Felipe II Fusion F1
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 We humbly admit when we are beaten.  T25C has hopes to provide a basic, if not very deep, view of a cigar when we review it in "Staff Reviews".  Since we received such a diverse set of reviews for the Felipe II Fusion F1, we're not going to even attempt to summarize them for you...we'll simply provide you with everyone's grades for each aspect, throw in a few comments our reviewers left, and let you be the judge.

Felipe II Fusion is the newest line of Nicaraguan cigars from Felipe Gregorio. The Fusion is rolled in such a way that the cigar gets progressively stronger as the cigar is smoked. The Felipe II Fusion will be released at the August RTDA show. The line consists of three shapes the F1 (7x48), F2 (6x46), and F3 (5x54). This cigar is a true puro made with Nicaraguan filler, binder, and wrapper tobaccos.

Here we go with our reviewers thoughts, a point to note, we had two guest reviewers (GR), and three staff reviewers (SR) smoke the F1.  The initials identify them below.

First off was the cigars appearance.

Appearance Characteristics 

Reviewer GR1 GR2 SR1 SR2 SR3
Grade B+ A A A B+

You get the drift, this cigar looks good.  Since there are no questions class, and all reviewers are in complete agreement, we will move on.

Quality & Construction Characteristics 

Reviewer GR1 GR2 SR1 SR2 SR3
Grade B B B C B

Okay, maybe there is not as much confusion as we thought?  Pretty good ratings for the construction of the cigar.  A few comments of note follow:

"The F1 is firm to the touch without hard or soft spots.  The draw on both of my samples was tight, although they seemed to light normally.  The F1 burns slowly and mostly even with a firm light gray ash."

"This cigar burned a giant "OK".  It had some schizophrenic traits, as it seemed to get harder, and then turn soft again as the cigar burned down."

Aroma and Lighting Characteristics 

Reviewer GR1 GR2 SR1 SR2 SR3
Grade C+ B B+ B B

What the heck were we saying about confusing reviews?  Bear with us, the king of review categories are the next two.  In the interim, check out these quotes on the aroma of the Felipe II Fusion F1.

"Based upon it's smell and taste, I figured this was going to be a mild to medium smoke."

"I loved the aroma of this cigar.  I think someone finally found a cigar aroma that is classic, yet refreshing.  This isn't a flowery "tetens-esque" smell, but a pure cigar smell that makes you anxious to dig in."

Taste and Aftertaste Characteristics 

Reviewer GR1 GR2 SR1 SR2 SR3
Grade C A B D C-

We almost nailed the complete grade spectrum when it comes to taste and aftertaste, here are some of the comments.

"Could this be more perfect?"

"About half way through, the amount of smoke started to pick up but the taste remained very mild but with a little more of a peppery tinge. The last third was similar to the second third... uneventful. I kept waiting for this cigar to give me a little more "oomph" as it burned, but it never did."

"I smoked the Felipe II Fusion – F1 samples on different days, one on an empty stomach and the other after a meal. Both samples tasted the same to me. The F1’s started with a mild bite to them and had a slight ammonia taste. I tasted very little else except “hints of” ammonia for the first half of both cigars. The second half of one sample started to taste a slightly earthy, but the other sample didn’t produce any other tastes."

Overall Smoking Experience 

Reviewer GR1 GR2 SR1 SR2 SR3
Grade C- A B D C

"This cigar opened my eyes to what a cigar really can be.  I'm happy as a lark.  Occasionally I get disappointed in cigars as they all start acting the same.  This is a welcome change."

"The F1 was a disappointment, especially for a cigar that is marketed as a limited production smoker’s cigar. I would be willing to try another only because of Felipe Gregorio’s reputation and my experience with some of their other cigars."

"I kept waiting for this cigar to impress me but it never did. My personal tastes are medium to full-bodied smokes so that does color my impression of the Fusion. I wasn't upset by this smoke but I sure wasn't sad to see it end. It looks like a Cadillac Sedan de Ville but under the hood it has an 80 horsepower engine."

There you have it, all over the board.  We're so stumped by the variance in reviews, that we have committed to reviewing the Felipe Fusion line again.  In a couple months look for another of the Felipe II Fusion cigars to be reviewed, and perhaps we'll be able to discern some kind of trend!

Vital Statistics:

Shape = Churchill
Length=7"   RG =48 
Wrapper = Nicaragua
Filler = Nicaragua
Binder = Nicaragua
Estimated Cost=$16.00
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