Vitola: Duma (Robusto)- 5” x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP $9
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
The story goes that Nestor Miranda, owner of Miami Cigar & Company, was traveling back from an African safari and was so happy thinking about his time away that he decided to create a cigar line in honor of it. The original Don Lino Africa came out in the mid-2000s. It was made in the UST Factory in Honduras and apparently had Cameroon, Dominican, Mexican and Nicaraguan fillers, along with Nicaraguan binder and wrapper leaves. It lasted on the marketplace about 7 or 8 years before disappearing, but for the 30th anniversary of MCC, they decided to bring it back and revamp the line.
If you were a huge fan of the original blend and expected this to transport you back in time, you may want to put a hold on those expectations. The blend is now being made by AJ Fernandez in his Nicaraguan factory. It uses Dominican Piloto and Nicaraguan Ometepe, Jalapa and Estelí filers, an African Cameroon binder, and an Ecuadorian Habano 2000 wrapper. Despite a complete change in blend, Jason Wood—MCC Vice President—assures us that it is “an exotic, complex blend that captures the original spirit of the line perfectly.”
The new Don Lino Africa made its debut at the 2019 IPCPR show and actually shipped in November. It is available nationwide, including at Small Batch Cigar, a Leaf Enthusiast sponsor. I have smoked a few samples before this review one; I bought mine at Burns Tobacconist.
Prelight
One thing that was carried over from the old version of the Africa is the packaging. The box and band are elaborate works of art, with vivid pictures on the boxes. They aren’t really built to be humidors—and that’s a shame because they are very cool looking. The bands are inspired by African art and so are very edgy in their execution, looking nothing like anything else on the market.
The cigar itself was a soft box-press with a wrapper that was milk-chocolate brown in color, fairly smooth and oily. I picked up notes of barnyard and wood from the wrapper, while the foot had a mix of earthy, chocolatey, and vegetal aromas.
Once I cut the head, the cold draw was very good, tasting of cedar, dried berries, and earth.
Flavor
Firing up the Don Lino Africa provided a massive blast of spice, both red pepper and cinnamon on the palate, with a painful dose of red pepper on the nose. It made me think of the classic Don Pepin Garcia blend trope of starting off massively peppery before mellowing out. There was something in the blend that tasted more like some of the other AJ Fernandez blends I’ve had, though, a cedar note, perhaps? It was nice and came through a little more clearly after the pepper died down. I also picked up a little sweetness in the mix around that time, with a subtle blend of chocolate and berry notes.
The pepper spice chilled out a little more in the second third, but never went away, providing a constant burning backdrop to flavors of cedar, bell pepper, and berry sweetness.
In the last third, the Africa produced more pepper spice, almost that characteristic Cameroon leaf wasabi burn, along with plenty of sweetness to balance it well and a solid earth and coffee bean base.
Construction
I had a great draw, very even burn line, and solid ash.
Value
Good cigar plus good price equals good value.
Conclusions
I was never a big fan of the original Don Lino Africa. I smoked them on occasion, but the look always outshined the smoking experience for me. This new version is a solid Nicaraguan-based blend with plenty of Cameroon influence for spice and sweetness. Overall a very nice complexity and balance that was enjoyable end to end.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10
