693. Trinidad Fundadores Aged 2017

10/09/2022/ ANDREDIAS95

Gifted by a friend.

Location: This review was made outdoors during windy evening, with 18C, 53% & 5 m/s wind.

Information:
Wrapper: Cuba
Binder: Cuba
Filler: Cuba
Origin: Cuba

Factory: N/A
Box: Sold in 24 count boxes.
Release: 1997
Availability: Regular Production

Size: 7.5×40, Lancero (Laguito Especial).

Wrapper: Reddish milk chocolate, smooth texture with small veins.

Construction: Firm and even feel when lightly squeezed.

Cold draw: Cedarwood.

1st third: Starts with a cedarwood, floral (white flowers), balsamic vinegar sweetness yet tart note & gingerbread spice.

2nd third: No changes in taste but it have gotten out at least twice which is a bit annoying.

Burn: Burns hasty and a little wonky and hasty, with a firm and and stable white-ish ash.

Smoke: Voluminous smoke with a cool feeling on the tongue with a medium light draw.

3rd third: No particular changes in taste just a tad bit more spice like white pepper from the start. Kept going out a few more times and it’s not because of the wind.

Duration: 19:15-20:25, 1h 10min.

Conclusion: A medium bodied cigar with a medium strength profile, enjoyable but a bit lacking in the complexity and while it kept going out a few times the flavours kept on par.

Result: In my book this is an 88 point cigar.

/Cigar Reviewer André

My favourite cigar, beautiful format, construction and flavour. Every time I have the pleasure of smoking one of these it takes my on a journey and brings back my first memory of when I was gifted this from Eddie Sahakian himself. He told me I would fall in love with the cigar and I have. I was even fortunate enough to pick up the last 1999 limited edition one from the Sahakian lounge, saving it for a very special event.

Really one of my all time favorite cigars. Stellar performance in all major categories, and who can deny the classic and easy to yield build? Spicy and full of life, it really is a bastion of flavor.

Just acquired a second box of these beautiful cigars. I was able to find it in Mexico City... and I'm convinced that the LCDH only sets out one box at a time, because they didn't have a second available for purchase. Worth the trip to Mexico City alone...

Look, it's a Cepo 40 habano and the draw will always be a little irregular but very few cigars can deliver in the same way as the fundador. I have one planned for this evening and the anticipation alone has improved my day immeasurably.

This cigar shares the thin air of the vaunted greats: the Behike series, the Montecristo 1935 line, your first Hoyo de Monterey Epicure.

If you have the chance, stop what you are doing, find still inside air, and spend a couple of hours with a Fundadores. Supplement with milky coffee and sweet whiskey as needed.

Toffee. Graham cracker. Cinnamon toast crunch. Cream from a good farm. A Nola roux. Brown butter and crunchy toast. Slow roasted cashews and peanut brittle.

I have one left in my humidor. It sits unsmoked and smuggled, knowing I can’t get a replacement. As it ages, in good conditions, I imagine what it is developing and remember the last one I smoked in the shadow of a South American volcano on a lake in the sunshine with a breeze. It was one of few cigars worthy of the view

This is what the Australians call a ‘skinny’ and all real aficionados rave about this cigar. The very fact that it’s not a 60 ring gauge as is so popular now, makes the cognoscenti feel that smoking it makes you a better person. This is why I bought several boxes, at great expense and I am afraid I regret it.

The taste is very strong, much more so than you would imagine for such a slender build, but that is often the case with thinner ring gauge cigars. They do taste properly and this is a good thing, but the flavours are very woody and a bit strong and dull. Like a rowing friend from university. It does have the advantage of developing and changing as you smoke it, which many cigars do not do and the construction is flawless, so it is a smoke which deserves proper respect.

In any event, it is much loved and I am delighted that it is, because like a peculiar breed of dog, those who love it love it. It’s just not for me. You must try one though since these slim cigars are very different to the average thicker ring gauges and they are all part of the joy of the smoking journey that we spend our days pursuing.