La Flor Dominicana Ligero Robusto

La Flor Dominicana Ligero Robusto

Producer: La Flor Dominicana
Blend: Ligero
Size: Robusto (5 3/4" x 50)
Origin: Ecuador/Dominican Republic/Dominican Republic

Set Up

Before lighting this, I already liked it. The smell is sweet and creamy, with a little bit of spice. It reminds me of pipe tobacco. Maybe a bit of pumpkin. It's an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper with a Dominican binder and filler. The binder and filler are a bit darker than most ordinary Maduro wrappers.

There were some minor imperfections in the wrapper. There's a pretty serious white vein down one side, and a few other light spots, plus some general veininess. The foot is expanded ever so slightly - possibly due to inconsistent humidification and travel. (This is just what I notice, but I don't think it's going to take away from the smoke at all.)

The band is the traditional LFD flower with "LIGERO" bolded on the bottom.

I cut this with a cat's eye as the 50-ring gauge is a bit too narrow for a guillotine, and I'd like to make the 5 3/4" last.

The Smoke

I lit this with wooden matches, and it burned well from the very beginning. Initially it made a really nice white ash and burned very evenly. About 1" into it, it got a little sideways, then the ash from the wrapper was separating from the binder. Fortunately, I was able to correct this without having to re-light. It was a little disappointing that the first ash fell of at about 1 1/2" and never really held a long ash after that point.

The flavors were not very impressive. It was a medium body - not very strong at all. Initially there was a little bit of cayenne, and a smooth, creamy flavor. As I got into the first third, this gave way to undertones of tree nuts, but from that point the flavors never really developed. A good cigar will often develop over the burn and you can break the smoke into thirds. With this, however, nothing really changed, and nothing really ever impressed.

The cigar was well-constructed and burned mostly evenly throughout. The draw was initially absolutely perfect with the cat's eye cut. Quickly, however, the build-up caused the draw to be just a little tight. It never came unraveled and burned evenly throughout. I believe I had to re-light it only once.

The Verdict

Overall, this is a nice cigar to try once and maybe to have in a setting where you don't want to be doing a whole bunch of maintenance on it. I personally regard construction and draw as a very important aspect of a good cigar, and there was nothing wrong with the construction. The flavor, however, was pedestrian and uninteresting, and never really developed. It's certainly okay for a weaker palette or on an empty stomach.

06/13/12 - Will takes delivery of humidor

Review - Alec Bradley Tempus

• Quadrum Box-pressed
• Honduran & Nicaraguan 
• 5 1/2 x 55
• Maduro
• $8.95 (Virginia)

I picked a Tempus' based on two things: the box press and the leathery wrapper. I'm a big fan of the '64 Anniversary Padron Pyramide but they're not only difficult to find, they sell at between $14.50 and $21 / stick in Virginia. 

The draw from the Tempus is excellent: it's smooth and consistent throughout length but without the challenge accompanying some smaller gauge box-press cigars. After about one-half dozen I'd report tightly-packed filler/binder consistently and yet that same easy draw. 

Flavor reminds one of the pardon that helped pick it. Reviews state a clear "wood and nut". Let's be clear, this is a deep walnut or a chestnut, not the pistachio you get from sticks produced by Zino. There's undeniably wood out front before the nuttiness but both give way to a chocolatey chestnut before continuing to its other flavors. These cigars carry the "long finish" typical of high-scoring cigars but the chocolatey sweetness here is truly impressive. Whereas you pick up spice in the pardon you get a deeper less sharp spice in the Tempus. 

This cigar works magic with an old-vine Zin and other "big jammy" wines. The Apothic Red or Murphy's Law make great companions.  

I highly recommend this cigar. Avoid the natural wrapper. In terms of form-factor, avoid the torpedo. I haven't been able to get much more out of it and it costs more. Go with the box-press (reviewed) or the smaller gauge, smaller length. Yes, though I pick up my Padron's in longer form-factor, and prefer lanceros for my Opus X... I can't seem to find a longer Tempus that I enjoy as much as the smaller ones.

06/12/12 - m1splacedsoul fills humidor