them for as long as I can.

  4. Stephen Allen Monday, February 13, 2012 at 10:25 pm #

    I just found a box of Flor Fina 858's in my local cigar shop. Upon inspection, the cellos were yellow and the cigars had a light dusting of white powder – a great find! I am a big fan of Arturo Fuente and these will be my first 858s. They were a bit on the pricey side, nearly $9 each. I think, however, I will go back and buy them out. These are well aged smokes and may be hard to find in the open market.

  5. Vaper Friday, February 22, 2013 at 1:00 pm #

    Shut up nerds!