The 10 Best Arturo Fuente Cigars, Ranked by Our Tobacconists
We have sold Arturo Fuente cigars in Tampa's Ybor City since 1998, which means we have heard "which Fuente should I get?" more times than any other question in the store. This is our honest, argued-over-at-the-counter answer: the ten best Arturo Fuente cigars you can actually buy, ranked. Not a list of unicorns you will never find, but the cigars our own staff and regulars reach for, with reasons.
1. Don Carlos Eye of the Shark
The Eye of the Shark was Cigar Aficionado's #1 Cigar of the Year in 2017, and it has not gotten worse since. A box-pressed torpedo built for Don Carlos Sr.'s 80th birthday, it is dense with cocoa, leather and baking spice, and it is the Fuente we hand people celebrating something that matters. If you see it in stock, buy it that day.
2. Anejo No. 77, the Shark
The only box-pressed torpedo Fuente makes, wrapped in cognac-barrel-aged broadleaf. The Shark would top this list if you could buy one whenever you wanted, but releases come twice a year and vanish. Read our guide to landing one.
3. Hemingway Short Story
Forty minutes of perfect engineering. The Short Story is the most beloved small cigar in the world, mild to medium with the Cameroon wrapper's honey and spice. It is our most restocked cigar, full stop.
4. Flor Fina 8-5-8
The cigar Carlos Fuente Sr. smoked himself, and still one of the best value-for-quality plays in all of premium tobacco. The 8-5-8 is silky, balanced and priced for every day. If this list were ranked purely on cigars-per-dollar, it wins.
5. Don Carlos Robusto
The benchmark Dominican robusto. Aged Cameroon over patient filler, medium-full and flawlessly round. The Don Carlos Robusto is what "smooth but serious" tastes like.
6. Hemingway Classic
The original 1983 perfecto that revived the shape for the whole industry. The Classic gives you two hours of evolving Cameroon flavor and a piece of cigar history in the same stick.
7. Casa Cuba Doble Cinco
Carlos Sr.'s final blend, made deliberately in the old Cuban style. The Doble Cinco robusto is toasty, bready and nostalgic, with an aroma that turns heads across a patio.
8. Chateau Fuente Robusto (Sun Grown)
The cedar-sleeved classic. In sun grown dress, the Chateau Fuente adds caramel depth to the creamy house style, and it remains one of the most gifted robustos in our shops.
9. Magnum R Vitola 52
Glowing Ecuadorian rosado sun grown wrapper, naturally sweet, never harsh. The Magnum R 52 is the pick for smokers who want sweetness without an infusion.
10. Cuban Corona
The budget sleeper. Real Fuente long-filler quality at a lunch-money price, in a classic 45-ring format. Keep a box of Cuban Coronas around and Tuesday gets better.
Honorable mentions
- Rare Pink Short Story: the beloved perfecto in vintage-seed rosado, supporting breast cancer research.
- Destino al Siglo de Amistad: the centennial blend, made for gifts that mean something.
- Hemingway Work of Art: the prettiest hand-shaped perfecto in the catalog.
How to use this list
New to Fuente? Start at #3 and #4: a Short Story and an 8-5-8 cost less than lunch and explain the family's reputation in about an hour and a half. Ready to commit? Every cigar above is on our Arturo Fuente page with live pricing, singles through boxes, shipped fresh from our Ybor City humidor. And for the limited stuff at the top of the list, the email list at the bottom of this page hears about drops first.
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