Wrapper: Nicaraguan AGANORSA Corojo (Aged 5 Years)
Binder: Nicaraguan (Aged 5 Years)
Filler: Nicaraguan (Aged 5 Years)
Size: 6.25 x 52 “Toro-Ares”
Body: Medium
Price: $12.50 (Boxes of 10, $125.00)

Today we take a look at the Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares. This cigar made its debut at the 2014 IPCPR trade show and just hit the market in late August.

Only 2,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars were put to market.

A big A list reviewer gave it a lowly 82. But he and I have disagreed about a lot of cigars.

Reading his review, it sounds like it wasn’t humidified correctly. So either he got dried out cigars or he smoked it too soon. Only the Cosmic Muffin knows for sure.

This is one of the most beautiful presentations I’ve ever seen. The main cigar band is white with chrome lettering. (I’m screwed on the photos). A secondary band that is mostly chrome in color. And that parchment paper that covers the rest of the cigar with the Casa Fernandez logo on it.

The cap is rounded off. In order to inspect the cigar, I must remove everything ornate from the stick. It is slightly rustic. Seams are tight…but not everywhere. There are very few veins. The wrapper is a semi-oily light brown. Very smooth to the touch.

I clip the cap and find aromas of nuts, plums, very strong vanilla, and vanilla frosting. Smells very much like a marzipan candy bar.
Time to light up.

The first puffs are very nice. Big blast of red pepper. A sweetness derived from fruit and vanilla frosting. Creaminess shows up early to help the frosting element.

A get a hint of hickory. Smokey, baby, as in Robinson. Man, can that dude sing or what. I saw him recently on TV and he sang live. The man is 109 years old and still has that sweet falsetto. And sings in perfect pitch.
The strength is immediately classic medium. The char line is spot on.

Flavors begin to emerge: Creaminess, pepper, vanilla, marzipan, nuts, fruit, cocoa, leather, and wood.

The Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares seems to be about to hit the bell with the sledge hammer.

I’ve had 50/50 luck with the Casa Fernandez line. Sometimes these folks hit it out of the park and other times, well…they just lay there like a freshly caught flounder.

The other thing about Casa Fernandez that is a roll of the dice is the humidor time it needs. Some are great after a week. Others need 4 weeks. I think this blend needs 4 weeks. I taste great potential but it isn’t everything the cigar offers. But then, I’ve only smoked 1-1/2”. With the proper humidor time, it would be a flavor bomb by now. I predict it will take the cigar burning down to the halfway point before I hit the sweet spot.

The cigar is beginning to taste like a cream cheese/marzipan Danish. The cocoa has waned a bit and moves towards the end of the line. The red pepper is pounding away on my palate like a toucan on a big juicy frog.
The strength moves to full bodied and I am only approaching the second third.

The fruit defines itself now. A combo of dried fruit like raisins or figs. And dried peach.

The wood element gets pretty strong now. I can almost taste bark. Woof!

I can tell you now that the other reviewer either smoked the Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares too soon or got a dud because no way does this cigar deserve a lowly 82 rating.

I’ve been a big fan of Casa Fernandez since they arrived on the scene. I’ve reviewed a shit load of the blends. In fact, I count 10 Casa Fernandez reviews.

The second third begins and I get a huge wallop of powdered sugar. Just like a doughnut. Quite amazing. I can’t remember when, or if, I’ve tasted powdered sugar this strong.

The Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares has a lot to offer. The sweet spot is going to hit long before the halfway point. And as I write this, the cigar hits flavor bomb status. Just potent and wonderful flavors.

How rare to taste a cream cheese/marzipan Danish and powdered sugar doughnut at the same time.

This is quite the unique flavor profile. It is cranking out flavors. I can’t believe the other reviewer and I are smoking the same cigar.

The strength remains at medium/full.

At the end of the review, I want to tell you a story about me and my electric upright bass.

Back to the Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares.

The price point. Yeah, it ain’t cheap. I don’t know if it is worth $12.50. But it sure as hell is a dynamit cigar. The Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares’ flavor profile, character, complexity, balance and long finish make it deserve to be in that price range. This is a high premium stick.

I am so digging this cigar.

My only criticism is that the char line needs occasional touch ups. Nothing major. And if I were not taking photos, I’d leave it alone.

If the stick had major char line issues, I would show them.

Now it just gets friggin crazy. It morphs into a jelly doughnut. I can taste raspberry filling underneath that powdered sugar.

Jelly doughnuts were always my favorite. But since I gave up sugar 33 years ago, I have not eaten a single doughnut in all that time. Why doesn’t someone invent a sugar free doughnut?

The cigar is very smooth. Like gliding through the air in a parachute. Total serenity. And then you screw up and slam your head into the ground at 40mph. Been there, done that.

I am at the halfway point.

The strength seems to recede back to medium body.

The complexity is impressive.

Here are the flavors once again: Creaminess, vanilla, powdered sugar, marzipan, fruit, wood, leather, and spice.

The red pepper is almost gone now.

I preach a lot about spending too much dough on cigars; especially the new ones coming out of this year’s IPCPR trade show. Most are in the $11-$17 range. That is nuts and I refuse to spend that kind of money. Especially when there are some brilliant blends out there for much less.

I refuse to spend more than $9 on a cigar. This price point used to be the very top end of price points. Now it is the norm. But mostly more for new blends.

The last third begins.

The jelly doughnut element is powerful. Add the creaminess and nuttiness and this is a one of a kind cigar.
With less than 2” to go, the Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares remains smooth and hearty. Nice complexity. Flavors all intact.

Nicotine kicks in. Not a lot but noticeable.

This is an excellent cigar. In a month, I will come back with an update.

Regardless, I am positive that I entertained the full extent of the blender’s intent even with only a week of humidor time.

And now for something completely different:

It was 1986. I saw an ad in the Pennysaver when I lived in Fullerton, CA.

A Dobro electric upright. I had already spent 6 years playing a fretless and thought it was time to move on up.
The seller wanted only $60. What was wrong with it?

I got over there and all kinds of shit were missing. No tuning pegs. The amplification unit was archaic. No bridge and no strings.

I went ahead and bought it. After doing some research I decided to take it to the Dobro factory in Huntington Beach.

There, I met the owner and showed him the bass. He told me that Dobro experimented making electric upright but only made less than a dozen and changed their minds.

The owner told me to wait a minute and he disappeared into the warehouse.

He returned with the same bass but with everything intact. It was covered with half an inch of dust.
He told me he would trade me plus $60. I told him, “Don’t move.”

I drove quickly to an ATM and got the dough.

In the meantime, the owner’s dim witted wife wiped down the bass to get rid of the dust and of course caused scratches. They make instruments and she took a rag and wiped it down. What a moron. But I didn’t care.

He also threw in a brand new set of strings which run for about $50. And a brand new German bridge. Another $75.

I strung the bass and was disappointed. The “action” made the strings too high above the fret board…or neck. I didn’t have the finger strength to hold the strings down.

I had an epiphany. I went back to my old haunting grounds in Long Beach. I went to McCabe’s Music store. Infamous to musicians from newbies to rock stars.

I showed the bass to a guy that worked there. He was a luthier and he told me a story.

He worked for Dobro when they developed the bass back in the early 70’s.

His version was rejected because it would cost too much. He was so frustrated that he quit and moved on.
He told me that I should trust him and he would turn the bass into what it should be.

A week later, I returned and it was a different instrument. The action of the strings barely showed daylight underneath them. Playing it was a dream come true.

He advised me that it needed state of the art electronics and referred me to a guy in Hollywood that would fix me up.

I did as I was told. A week later I picked up my bass. This guy put some kick ass pick -ups on the bass.
I took it home and played it through my amp. Thunder! Lightning!

It took a little while to learn how to play it. But I conquered the beast in no time flat.

The entire expense to get a multi thousand dollar bass cost me a total of $1200.

From then on, every band I played in..mostly blues bands..I used that bass.

Unfortunately, in 2004, I sold the bass. I could no longer play it because of my sky diving injuries. It was just too difficult to play. Boy, do I miss that bass.

I can’t count the times a bar manager asked that I turn it down. It was making the sprayed on ceilings to dribble flakes on to the floor, and into patron’s drinks, from the mammoth sound it created and the thunderous vibration it created.

I later went back to McCabe’s and had them put little lugs on it so I could attach my guitar strap to it and play it like a bass guitar. You should have seen the looks I got when I played out.

There are three types of upright bass. There is 1/2., ¾, and full size. My Dobro was ¾ which was perfect. I have small hands and it was a perfect fit.

Most upright players play a ¾ size. Only the pro jazz players with giant hands play the full sized.
Now if you want to play an electric upright, the prices go from $500-$3000.

My fingers are crossed that my implant of a spinal stimulator will cure my ills and I can get back to what I love the most: Playing music.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS

Tags: Casa Fernández Aniversario Serie 2014 Ares Cigar Review, cigar review, cigar reviews by the katman, cigars