Arturo Fuente Royal Salute Sun Grown - BOX OF 10

More than a few longtime Fuente smokers will tell you, unprompted, that this is their favorite cigar the family makes, ahead of anything else in the catalog. At 7⅝ x 54, Royal Salute is genuinely one of the largest, most substantial cigars Arturo Fuente produces, a Presidente shape that delivers on both size and depth, and the Sun Grown version wraps that legendary blend in an Ecuadorian leaf cultivated in direct sunlight rather than under shade.

That sun-grown cultivation matters more than a cosmetic difference. Grown in full sun rather than shade cloth, the wrapper develops thicker, darker, more heavily veined tobacco with a natural richness and depth that a Connecticut-style leaf simply doesn't replicate. Underneath sits a select blend of Dominican binder and long-filler tobacco grown at the family's own Chateau Fuente estate farms in Santiago, handmade and shipped in the Chateau Series' signature cedar sleeve. Cigar Aficionado rated the line 90 points, and the profile most reviewers describe opens with a genuine blast of cedar and white pepper from the wrapper, intense enough in the first inch that it functions as the foundation for everything that follows, before settling into the smooth, sweet, earthy Dominican character the Fuente name has built its reputation on.

From there the flavor develops in real layers: cedar and roasted coffee giving way to cocoa powder, caramel, and roasted cashew through the middle, with white pepper, toasted oak, and honeyed earth threading through the retrohale, before espresso crema, charred cedar, and a touch of leather close things out on a long, smooth, balanced finish. This is a cigar with genuine aging potential, 8 to 10 years in a properly maintained humidor, during which the spice mellows and the sweetness deepens into something even silkier. At this scale, meant to be smoked slowly, this is not a cigar for a quick break. It's the one Fuente devotees reach for when the occasion, and the time, actually call for it.

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Flavor progression:

1. Opening: a potent blast of cedar and spicy white pepper from the sun-grown wrapper, sweet cedar and roasted coffee alongside creamy almond and warm baking spice
2. Mid-smoke: the intensity settles as smooth Dominican filler takes over, cocoa powder, caramel, and roasted cashew developing into a rich, velvety texture
3. Close: espresso crema, charred cedar, and a touch of leather round out a long, smooth finish, refined sweetness lingering to the last draw

Key Features:

1. Brand: Arturo Fuente
2. Line: Chateau Series
3. Founded: 1912, by Don Arturo Fuente
4. Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente, Santiago, Dominican Republic
5. Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
6. Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sun Grown (cultivated specifically for Arturo Fuente)
7. Binder: Dominican Republic (Chateau Fuente estate)
8. Filler: Dominican Republic (Chateau Fuente estate)
9. Construction: Handmade, cedar sleeve presentation
10. Vitola: Presidente
11. Size: 7⅝ inches x 54 ring gauge
12. Strength: Medium to Full
13. Flavor Profile: Cedar, white pepper, roasted coffee, cocoa, caramel, roasted cashew, espresso, leather, honey
14. Rating: 90 points, Cigar Aficionado
15. Aging Potential: 8 to 10 years
16. Box Count: 10 cigars
17. Price per Cigar: approximately $16.50