Named after a domino (a game famously played in the streets of Havana, among many other places), the Arturo Fuente Casa Cuba Doble Cinco (“Double Five”) moniker also could refer indirectly to these sticks’ size (5 inches long, with a 50 ring gauge — shaped into a Robusto form).
The Doble Cinco is one vitola in the last series of cigars to be masterfully mixed by Arturo Fuente patriarch Don Carlos Fuente Senior; the line was released just three years before the elder Don Carlos passed away in 2016. "I blended this cigar the way I used to blend Cuban tobacco," he recalled in a 2011 interview.
Bearing the Flor Fina name (a sub-brand of Arturo Fuente) on their box and bands, rather than that of the Fuente family, Doble Cincos are nonetheless still rarer than other vitolas in the Casa Cuba range.
Utilizing natural golden-brown Ecadorean wrappers, an aged Dominican binder and super-premium long-fillers similar to those used in Arturo Fuente’s Opus X releases, these old-school cigars were constructed to pay homage to Don Carlos’ father, legendary company founder Arturo Fuente, who was born and grew up in pre-1900s Cuba.
Scoring a rating of 92 and placing 23rd in the Cigar Aficionado Top 25 list for 2016, these sticks are medium-bodied, mild-to-medium-strength and wonderfully delectable. Perfectly balanced flavors include cream, cedar, leather, coconut and salt, along with a finish of vanilla and spice.
One puff on the Casa Cuba Doble Cinco, and you may be transported to the streets of pre-revolutionary Havana. But for most cigar smokers, that’s not a bad place to be.