LA FLOR DOMINICANA DOUBLE LIGERO DL-600

LA FLOR DOMINICANA DOUBLE LIGERO DL-600
ROBUSTO

Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuador Sumatra Sungrown
Binder: Dominican Ligero
Filler: Dominican Ligero

Place of purchase: Famous Smoke Shop Online

TASTING SHEET RESULTS

SIZE: 5.25x52
APPEARANCE: excellent: single prominent vein, firmly packed bunch, great roll, even colored somewhat toothy colorado wrapper with oily patina
CONSTRUCTION: very good to excellent
DRAW: perfect
BURN: good to very good: tried to go out on me twice – my fault, but with a little work, it evened out on its own, otherwise straight and not so narrow mascara
AROMA: excellent
FLAVOR: very good
DOMINANT FLAVORS: pepper, leather, earth
AFTERTASTE: salt, cayenne pepper, earth
STRENGHT: very strong
SMOKING TIME: ~ 100 minutes
GENERAL IMPRESSION: very good to excellent

CUT: Xikar
PRELIGHT: divine: raisins, honey, pepper tingle on the throat. Very strong prelight
LIGHT: torch flame lighter took some time
BEVERAGE: light Cuba Libre

1/3:
Opens with pepper, the cayenne variety, hot, but at the same without any harshness whatsoever. After a quarter inch, earth and leather introduce themselves, with citrus and fruit notes underneath, plus a hint of salt and some sweet spice is detected on the palate. Nose blow peppery, but not unpleasant at all. Smooth all around.

2/3:
Smooth is the operating word here. S-M-O-O-T-H. Very strong cigar, but it sneaks up on you, it`s not in your face power. Great pepper, spice, earth and leather just dance on palate with the awesome raisiny aroma complimenting the whole experience. Nearing the final third, bittersweet wood takes the center stage with previous flavors retreating but still present.

3/3:
After purging the cigar, again I found fresh fruity and leather flavor, but with pronounced nutty finish – brazilian nuts to be exact. Very full bodied, but not harsh in any way. Towards nub some light bitterness creeps up, but not unpleasant – a natural evolution of a burning cigar – waste products and moisture are slowly building up physically near the palate and there is not enough rolled tobacco left to filter these flavors out.

NUB:
Bittersweet wood with bitter finish on top of pepper.

This is one helluva smoke. I imagine it`s not very pleasant for a bystander, as the smoke is really sharp, but extremelly aromatic at the same time. It is one of those smokes I would never pair with any sort of spirit – it would most definitely floor me. Cognac, calvados or even rum would be especially good company to this fantastic smoke, but even without, I took a blow to the gut and another one to the head. But it was a very tasty blow.
In my opinion, this is the only cigar (at least from the ones I have smoked) that comes close to resembling the ever ellusive Opus X for taste, aroma and strenght.

Litto sure knows his stuff.