Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull

I’d love to know how many cigar companies would put a cigar on display at a trade show—make that the trade show—and then ask the media not to write about it. Yet that’s exactly what happened with Arturo Fuente’s Don Carlos Eye of the Bull in 2022, and that request went so far as to come from Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. himself.

While the cigar wasn’t even being discussed at the 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show—despite it being on display, even if in a not-yet-completed state—it was one of the centerpieces of Arturo Fuente’s booth at the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show, as it was only being offered to retailers who placed orders for it during the event. Whether or not the availability of the cigar changes in the future remains to be seen.

As for the cigar, it is a 3 1/2 x 55 short robusto, a vitola that seems better suited with Oliva’s NUb brand than with the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos line. The cigar has been a personal project of Ciro A. Cascella, executive president of Arturo Fuente International, for at least four years, though exactly what that means hasn’t been disclosed. The blend remains the same, with a Cameroon-grown wrapper atop a Dominican-grown binder and filler. Yet where the cigar differs from the other vitolas is on its cap, which features a small piece of darker tobacco that has been added to mimic a bull’s eye.

The cigars are presented in boxes that are more reminiscent of the Don Carlos The Man and the Don Carlos Personal Reserve than the regular production Don Carlos cigars that are sitting in your local retailer’s humidor. This means that the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull comes in boxes with inner trays that have been engraved, in this case, with Don Carlos on the top portion of the tray and Eye of the Bull on the lower portion. The boxes also carry markings that would indicate these are part of the Don Carlos Edición de Aniversario series, which debuted in 2015 as part of “The Man’s 80th,” meaning Carlos Fuente Sr.’s 80th birthday.

As for pricing, the official MSRP is $12.80 per cigar, though as I’m sure many commenters will note, it’s a challenge to find them at that price.

• Cigar Reviewed: Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia.
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 3 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 55
• Vitola: Short Robusto
• MSRP: $12.80 (Box of 20, $256)
• Release Date: July 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

It takes a moment or two to get past the look of the cigar, as it looks like this was intended to be a toro but that got an impressively clean cut halfway through. While it would, in theory, be nearly impossible to miss the dark spot of tobacco on the head, I could see it not standing out as one of the first things someone notices. I’m surprised to see how firmly the cigar is rolled, as it is to a level I don’t often think of from Fuente. There’s just a touch of give, but this is one of the firmest Fuente creations I can recall. In true Fuente form, there are some dried glue spots around the wrapper, about the only thing that distracts from an otherwise evenly colored wrapper and its network of small, puckered veins. A bit of sweet, slightly damp wood emanates from the foot, a very pleasant fragrance with which to start off the experience. A lack of pepper softens its effect in the nose, making it that much more approachable and enjoyable. The cold draw is firm and a bit less forthcoming with flavors, though I do get a very distinct sweetness once I remove the cigar from my mouth—more on that in the final notes. What I do get is a very light, very dry flavor that sits between tobacco leaves and a generic wood.

After what feels like a bit more time with the lighter than normal to get the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull toasted and lit, the cigar starts off with a dry profile that works the edges of my tongue with light, dry wood, while pepper fills in the gaps and creates a sensation on the middle of my tongue. My whole mouth picks up on the drying effect, and I find myself reaching for some water not long after those first puffs. There’s still just a touch of sweetness from the head of the cigar, though it diminishes with each puff. White pepper picks up after the first third of an inch or so, really bringing the cigar to life across all the senses. I get a bit of creaminess stepping in and out of the flavor profile as this section comes to a close, while the retrohales continue to be pepper-forward, making for an enjoyable contrast between the two experiences. The cigar burns through the first third at a decent speed, with a draw that is smooth if a touch firm but far from labored. Smoke production and the burn line are both above average. Flavor builds from medium-minus to medium-plus, with retrohales pushing the experience up another tick or two. Body is medium-minus and strength is on the mild side thus far.

As might be expected, it feels like the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull is close to its end by the time it gets into its final third, but it still has a relatively decent amount of tobacco left to burn. The wood and white pepper continue to drive the profile, but I begin to get what seems like the sweetness and spiciness that I associate with the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos blend, and in particular, its spicier aspects. I readily acknowledge that the size of a cigar affects the blend, as does crop variances from year-to-year, but this certainly pales in comparison to what my favorite vitola in the line—the No. 2—offers, or at least offered the last time I smoked one. This section moves fairly quickly as well, though it feels to slow down a bit, providing a bit more time to savor the smoke compared the first third. Flavor holds steady at medium-plus, though with a touch more complexity than the first third. Body is medium and strength is still mild. Construction remains good, though in an effort to not rush through the cigar, I find myself spacing out my puffs to the point where I need to relight the cigar. The draw, smoke production and burn line remain very good.

Retrohales continue to be quite enjoyable as the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull, as they offer a bright white pepper that leads the way into this final section. The flavor, meanwhile, picks up a bit more black pepper to create some contrast, while that black pepper is still followed by dry lumber and now touches of earthiness, though not the typical Dominican terroir of loamy soil. In fact, I can’t say I get any terroir, but rather a fairly generic, dry earthiness that builds as the burn line progresses. Some creaminess works its way into the profile at times, though it can’t quite match the intensity of that earthiness. Whatever signature notes of the Don Carlos blend the Eye of the Bull offered in the second third have largely faded away, though there are spots where I get a very dry red chili pepper sensation via the finish. Heat increases as would be expected in the final puffs, and in some ways, I’m surprised that it took this long to set in, something for which I have to give the cigar credit. I’m not thrilled with the draw and combustion rate in the first cigar; while I appreciate the slowed-down pace to savor every puff the cigar has to offer, it does seem like the monologue that won’t quite end. The first cigar was particularly slow-burning, while the second improved, and with it, so did the enjoyment. The third was only minutes faster than the others, yet it felt a good bit faster. Construction remains very good in all categories, while flavor finished medium-full, body is medium-plus, and strength just toes the line of medium.

Final Notes

• The sweetness that I got from the head of the cigar before lighting it immediately sparked memories of the discussions around Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust’s Sobremesa Brûlée Blue and whether or not it used a sweetened cap. I don’t think either cigar uses a sweetened cap, but the comparison was instant.
• It is also very fleeting, as after I was about five minutes into the cigar, I never noticed it again.

• Here’s what the dark spot on the cap looks like.
• I did some searching to see if I could find this cigar at MSRP, and let’s just say that the results were pretty much nonexistent. I’m sure there is some retailer selling these at or near the $12.80 price point, and I understand that taxes factor into the pricing a consumer sees, but the vast majority of prices I saw were double to near triple that MSRP.
• I have long held the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos blend in high esteem; in real-world terms, I think it is a blend that every serious cigar smoker tries at least a couple of times and keeps it their regular rotation, as I have found it to be a stellar example of a blend that allows the Cameroon wrapper to shine.
• The final push of strength was enough to have me feeling a little of the strength but not enough to have me feeling woozy or in search of white sugar to neutralize the effect.
• I acknowledge that I am a slow smoker, and I’m not in any rush to change how I smoke cigars, but even with that acknowledgment, this seemed like a cigar that took a really long time to get through.
• Arturo Fuente advertises on halfwheel.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. In the interest of absolute disclosure: various Arturo Fuente employees have gifted these cigars to multiple members of the halfwheel team over the years, none of those cigars were used for this review.
• Final smoking time was two hours on average.
• Site sponsors Cigar Hustler, Cigars Direct and Gotham Cigars carry the Arturo Fuente Don Carlos Eye of the Bull.