By: Dr. Mitch Fadem
Rating: 2 Stars

Parts 2 & 3 of The Opus X Challenge

I thought the Serino Royal Maduro XX Belicoso was a great match-up against the Opus X. At least I think so. I won’t know for sure until I smoke the Opus at the end of this series of articles. Next up are the Zino Platinum Scepter Chubby and the Padilla Top Secret.

Cigar #2 – AJ Fernandez X Padilla (Top Secret) Poetica

This is actually a pre-release cigar offered by the Privada Cigar Club.

This will be a very short review because I did not like it. The draw was way too light with no resistance at all. The burn was uneven, and the ash fell off at just ½ and inch. The real problem was the flavor and aroma. The taste reminded me of burnt sugar cookies and polenta and not in a good way. The aroma? It smelled like I was smoking while sitting in a port-a-potty.

I don’t know what the final release will be like, but for $12, I would not even bother to try it.

Okay, our fist cigar failure. Let’s keep going.

Cigar #3 - Zino Platinum Scepter Chubby

The cigar measures 4½ x 50, and has an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper and binder with Peruvian and Dominican fillers. Yes, it sounds interesting. The binder has been aged for 4 years. I’m not certain what that will do for the overall smoke. The pre-light draw is good, better than I expected for a double perfecto.

Aromas and Flavors

The aroma reminded me of fresh cut grass. Don’t get me wrong I like the smell of fresh cut grass, but I don’t want to smoke it. There was good smoke output and a very solid ash that did not fall off until I stopped smoking the cigar just past the midpoint. What? The smoking flavor remained like green grass with a mix of strong black pepper and tin can. I struggled to keep smoking it until just past the middle when it started getting too hot on the draw.

How do these two match up to the Opus X?

They both failed miserably and to say the least, I was very disappointed with the Zino. They usually are better than this. With a $12 a stick price tag on these, I would not buy either of them nor would I smoke them for free.