Fuente The Opus X Society Gold & Bullet 6 3/4″ * 50

Gold and Bullet is Manny Iriarte’s second cigar for The Opus X Society, his collector series with Arturo Fuente, and it opens a new run called The Society Chronicles as Capitulo Uno. The name sets two ideas against each other: gold for success earned through effort, the bullet for how quickly it can all be taken away. Like every Opus X it is a Dominican puro with a Chateau de la Fuente wrapper, made by Carlos Fuente Jr. Fuente has not disclosed the blend, but it smokes in the rich, full Opus X register, so expect cedar, dark cocoa, black pepper, and sweet spice over an oily core. At 6 3/4 by 50, the toro runs long and gives it room to open through the middle. Production is capped at 1,500 numbered boxes of twelve, which is most of the story: an Opus X that tends to be spoken for before it reaches a shelf. Opus X proved a wrapper could be grown in the Dominican Republic when the rest of the industry said it could not, and the Society releases are where Fuente shows off that farm. Pairs well with cognac, espresso, or port.