Review: La Flor Dominicana Oro

Litto Gomez has made quite the name for himself and La Flor Dominicana. His best effort, among the cigar lovers I hang with, has got to be the Double Ligero. Lovers of full bodied cigars sing it’s praises. As I inspected my local B&M’s humidor today I came across this treat, the Oro. It has been quite some time since I had a La Flor and as I had not smoked this yet, I quickly grabbed one. It comes in an attractive gold tubo and band. I was excited to see it was a chisel as I had not seen one before. The boys at the shop told me that Litto had copyrighted this shape and would only see it on a La Flor Dominicana. Great, even more reason to light this sucker up!

The Oro has a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper with Dominican fillers and binders and is 6 x 54. Upon 1st look it was veiny, rough and somewhat toothy. It’s pre-lit aroma had a pleasent tobacco earthy smell. The draw seemed just a hair on the tight side. It lit well and I was immediately hit with a strong peppery taste and minor notes of nuts. The smoke was plentiful but thin and wispy. The draw seemed average at best during the first 1/3.

As I entered the 2nd 1/3 the burn got curvy and the draw loosened up enough that the smoke being produced was noticeably increased, but still thin. The ash was a charcoal grey and held on for a solid inch. The pepper mellowed out and to me, it was more medium to full bodied at this point. Maybe I’m more accustomed to stronger smokes but the Oro was losing some of it’s punch. I was also picking up more of a earthly-woodsy taste.

At the onset of the final 1/3 the burn got out of control and had to be corrected. In fact I had to re-light it several times, which is something I find annoying. At this point because of my continued re-lights the cigar got hot and I became disinterested in finishing it fully.

Considering this is a La Flor Dominicana I was a bit underwhelmed by it’s performance. While I’m confident that this wasn’t the sum of problems found in a Litto Gomez product, I can only go off my impressions and experience with it.

Early on I tweeted that this was a “great smoke”,  a bit pre-mature on my part. The most I can give is 3 ashes out of 5. (average) I would probably try it again, but because of the extra large selection of stogies to choose from at my B&M, it won’t be anytime soon. If you see it however, it may well be worth a go at it.

Fast Ash: Ditka’s “The Coach” by Comacho

I had previously seen in an industry mag that Mike Ditka was lending his name to a line of cigars called the “Kickoff Series”. Today at the cigar shop I was pointed in their direction. I was excited to see what Comacho and coach Ditka had come up with. There are three versions, “The Player”, “The Coach” and “The Hall of Famer”. Each one comes in a decorative box denoting the line and size. All three lines come in Toro (6 x 50) Robusto ( 5 x 50) Torpedo ( 6 1/4 x 54) and the big gun of the line, a 6 x 60. The Player and The Coach are both medium bodied smokes but with different wrappers and binders. Should you want to step up your game there’s The Hall of Famer, this one is a full bodied smoke. I purchased The Coach and The Hall of Famer.

It’s a rare warm day in January so I knew I’d be smoking a stogie on the Big Ash porch this afternoon. I chose to go with The Coach robusto and save The Hall of Famer for a later time.

As I usually do, I took a pre-lit sniff. It smelled of cinnamon and chocolate. It draws wonderfully and immediately produced big, thick amounts of smoke which continued the entire time. At a couple points I detected the distinct flavor of chocolate. The ash was dark grey and held on for an inch 1/4 before falling off. The Coach lasted me about 75 minutes and was very enjoyable. Comacho did a solid job on this, as I figured they would, I mean C’mon, would you want to disapoint coach Ditka? In the end I would say it’s worth trying a stick yourself. I give The Coach 4 ashes out of 5. Not bad, Mike, not bad.

Review: Crowned Heads Four Kicks Sublime

This is my first Crowned Heads cigar. I picked up the Four Kicks Sublime at the recommendation of a friend. I enjoy losing my “cigar virginity” as it were, to new brands. So, it was with great pleasure that I grabbed my cutter and lighter and headed to The Big Ash porch.

Upon first inspection the Four Kicks Sublime has an shiny oily wrapper with visible veins. It’s a bit toothy and seemed to me to be well constructed. That was until I noticed that the seam was loose on parts of the stick, nearly unattached in small segments. I wasn’t sure if this was due to handling or a manufacturing defect. I wonderd if this would affect the cigar as I smoked it. The pre-lit aroma gave away a generous smell of cinnamon with hints of vanilla and floral notes.

My first draw met with a slight but welcomed resistance. The loose seam didn’t appear to have an adverse effect on subsequent draws. The cigar was earthy with a faint spice during the first 1/3. It did not produce thick clouds of smoke, which I like, but instead stayed a bit on the thin side. This would not change for the duration of the smoke. The burn got away from me a little in the beginning but evened out in the 2nd 1/3 and stayed fairly consistent during the last 1/3. The ash was light gray, tight and hung on until I was just into the 2nd 1/3 of the cigar. In fact, the it was so tight I only ashed three times throughout my time spent with the cigar.

Halfway into the cigar I was hit with a pleasant amount of spice on the tongue and at the back of the throat. It was never overpowering but definitely made itself known. The draw opened up slightly as I began to notice a more earthy taste with hints of leather. It was at this time that I was hit with a very noticeable nicotine buzz that increased during the final 1/3. I started to draw less frequently in order to prevent getting a headache. This stick was showing it’s teeth and it was up to me to fight through till the end. The spice continued to roll out as I finished and seemed to overtake any earthy tones that were remaining. I smoked it as far to the nub as I could until it became overheated. At that point I laid it to rest as I scribbled my final notes down.

Overall Four Kicks Sublime is a decent stogie and a solid choice for the asking price. Unraveling seam aside, it is a well constructed cigar that comes packed with a punch. I don’t normally like spicy smokes but this one stood out among the crowd as one that I would have again the next time I was up for a fight. I won’t necessarily keep one in my humidor but I will buy it again on a one at a time basis. Crowned Head should be proud of the Four Kicks Sublime. It lived up to it’s name. My rating. 3.5 ashes out of 5.