Amsterdam is at its best when the sun comes out.

The canals catch the light, bicycles pass in every direction, boats drift beneath the bridges, and the narrow streets invite you to stay.

It was one of those days.

I had nowhere particularly important to be, a rare luxury.

More importantly, I had a cigar in my hand… But not just any cigar.

Earlier that afternoon, I had stopped by Hartman Cigars, a small inconspicuous cigar store in the center of Amsterdam, on Leidsestraat.

Whenever I am in Amsterdam, I pay them a visit. Not only because they are great people, but because they have a habit of stocking rare and hard-to-find cigars, often before I see them appear in London humidors.

This time was no exception as I looked into the humidor and saw the Arturo Fuente OpusX Forbidden X 13 Amor Sensual.

As you know, we live for experiences here at Cigar Letters; so when I laid eyes on the Amor Sensual, the deal was sealed.

_{The Amor Sensual is a substantial cigar: six and an eighth inches long, with a 54 ring gauge, a torpedo-shaped head, and dressed in cedar.}

I found a café beside one of Amsterdam's canals.

Outside, a table was free.

I ordered an iced coffee and took the seat facing the water.

The city performed in front of me: bicycles crossing bridges, boats slipping along the canals, tourists wandering without urgency through the perfect chaos.

I lit the Amor Sensual.

The first draw.

Then another.

Much like the OpusX 20th Anniversary I had enjoyed some weeks prior, there was something unusual about the draw. The smoke felt almost cool as it passed through the cigar. Rich, effortless and remarkably smooth.

Spice, earth and cocoa appeared alongside the unmistakable depth of well-aged tobacco, all carried by that strangely fresh, almost cool draw.

Simply sensational.

Slowly, the noise of the city became something happening around me rather than something I was participating in.

The name felt appropriate.

Amor Sensual.

There are some cigars you enjoy, some you admire, and a rare few that make you fall slightly in love with them.

This was one of those.

The kind of cigar you want to smoke slowly because you want to savour every second.

Perhaps this was a love letter within a love letter.

I try not to have favourites.

But Arturo Fuente makes that increasingly difficult.

I spend a great deal of my life thinking about what comes next.

The next destination.

The next project.

The next opportunity.

The next version of things.

Perhaps you do too.

Ambition has a strange way of moving the finish line.

You reach something you once wanted, and almost immediately your attention turns towards whatever sits beyond it.

There is always another place to get to.

Another problem to solve.

Another thing that might make life slightly better than it is now.

Sitting beside that canal, I realised I didn't want anything else, at least not in that moment.

Not because everything in life was perfect.

It wasn't, it never is.

But because, in that particular moment, nothing was missing.

I think we are often guilty of overlooking those moments, recognising them only when we look back.

We wait for life to become complete before allowing ourselves to feel content.

When perhaps contentment is something much smaller.

A temporary agreement with the present.

A willingness, every now and then, to stop negotiating with what is.

Eventually, the cigar became shorter.

The iced coffee disappeared.

The sun continued to shine over Amsterdam, and the tourists continued on their way.

Soon enough, I would join them.

There would be somewhere else to go.

Something else to think about.

There always is.

But for a little while longer, there was still a cigar burning between my fingers.

And nowhere else I needed to be.

The Amor Sensual belongs to Arturo Fuente's elusive Forbidden X 13 series, one of the rarer branches of the OpusX family.

Forbidden X cigars are produced in limited quantities using carefully selected tobaccos grown at Chateau de la Fuente in the Dominican Republic. Releases appear sporadically, which is why individual vitolas such as the Amor Sensual can be remarkably difficult to find.

In many ways, that scarcity suits the cigar.

Some love affairs should never become too familiar.

A Question For You

What is the most memorable place you've ever smoked a cigar, and what made it so special?

Reply and tell me. I'll share my favourite answer in next week's letter.

What makes a cigar most memorable?

🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩🟩 The cigar itself (54.55%)
🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ The place (18.18%)
🟨🟨🟨⬜️⬜️⬜️ The company (27.27%)
⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️⬜️ The occasion (0%)

Looks like we have some real cigar lovers here!

Until next time.

Yours truly,
The Cigar Lover

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^{No. 26}