La Flor Dominicana Ligero

La Flor Dominicana Ligero is considered the crown jewel of the La Flor Dominicana line. The company grows its own ligero tobacco in its own fields, which is then aged for years before rolled into a rich, full-bodied, and exceptionally flavorful blend.

To understand the significance of these cigars you have to understand what Ligero tobacco is. It is tobacco taken from the laves that grow toward the very top of each individual tobacco plant. The leaves on top get the most sunlight and nutrients, which gives the tobacco a stronger, fuller, more powerful taste.

Because of the impeccable construction and flavor of these cigars, Cigar Insider recently awarded a 91 rating to La Flor Dominicana Ligero.

The cigar itself has a firm draw that gives off a creamy smoke. You get a peppery aftertaste after each puff that is noticeable but not overpowering. There are spicy hints as well, deriving from the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. The filler is Dominican in origin, which gives the cigar an ideally balanced flavor.

The finish on the La Flor Dominicana Ligero is equally satisfying. You get a great aroma of cedar and a noticeable touch of roasted almonds. Though powerful, this cigar is never too powerful. It is smooth and very enjoyable, and gives you much to savor after a good meal.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Especiales
This cigar is very oily and has a very even burn. The draw is very rich, with the flavor being distinguished by black cherry, fruit, Cuban coffee, and cedar notes.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel
This is a wedge shaped cigar with a fine Ecuadorian wrapper and Dominican filler. It is a very strong smoke beset now for its wood and spicy flavors. Look for notes of orange as well.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero DL-452
This is a short cigar. It is very dark and oily, and hit has an uneven burn. It begins strong, and it has a flavor similar to that of roasted espresso beans. You also notice leather and earth in the finish.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Maduro
This is a great dark and oily smoke. It is chisel-shaped and gives off a rich aroma of creamy leather and spice.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero DL-700
This is a very large cigar with a length of 6.5 inches and a ring gauge of 60. It has a great draw with coffee, nut, earth, and a hint of molasses.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Oscuro Natural Especiale
This Maduro has a toasty, buttery aroma. It is open to a range of sweet nut and cream flavors and finishes out superbly with a great combination of licorice, almonds, and sweet spice.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chisel Gorda
This cigar has a great leather and wood flavor that is powerful and full-bodied.

La Flor Dominicana Habano

La Flor Dominicana Habano cigars are widely recognized as having a level of quality similar, if not equal, to many of the finer cigars manufactured in Cuba. This is evidenced by the endorsement of the Habanos Denomination of Origin Protection, which signifies a truly premium cigars by the near universal standard that the legendary Cuban has established worldwide.

It is not easy to obtain such recognition. Many people in the past have tried and tried again to reproduce the quality of Cuban cigars, but they have not been able to. It is not an easy task, because you have to duplicate as much as possible the combination of sun, temperature, humidity, and soil conditions of Cuba itself.

You also have to cultivate your tobacco using seed taken from Cuba itself, which is exactly what Litto Gomez, the originator and grower of La Flor Dominicana Habano cigars, does.

The La Flor Dominicana cigar is highly regarded for its oily, seamless wrapper that gives it a fine appearance and construction. It is a well-packed cigar with no soft spot anywhere.

The flavor of the La Flor Dominicana Habano is quite remarkable. It begins with a taste of spicy molasses that offers hints of pepper, fig, and raisins. As you move into the second third, you notice a taste of molasses, and then you detect hints of leather as well. Finally, when you get to the final third of the cigar, you find that there is a taste of coffee and caramel like sweetness.

One thing you’ll like for sure is its cedar like core. Also, the spiciness is consistent throughout, and the peppery flavor comes from red, not black pepper. In fact, no single taste dominates the Habano, so you get a good blend through and through, until you eventually reach then end where you may pick up some fruity notes as well

In terms of burn and ash, many reviewers have remarked that the La Flor Dominican Habano has the best burn of any cigar made by this Litto Gomez. You get negligible resistance. With negligible resistance throughout, you wind up with a good, strong, white ash with no flaking. It holds for inches without falling on its own.

Most reviews have stated that this is the best of all La Flor Dominicana cigars. The only complaint some have offered is limited availability. Well, people who complain about availability need to consider that valuable things tend to be rare.

They need to be honest with themselves that instant gratification seldom accompanies the quest for true value, and they should be happy when they find an online cigar store like Serious Cigars who can provide them with limited editions and rare blends for affordable prices.

La Flor Dominicana Cigars

La Flor Dominicana 2000 Series
This is a medium to full body cigar. It has a Nicaraguan binder and filler blended of Dominican and Brazilian tobaccos. It comes in a Cameroon wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Air Bender
This is a smooth and full smoke. It features Dominican filler and a Dominican binder enclosed in an Ecuadorian wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Cameroon Cabinet
This is a medium smooth smoke with a Cameroon wrapper, a Nicaraguan binder, and filler from the Dominican Republic.

La Flor Dominicana Carajos
This is a very full body cigar with an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper. It has a Dominican binder and Dominican filler.

La Flor Dominicana Coronado
This is a very smooth but full tasting La Flor Dominca cigar with Dominican filler and a Nicaraguan sun grown wrapper. The binder is Dominican, as well as the filler.

La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero
This very full body cigar is made with double ligero Dominican filler, a Dominican binder, and an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Double Press
This medium to full body smoke has a Habano wrapper. It is made with La Canela DR 2004 filler and binder.

La Flor Dominicana El Jocko
This medium body cigar is made with a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan filler and a Dominican binder. The wrapper is Connecticut.

La Flor Dominicana El Museo
This medium full strength cigar has Dominican filler and binder and comes enclosed in a Dominican wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Factory Press II, 12 Ct, and Cabinet
These have been called a spicy, complex, and full cigars with a very interesting composition. The filler is Sumatran, and the binder is 7 year Dominican. The cigar is made with a Nicaraguan sungrown Oscuro natural wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Factory Press II Limitada and Press III
Both are full and smooth blends that are made with Corojo filler and Sumatra binder. It also has a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Habano
This is a medium strength cigar with a Habano wrapper and Dominican binder and filler.

La Flor Dominicana Ligero and Ligero Cabinet
These full body smokes are made with an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper and Dominican filler and binder.

La Flor Dominicana Limitado III and IV
These are full body smokes made with Dominican binder and filler and an Ecuadorian sun grown wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Little Cigars
This is a great cigar with a medium to full body taste. It is made with a blend of Dominican and Brazilian filler, Nicaraguan binder, and a wrapper from Cameroon.

La Flor Dominicana Mysterio
This is a very full body cigar that is rolled with Dominican filler and binder and an Ecuadorian Sun Grown wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Premium
This mild, smooth blend is made with Dominican filler and binder and a Connecticut shade grown wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Reserva Especial
This is a medium to full body cigar that is made with Dominican Piloto Cubano filler and a Nicaraguan binder. It is enclosed in an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper.

La Flor Dominicana Salomones
This is a medium full body cigar made with La Canela DR 2005 filler and La Canela DR 2004 binder. The wrapper is Habano.

La Flor Dominicana

History
La Flor Dominicana is made by the Tabacalera La Flor S.A., a company which was founded in Santiago, Dominican Republic in 1996. The owner and founder of the company, Litto Gomez Gomez, has been called by Cigar Aficianado “the most innovative mind int eh cigar business.” This compliment was well earned by Litto’s ability to change misfortune into great fortune. He was once a jeweler with a store in Miami. His store was robbed at gunpoint, and he lost almost ½ a million dollars in jewels. Gomez moved to the Dominican Republic, bought a 120 acre farm, and founded Tabacalera La Flor S.A. There, he began to make cigars under the brand name Los Libertadores. Gomez says it took him about 15 to 20 years to perfect the brand and make it what it is today.

Originally, Gomez’s company grew only binder and filler. However, in 2002 a second 40 acre farm was purchased to produce Corojo and Sumatra sun shade tobacco for wrappers. The company is expected to produce 4 million cigars in the near future.

Process
Gomez insists on quality. Plants are cleaned of the suckers that grow between the leaves and the stems. This is done four times for all one million plants on the farm before they are harvested. When the plants flower, workers strip off the flowers to ensure that the leaves fully develop. Another thing that Tabacalera La Flor S.A. does is to put more space between plants in order to make sure they get more wind and sun on their leaves. This gives the leaves more muscle and a thicker leaf.

Obviously, such measures do limit production of tobacco quantity. But then again, this is about quality, not quantity. This limitation has actually become a strength for La Flor Dominicana. Other tobaccos from other regions have been combined with Gomez’s tobaccos to produce some of the most satisfying blends in the world. La Flor Dominicana cigars are also aged a great deal longer than other premium cigar brands. This brings out complex flavors in the cigars. Like many premium brands, all La Flor Dominicana cigars are hand-rolled and go through a very thorough inspection that guarantees the very best premium cigar quality.

Reputation
Because these are considered a very high quality, fine cigar, La Flor Dominicana is not a brand you find just anywhere. Gomez is selective about his retailers. The balance between availability and reputation, however, has not inflated the price. You can enjoy one of the best cigars in the world at an affordable investment. They are never as much as some of the so-called super premium brands on the market that can cost a small fortune for a single smoke.

Illusione

The history of this superb company is impressive, to say the least.

Illusione was founded with one thing in mind—to bring back the flavor, character, and quality of pre-Sandinista Nicaraguan tobacco. This had to be done, because the Sandinista regime had a terrible impact on the cigar industry. However, this was not irreversible. The cigar master grower Arcenio Ramos of Cuba came to Nicaragua to re-cultivate the legendary fields of the Jalapa Valley and the Esteli region. His partners in the venture, Chandito and Cuban agronomist Jacinto, form an impeccable team of cigar makers that have resurrected these previously neglected fields to their former glory.

All Illusione’s are made from first generation Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98 seed tobacco. All are wrapped in Café Colorado wrappers and triple-capped in the old Cuban style. This makes them a favorite of veteran smokers who prefer the old Cuban blends, but they are also a rising favorite of new smokers. In 2007, Illusione was rated number 7 cigar of the year in Cigar Aficionado’s top 25.

There are a number of blends to choose from.

888
This is a medium to full-bodied cigar. It tastes of spice and earth and has a long finish. It has been called necessary and sufficient. Cigar Aficionado gave this cigar a 91.

4/2 G
This is a full body cigar by Illusione with a mature character.

68
This is another full bodied cigar with an earthy taste that is somewhat peppery and sweet.

F9
This has been called a perfectly balanced smoke by many. It has a medium to full bodied strength.

88
This Illusione tastes of leather and spice. It is also rich with a flavor of Earth and is noted for its medium to full bodied strength.

2/3
This is called a social smoke. It has a mild to medium strength that is rich in character.

CG4
Also called the white horse, this Illusione has been called clean, bold, bright, and superbly complete.

MJ12
This is called the Majestic, and it has tastes of leather, cinnamon, and a long finish that make it a classic connoisseur’s cigar.

2
This Illusione has a sweet, soulful taste of earth.

1
Known also as the Dark Prince, this cigar is balanced and elegant. It has a complex, progressive strength that makes for an absolutely fine cigar.

MK
This is a classic cigar for connoisseurs. It has hints of leather, cinnamon, and a long finish. There is a sweet touch to it as well due to the high caliber of Viso used in this Illusione blend.

HL
Short for the Holy Lance, you can expect a rich floral and something of a mild exotic spicy aroma and a good, comfortable, medium finish on the palate.

Illusione Cigars

Illusione Cigars were created with the intent to reproduce a specific taste profile from the Nicaraguan past. Prior to the Sandinista takeover of the country in 1979, Nicaragua was known for some of the very best tobacco in the world—particularly that which was grown in the Jalapa Valley and Esteli region of the country. Both of these were known to produce cigar with a bold, clean taste. Communist rule resulted in years of neglect, however, where almost all of the original glory of the region faded in both notoriety and in quality.

However, Arcenio Ramos of Cuba moved here and re-cultivated these fields with the partnership of Fernano, Chandito, and Cuban agronomist Jacinto. This amazing team has resurrected these acres back to their full productive potential.

Today, all Illusione cigars are made from first generation Corojo 99 and Criollo 98 seeds. They are wrapped with Café Colorado wrapper and renowned for their super taste and aroma of smoke. All of these premium cigars are made in small quantities to maintain strict adherence to quality control and consistency.

Illusione cigars are quickly becoming some of the most highly sought after cigars on today’s market. This is because each and every one of them is hand-made in the Raices Cubanas factory. Being triple capped in the old Cuban style, they are something of a contemporary classic, if you will. Although they are new to the market, they have already become established in the world of premium cigars. Cigar Aficionado named them the seventh best cigar of the year in 2007.

There are three lines of Illusione cigars.

The first of these is the original line. It has a dark color, and it has flavors of spice, cedar, leather, and wood. At the finish, this cigar is also sweet and nutty, which works to balance out the other, stronger flavors. This is a strong blend of all Nicaraguan tobacco (filler, binder, and wrapper) and is intended for the experienced cigar smoker with a fully developed palate for a strong, full-body smoke.

In 2009, two other lines of Illusione cigars were launched: the Epernay, and the Cruzado.

The Epernay line is available in four different sizes. These cigars are made from a blend of Criollo and Corojo tobaccos wrapped in a Café Rosado wrapper. They are complex to the taste buds, being characterized by an array of flavors that include coffee, honey, and a creamy finish.

The Illusione Cruzado also has a medium flavor. It is balanced by a Criollo wrapper enclosing a blend of Honduran and Nicaraguan fillers and a Nicaraguan binder.

While many claim that the past is forever lost, and that it is never possible to reclaim what has been lost to posterity, Illusione cigars proves this assumption wrong. When you light up an Illusione, you are enjoying the best of a past brought forward in time in a very modern and convenient moment of present time.