Originally published at Tiki Bar Online
6.5” x 44 ring gauge / Priceless (event only, actually)
About two months ago, La Flor Dominicana launched the Mystery Cigar. The blend is available only at events throughout 2013 when it may (or may not) be retired and may (or may not) be replaced by a different size and blend for the 2014 Mystery Cigar. No official word has been released as to the blend…it’s “super secret.” So, have they accomplished the “mystery” part? I’d say so. I was at Burns a few weeks ago and our local area rep, Alex Diaz, passed me one and said, “Give this a try.” It wasn’t at a La Flor event…so was this cheating? Maybe, but probably not…that too remains a mystery. He will be hosting an LFD event in July (4th, to be exact…if you are in the Chattanooga area and enjoy La Flor Dominicana cigars, I can think of no place you should be besides Burns Tobacconist that night). Full disclosure: although I normally accompany review cigars with water, this time I was drinking a cola, which may (or may not) influence the flavor…yet another mystery!
The Mystery Cigar had a nice dark-chocolate-colored wrapper, possibly a Maduro leaf. It was a little oily and a little toothy with a rich, sweet earthiness aroma to it. The foot had more of a barnyard earthiness…a little ripe and manure-like. The prelight draw was good and had notes of black coffee and cocoa powder. After lighting, I got a stronger earthiness and a little black pepper. There were some fainter notes of coffee and cedar as well, but I couldn’t help but feel like this may be a Mexican San Andres wrapper leaf. Depending on blend, the particularly Mexican flavor comes through loudly or not; in this case, I was getting just hints of it and I may have been mistaken.
As I smoked through this mysterious La Flor, I still got the feeling that it could be a San Andres Maduro wrapper, but if so, the blend was so well-done that it did not seem overly bitter and earthy as Mexican leaf tends to (to me, anyway). I did get a good amount of dark-roast coffee flavor as well as a little chocolate sweetness. I finished the first third thoroughly enjoying the experience and thinking it was totally unlike anything else in LFD’s product line.
In the second third, I got more Maduro sweetness and it seemed like the cigar mellowed out a bit. While it did not start particularly full-bodied or strong (especially when you consider the cigars LFD has become famous for), both did diminish just a bit as it hit a sweet spot in flavor. Construction was very good, although I did have to touch up the wrapper several times as one portion just seemed unwilling to burn evenly.
In the last third, the Mystery Cigar got a little harsh at times, losing some of the smooth sweetness I had experienced before. It was more earthy with a reintroduction of pepper spice. In all, the different elements of the were very good, but I couldn’t help feeling like it didn’t all work together all the time and it left me wishing there was something more to the experience. The body did ramp up to the full category in the last third and it ended up having a pretty decent nicotine kick, though still not full-strength. In the end I still feel like there’s something different here from the majority of the LFD lineup, but I also feel like it may need a little tweaking before it can achieve greatness.
Body: 8/10
Strength: 8/10
Complexity: 7/10
AFP Scale
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 1.5/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8/10
