6" x 54 ring gauge, approx. $8.00In researching this cigar, I found major roadblock when LFD's website was off-the-grid for refurbishing. That led me to look for other sources of information, one of which was a blog entry from February 2008 when LFD added this stick to their line. The Double Ligero line has been a favorite of mine for almost that long. Perlman's list of the DL series says that it consists of Dominican filler and binder with an Ecuadorian wrapper.
This DL has a very oily wrapper and it is also quite dark for what is supposed to be a "natural" color. I'm not sure, but I believe it to be a sungrown wrapper. The body of the cigar has a slightly spicy barnyard aroma, while the foot has wet earth, chocolate and hints of coffee. The cigar is very smooth with no large veins and just the little bit of toothiness. The prelight draw was very good and had flavors of dark chocolate and spicy chilis. The initial puffs have the spicy tang along with some woody flavors.
As with most sticks in the DL line, the 654 started off spicy and stayed that way. The first third had plenty of chili spice, but also a host of supporting flavors, from cedar and leather to cocoa and coffee. The retrohale was smoother than you might expect and the smoke was definitely full-bodied as well as being full-flavored.
The second third was more cedary and the spice died down significantly. So far construction was fantastic--the draw was perfect and the burn line stayed very even with no need to touch up at all. There was also a hint of strength as the second third drew to a close. Without a doubt, the DL line is full of power.
The final third had loads of cedar flavor along with some coffee notes and a return of some spice. It is really hard to go wrong with anything in the DL line by LFD. This one had plenty of body and tons of flavor without being so strong that it was hard to finish, something that can occasionally be a problem with some of the other vitolas.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 8/10
AFP Scale:
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
Have you had the DL 700? It's an ass-kicker!
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