Whilst in the States this year, I had to help myself to the wide array of unusual and exotic sounding cigars they sell there. One brand in particular has caught my eye with their prolific presence on social media. So I hunted out a couple of their sticks.
La Flor Dominicana – or LFD to their friends – is a Dominican firm that have been running since 1996 and produce a wide and ever changing range of vitolas that I’ve been dying to try ever since I found them on Instagram.
From their range I decided to go for a monstrous Ligero Cabinet Oscuro Natural (or L500 Cabinet). It’s quite a mouthful – both by name and dimensions with a ring gauge of 60 (this measurement only goes up to 64).
The Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is almost dark enough to be maduro but it’s not quite and, although it’s a big fat dark monolith of a cigar, it didn’t smell as strong as I thought it would.
I smoked this bad boy with my mate Peter over a couple of beers, a bottle of wine and a spirit to finish off. Why so much to drink? We had that much time. Measuring at 5 ¾ inches, this was a good two-hour smoke.
The smoke was smooth from the beginning and the burn was even and consistent. I was expecting a much bigger flavour from such an impressive looking cigar, but if I’m honest, I was a bit underwhelmed. Spices did come out toward the end, but by that time, we were just a bit bored.
Still, I won’t give up on LFD. They’re a progressive company and make such a range it would be unfair to write them off on the basis of one cigar.
Next time I might go for one of their Air Bender range, which promises lots of body and plenty of flavour.
Who: La Flor Dominicana.
Where: Found worldwide but here’s the LFD website
What: Ligero Cabinet Oscuro Natural (aka L500 Cabinet)
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