Another Old Cigar Review: Hemingway Signature, WL Weller 19, & Gary Larson

Ah what a pleasant evening in North Central Ohio! So I could hardly resist the urge to take a wonderful cigar, a superlative bourbon, and some heady humor out onto the front porch this afternoon for a little enjoyment. First the cigar:

Name: A. Fuente Hemingway Signature
Size: 6" X 47
Shape: Perfecto
Wrapper: Cameroon

Some Backround:

From the creators of the famous Arturo Fuente Gran Reserva line come a line that is truly earned the name of Masterpiece. In the old days, father and son, Carlos Sr. and Carlos Fuente Jr. used to make, maybe twenty cigars a day just for themselves to smoke and enjoy. That first cigar is what is known today as the Hemingway Signature 6" x 47. The Signature was introduced in 1983 and that was the only shape available until around 1988 when they introduced the Classic and the Masterpiece. About that same time Carlos Sr. wanted to develop something totally different, unseen in cigars. So they started fooling around with a very short cigar, which was only for their own personal use. That cigar became the Short Story.

Today they make all these cigars and also a few very limited shapes such as the Work of Art, Best Seller, Untold Story or the Between the lines as well as others. These cigars are extremely difficult to make so their production is very small. Carlos Sr. and Carlos Jr. accumulate the limited production of these cigars in the aging rooms and usually release them around the holidays, something special for their fellow cigar smokers to enjoy.


A light chocolate stick with few veins and nary a visible flaw, this one just looked like a gem to begin with. Being a perfecto it was a cinch to light, even with a regular match. Almost immediately I was surrounded in a plethora of round silky smooth smoke. This cigar started of sweet, with notes of brown sugar, cinnamon, and honey, very very mild. It burned perfectky even and left light silvery ash with a snow white outer casing that held firm until reaching about an inch in length. Draw was easy but not too fast and it smoked at just the right pace for me. About 1/2 way through it started taking on this dark choclate quality in taste and this fascinating menthol tingle around the edge of my mouth that was quite entoxicating. The last third did gather in intensity a bit, with white pepper and this spicy sweet feel that I could not put my finger on becoming predominate. I smoked this puppy down to a nub, and only stopped when it became impossible to hold onto anymore. Very refined, if you want a milder smoke to accompany something very special, this may be your call.

The whiskey: WL Weller 19 year, 90 proof: definately that something special. It ranks easily in the top five of my favorite bourbons, and due to its limited avaiability (and ceased production) it only gets poured on very special occasions. I had a feeling this would be one of them, and I was right. The bourbon was fruity with hints of apples and elderberries, and had this fantastic undertone of barrle notes and brown sugar molasses that had me enthralled. Also quite refined, this was a great compliment to the Hemingway, as was the herf to the bourbon.

One might not initially think of comics as the perfect compliment to these two, but dont knock it till you try it. While "The Far Side" may not be for everyone, it seemed to fit in nicely there.

My conclusions are simple: Hemingways deserve a place in every discerning cigar enthusiasts humidor, and if you can find it, WL Weller 19 should be hoarded. It is that good. I look forward to doing this one again.






TomC