Vitola: Lancero- 7.5” x 38 ring gauge
- $9.99
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
For the fifth year in a row (and sixth overall) My Father Cigars has prepared a special release for the Tobacconist Association of America (TAA). Most of those releases have been special vitolas of regular blends, though they have sometimes tweaked the blend slightly for the TAA release.
For 2018 the TAA release from My Father Cigars is a Lancero size of one of their most acclaimed blends, Flor de las Antillas. This size and blend was done once before as a shop exclusive for Up in Smoke out of Dallas, Texas. Flor de las Antillas is a Nicaraguan puro with a Sun Grown wrapper leaf. They come in boxes of 20 and will be available only at TAA retailers nationwide (about 80 stores).
I got mine at Burns Tobacconist…where I work and also a TAA store for many years. I purchased two (so far) and this review is based on my second one. I got some background info from Cigar-Coop’s news story on this release.
Prelight
If you’ve seen Flor de las Antillas before, this release won’t hold any surprises. The band is the same as normally used. There are two distinguishing features for this release: a pigtail on the head and a ribbon (emblazoned with “TAA”) on the foot.
The wrapper leaf as a medium brown with a touch of red in it. It was smooth with just a touch of oiliness to it. The aroma from the wrapper was a mixture of earth, hay and cedar. The foot of the cigar had more hay, backed up by earth and a bit of sweetness.
Once clipped, I got a very good draw, especially for a Lancero. The cold draw had a nice dried fruit sweetness, along with minor notes of cedar, earth and pepper.
Flavor
The FdlA Lancero opened up with sweet dark fruit riding over layers of earth and grassiness. The finish had a moderate cayenne pepper heat, which showed up in a larger way on the retrohale. I never “got” this blend in the originally released vitolas, one of which became Cigar of the Year for the Big Lifestyle Magazine. Those original sizes were definitely “good,” but never rose to the level of “great” for me. The first that did was the other non-box-pressed vitolas…Mid-Atlantic Mafia 13…basically a Corona Gorda. This reminds me of the first time I smoked the MAM-13…only better.
As I got into the second third, I found that the wood notes were getting more prominent in the profile at the expense of the sweeter flavors. The pepper heat was backing off, as well, on both palate and nose.
The final third was woody and earthy with a slight increase in pepper spice.
Construction
This is a Lancero…and it had a great draw, solid ash (except when I brushed against it), and a very even burn line. That’s not easy to do, so…well done!
Value
As with previous My Father TAA releases, the price on this is not out of line with the other sizes in the same blend, which is excellent value.
Conclusions
Is this the best size of Flor de las Antillas? It really might be…but I also may like the MAM-13 size a little better on certain days. Either way, this is one you should seek out if you are a fan of Nicaraguan tobacco, My Father blends, or just good cigars in general. Don’t forget, this blend did win Cigar of the Year in the past…and I would rather have this size (or the MAM-13) than the size that was rated highest by the Big Lifestyle Magazine.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
