Cigar Aficionado

It was a cool October evening last week in Greenwich, Connecticut, and the trees along Perkins Drive still clung to their summer leaves, obscuring most of the gabled estates and gated manors along the road. This part of Connecticut, about 40 miles north of Manhattan, has a reputation for being the home to hedge fund managers, pro athletes and celebrities wanting to live outside the city—but not too far. In the middle of it all, the Burning Tree Country Club hosted one of the most exclusive cigar dinners of the season. And it raised nearly half a million dollars for charity.

Dubbed the “OpusXodus,” the charity dinner was orchestrated by Arturo Fuente Cigars and The Tobacconist of Greenwich. Together, they invited Fuente fans from all over the tri-state area and beyond to attend this auspicious event, all in support of the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation, a non-profit started by the Fuente and Newman families to serve underprivileged children of the Dominican Republic. Spearheading the charity is Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr., third-generation owner and patriarch of his namesake cigar company, as well as creator of the Fuente Fuente OpusX, one of the most mysterious and coveted cigar brands in the industry. Since OpusX’s inception in 1995, Fuente has built a cult following around the cigar. They’re released sporadically throughout the year, typically without warning, and a considerable amount of sales revenue from OpusX gets funneled directly to his charity. Dinners like this, of course, help the cause. 

Many guests showed up donning their fanciest loafers and tailored jackets, eager to meet Fuente himself, some for the first time, others, clearly longtime friends. A Fuente sighting in this part of the country is rare. Most of Fuente’s time is divided between his cigar factory and tobacco fields in the Dominican Republic. What’s left is given to the Foundation. Appearances like this come around only so often. 

Everyone at the dinner was handed a bag of OpusX cigars on the way in and a box of OpusX cigars on the way out. What happened in between was an outpouring of generosity. An auction of rare Fuente items included an Elie Bleu Boveda 25th anniversary humidor filled with rare OpusX cigars; a Fuente y Padrón Legends humidor signed by Fuente; the Hemingway House humidor from Elie Bleu filled with 60 OpusX “Blue Label” Figurados; and Fuente Aged Selection Big B “prototype” humidors by Prometheus International, both filled with more than 100 OpusX cigars of different sizes. Factory tours, vineyard tours from Pahlmeyer Winery (the event’s wine sponsor) and reservations at RAO’s (a notoriously difficult restaurant to get into) were auctioned as well. A few unexpected lots were thrown in at the last minute, as is customary to most Fuente charity auctions. By the end of the night, the event raised $485,000.

“I'm beyond proud and humbled by the support of our amazing friends and family who flew in from all over the world in support of the OpusXodus 2024,” says Michael Cafagno, owner of The Tobacconist of Greenwich. “As Carlito always says, we are changing lives, one child at a time. The impact this event will have on all of the children is forever life-changing, and that is something The Tobacconist of Greenwich is most proud of. Each year we will strive to grow this event and make it one that everyone wants to support.”

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