La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Maduro
Tuesday, February 28th, 2012A couple years ago, Ed and I reviewed the original Air Bender. I remember liking it. The other day, I noticed an interesting display of cigars on Ed’s counter. It turned out to be the Air Bender, but with a maduro wrapper. The blend is the same as the original. The only difference is the wrapper. I hear these are of limited availability as well. I picked some up, got a glass of water, and took some notes. Here’s how it went…
Wrapper: Brazilian Habano
Binder: Dominican Republic
Filler: Dominican Republic
Size: 6.5 x 54
Price: $9.50
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The wrapper looked nice and had a dark oily surface. It was a little bumpy with small to medium veins, and I could find no flaws. The wrapper had a mild sweet woody smell, as did the foot. The draw was perfect, with a slight resistance. The pre-light flavor was sweet and cedary.
The burn required no corrections, and the ash held for over an inch before falling off.
Flavor:
The first third started off earthy and peppery. A woody flavor joined pretty quickly. When passing smoke through the nose, there was a nice smooth pepper that had a nice zing to it. Very slight earthy notes were noticed in the background.
The second third saw an addition of coffee. It matched the strength of the woody flavor. Some chocolaty bitterness was right behind it. The pepper remained smooth but started to pack a punch if I wasn’t careful when passing it through the nose. As I approached the end of this third, the sweetness increased, and I started to notice a tanginess.
The last third was a combination of espresso, dark chocolate, and wood. Like before, the zingy pepper remained. The strength and body increased a bit, and the flavors were more in your face. Nothing subtle here. It should be noted, by the end of this third, I had quite a nicotine buzz going. Nothing crazy, but I was feelin it.
Conclusion:
This was a good full bodied, full strength cigar. The flavors, construction, and burn were all good. I can’t really compare it to the original air bender since I haven’t had one in so long. But based on it’s own merits, I enjoyed this cigar. It didn’t WOW me, but for a nice smooth full bodied smoke, this did the trick. I’d recommend it, and I think it was worth the $9.50 I spent.