Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos

In the final weeks of 2023, Ferio Tego began shipping a pair of new vitolas for its Timeless Prestige line, both shorter sizes seemingly meant for the colder months.

The first is the No. 4, a 4 1/2 x 40 petit corona priced at $9.25, while the other is the cigar being reviewed today, the Divinos. It’s a 5 x 32/50/36 short perfecto priced at $12.50. Both new sizes are offered in boxes of 20 cigars and use a Honduran wrapper over a binder from the Dominican Republic and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

“The Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige is an incredibly complex blend, utilizing tobaccos from all three major manufacturing countries of origin, Honduras, Nicaragua and Dominican Republic,” said Michael Herklots, co-founder of Ferio Tego, in a press release. “The addition of these formats ensures there is a cigar that everyone will enjoy in this exquisite and complex blend, especially in these colder months and busy holiday season.”

With these new sizes, the Timeless Prestige line grows to eight that are regular production. The company also added a 6 1/4 x 38 in June 2023, meaning that three new sizes were added last year.

The Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige line is made by the Quesada family at Tabacos de Exportación in the Dominican Republic.

• Cigar Reviewed: Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacos de Exportación
• Wrapper: Honduras
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Honduras
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 32/50/36
• Vitola: Short Perfecto
• MSRP: $12.50 (Box of 20, $250)
• Release Date: November 2023
• Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos has an interesting shape for a perfecto as the tapered lower half makes it look somewhat like a spike and, thus, something that would be driven into the ground. It’s a good-looking cigar, as the wrapper has a bit of a slightly oily sheen. The seam lines are more visible than the veins, though both are noticeable when looking at all sides of the cigar. Both can be particularly noticeable around the head of the cigar, which faces an added variance in the color of the tobacco used to create that top portion. The three cigars all look to be rolled well and have a very firm, if not hard, density with a few small spots that have give. The tiny foot doesn’t offer much tobacco to smell, and what I get reminds me of an open bag of Cheerios, though more subtle than if I were smelling the cereal. I seem to get more if I just smell the wrapper, which has bread crust and light, damp wood. The cold draw is very good in terms of airflow, but like the cold draw, it doesn’t offer a lot for my taste buds. First impressions lead me to white bread and milk, but nothing follows those two sensations in two cigars, while a touch of dry nuttiness appears in the third cigar.

I find the first puffs of the Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos to offer a range of starts, one is rather mild, while the other two are fairly flavorful, though that flavor has some chalk and pepper which don’t make the best first impression for my palate. As the burn line progresses and gets into the thicker portion of the cigar, the flavor fills out rather well and I find more commonalities, namely a bit of toast, almond, cream and a slight touch of butter. There is still a bit of chalk, but I now pick up some earthy terroir that gives it more context as opposed to being a standalone sensation, and it works better than it did just a few moments ago. I want to say the terroir is largely Dominican, but some hits of dry earth make me think of the other countries in the blend. As the cigar readies for its second third, while the finish has a touch of pepper on it. Retrohales are pretty enjoyable, adding a bit of light pepper and toasted bagel to the experience. Some combustion issues emerge at the end of this section, something I’m puzzled by as the cigar doesn’t seem damp and while the cigars are all dense, there are no issues with airflow. Otherwise, smoke production is good for the size of the cigar and the burn line stays fairly even. While I don’t generally mention the ash in the construction notes, this ash seems different enough, splitting like it had been hit with an axe in the first cigar, and while it does build up into familiar clumps, enough flakes off to give it a unique texture.

The second third of the Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos is a bit fuller in flavor, as the terroir now tastes a bit damp, the wood is a bit fuller, and the pepper has more potency, particularly on the finish. It’s still a medium-plus profile, but it’s a step up the scale from the first third, and the experience is better for it, almost an edited and developed version of the first third. Retrohales catch my attention more in the second third than they did in the first, as they are fuller, richer, and more distinct than simply being an accent to the flavor. The flavor has more earthy terroir, yet it’s not more intense, and—for a bit—it seems the retrohale is now fuller than the flavor. There’s less pepper on the whole. A bit of campfire takes the cigar across the midway point; it’s a flavor that I enjoy, but I wonder if it is coming from needing to relight the cigar as each of the three struggles to stay lit in this section. The final puffs of this section really show the char of multiple relights. I probably didn’t help anything by using a high-powered torch, but after a soft flame lighter seemingly failed to do the job, I figured it was time to bring out some additional firepower. Flavor is medium, body is medium-full and strength is mild. Combustion issues persist, but when the cigar is burning, I don’t experience any notable issues as the draw is smooth, the burn line is even and smoke production is solid.

The char does seem to bring out some black pepper as the Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos gets into its final third, particularly in retrohales, which is pretty enjoyable and brings it back into the fold after being absent for much of the second third. The pepper appears in the retrohale as well, which brings them more into alignment and complements the puffs. If I were getting the experience without the underlying combustion issues, I’d have to think I’d be enjoying it more, but given how many relights each cigar has required, I’m wondering just what the underlying flavors actually are. That said, for the number of relights that each of the three Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos has needed, the flavor is doing a commendable job in staying enjoyable. As the burn line passes through where the bands would be, I get a peppery sensation further down my throat, but I wouldn’t call it irritating, just a new sensation. The flavor dials back the earth just a bit, brings in a bit more woodiness, and tingles my mouth with a light pepper on the finish. I’d call it a medium-plus profile, with a medium-full strength and not much strength. The construction story remains the same, with combustion issues but no other problems.

Final Notes

• Needless to say, combustion presented more challenges and frustrations than I am generally willing to tolerate from a cigar. If it had not been for a review, I’m not sure I would have made it to the final third.
• This was also a case where our scoring rubric doesn’t completely accommodate for this many relights, as it treats cigars that experience a full relight during one third of the cigar the same as if a cigar required three relights in a single third. Thankfully, this was more of a frustration issue than something that seemed to affect flavor.
• In addition to whatever all the relights did to the flavor, they also interrupted the continuity of the cigar and its ability to deliver its profile. I equate it to having a conversation and being constantly interrupted or trying to watch a movie but hitting pause every couple of minutes. It’s simply not the same without that continuity.
• I’m sure I’ve seen it elsewhere, but this vitola immediately reminded me of the Viaje Zombie Antidote, just shorter.
• I didn’t get any noticeable nicotine strength from the Ferio Tego Timeless Prestige Divinos.

• These cigars were listed by the company as 5 x 32/50/36 perfectos. Due to the unique taper of this cigar, we didn’t measure the ring gauge.
• In the U.S., Ferio Tego is distributed by Davidoff of Geneva USA.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 15 minutes on average.