Quick Smoke: Casa Fernandez Arsenio Serie Oro Toro

Each Saturday and Sunday we’ll post a Quick Smoke: not quite a full review, just our brief verdict on a single cigar of “buy,” “hold,” or “sell.”

One of the first cigars I smoked under the Casa Fernandez brand was Arsenio, which is named after Casa Fernandez master blender Arsenio Ramos. It’s a tremendous value considering $45 gets you a box of ten. In 2014, Casa Fernandez added a new Arsenio line called Serie Oro. Today I’m smoking the large Toro (6.5 x 54), which retails for just under $10. The Nicaraguan puro features a Corojo wrapper grown at an Aganorsa farm in Estelí. With a soft, box-pressed shape, the cigar produces medium-bodied flavors with plenty of graham cracker sweetness and black coffee notes. Construction is excellent. It is hard to beat the original Arsenio when it comes to valye, but the Serie Oro is a fine, balanced, well-made cigar.

Verdict = Buy.

–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys,