Issue: Cigar Aficionado, Feb 01, 2016

Score: 91

Subtly pressed with an oily, reddish-brown wrapper. This medium-bodied cigar offers vanilla bean, dried berries and leathery notes that lead to a mineral-dense finish.

Issue: Cigar Aficionado, Jan 01, 2013

Score: 94

Innovation is traditionally the domain of the young, but the Arturo Fuente Rosado Sungrown Magnum R Vitola Forty-Four is a new take on a cigar brand that just turned 100 years old. Carlos Fuente Jr., the lead blender for Fuente, is best known for such power smokes as Fuente Fuente OpusX and Ashton VSG. To make the Rosado Sungrown series of cigars, he looked to his warehouses of well- aged Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper, taking leaves placed lower on the plant than the ones he uses for the spicy VSG and creating a more sublime and mellow blend.This is the second year in a row that a Fuente Rosado Sungrown has made our Top 25. We love the cigars, which have a savory leather core and a smattering of sweet spices on the palate. It’s the type of cigar you can smoke over and over, and they come in big boxes that contain nearly four dozen cigars. Unlike the other sizes in the line, the name Vitola 44 doesn’t refer to the ring gauge of the cigar, but rather the number of cigars in the box. Perhaps the best thing about the smoke? At $6.75, it is one of the least expensive in our Top 25.

Issue: Cigar Insider, Feb 07, 2012

Score: 92

There's a very satisfying sweet spiciness to this cigar that is built around a savory core of leather flavor. It smokes evenly from start to finish.