Cigar Review: La Flor Dominicana, DL-452 Natural

4" x 52 ring gauge, $6.00
When you see this cigar, you can immediately figure out the inspiration behind it--the size of this cigar brings to mind the very popular Nub line. So, now we can see what happens when you take Sam Leccia's idea and apply it to one of your regular favorites.

The appearance is nice with no prominent veins. The new LFD logo band still impresses me with its class and elegance. The short body of the cigar has the aroma of barnyard, while the foot is more coffee and sweet spice. The wrapper is lightly oily. The prelight draw is chocolately with plenty of spice. Drawing on my past experience with LFD, it does not take a genius to expect that I'm going to like this.

Like most of the Double Ligero (DL) line, it takes a bit of work to get this stogie going, but once lit, the immediate flavor is spice with the undertones of coffee and chocolate so frequently found in LFD's blends. The draw is a little tight, but not terrible. This is like hanging out with an old friend, although in this case, maybe the vertically-challeneged version of that friend from some alternate dimension.

The spiciness dominates the first third of the LFD Nub-a-like and some leathery notes start to become apparent, too. The ash held on well for about an inch, but tapped off easily at that point, which would be disappointing and potentially very messy if this actually were a Nub.

Interesting thing: even though the ring gauge is smaller than any Nub out there, and not much different from others in the DL line for that matter, it still smokes slowly and leisurely. While it will not give you an hour and a half of smoking pleasure, it will keep you pleasantly occupied for the better part of an hour. As the second third winds down there's a sweetness apparent, too, and the spice has mitigated somewhat.

During the last third of this diminuitive cigar, it finally shows its DL strength. The body ramped up from medium-full to full-full and the smoke began to border on harsh, but still with that sweet and leathery flavor that had come up earlier. All-in-all, a really good, full-bodied smoke that is only for the "professional smoker."

Body: 9/10
Strength: 9/10
Complexity: 9/10

AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10