Carlos Fuente Jr. began the power cigar trend with his 1996 release of Fuente Fuente OpusX and the 1999 creation of Ashton VSG. In December 2009 he showed the world his nuanced side with the creation of the Arturo Fuente Rosado Sungrown Magnum R. Dipping into his family's stocks of old tobacco, Fuente turned to Ecuadoran Sumatra tobacco that was leftover in his inventory from his Arturo Fuente Sun Grown line. The old wrappers—they sat for up to 10 years—came from much lower on the plant, giving them less power and spice. The result is a sublime, balanced and elegant cigar with plenty of sweet wood and earth flavors, just a touch of leather and a sweet finish. Fuente is celebrating its 100th anniversary (see page 88) and it makes more than 30 million cigars a year. It speaks to the company's reserves of well-aged tobacco as well as to the creative juices of the family that a company that has been doing this for so many years and in such large capacity can come up with something so new and so delicious.

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