Archive for the ‘Cigars_Brasilia’ Category

Dona Flor Selecao

Saturday, January 28th, 2012

I recently found out that Dona Flor is back. After a lengthy lawsuit between who has rights to the brand, a winner was decided upon in court. I don’t have the details at hand. Ed and I will cover that in our next review of the Dona Flor Alonzo Menendez series. The guys I knew as the owners were ruled to not own the brand. It is alleged that the quality of the tobacco has not changed under the new, or different ownership. Let’s take a closer look…

 

Wrapper: Brazil Mata Fina

Binder: Brazil Mata Norte

Filler: Brazil Mata Fina

Size: Robusto 5 x 52

Price: Around $6.50

 

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

The wrapper was a little rugged looking, but not as much as I remember them to be years ago. There were no flaws that I could see. It had a hay-ish smell, and the foot smelled mildly earthy. The cigar was pretty well packed, with some minor hard and soft spots. The draw had some resistance, but fell within my tolerance. The pre-light flavor was mild and reminded me of hay.

During the first third, the burn was horrible. I had to do some major burn corrections because the filler was not burning as fast as the wrapper. Luckily the issue resolved itself after the first third. The ash held for around an inch.

1 Dona_Flor_Selecao cigars

Flavor:

The first third had a base flavor of wood. Behind it was an earthiness. When passing smoke through the sinus, there was no spice whatsoever. It was a mild smooth flavor similar to coffee and cedar. Towards the end of the first third, a generic sweetness was noticed.

2 Dona_Flor_Selecao cigars

The second third developed nicely. The sweetness became more of a mocha type of flavor, or at least similar to it. The woodiness and earthy notes remained behind it. Through the nose, there was an easy spice that left a tingle. There was also a flavor mixed in that I couldn’t identify. This may have been what I remember from years ago… Brazilian tobacco has an interesting uniqueness. I recall have trouble pinning down this flavor in the past.

3 Dona_Flor_Selecao cigars

The last third had a thicker smoke feel that was laced with sweet mocha like flavors. The woody and earthy flavors fell further in to the background. It was replaced with a spice that had a sweet tingle. Some draws were sweet mocha, and others were woody, earthy, and mixed with coffee. At other times, I could taste that elusive flavor I can only pin down as a characteristic of tobacco from Brazil. Glad to see it still stumps me after all these years.

4 Dona_Flor_Selecao cigars

Conclusion:

This was a good, solid medium bodied cigar. The guys I knew as the “Owners” of Dona Flor had nothing to do with this cigar. A part of me wanted to not like the Selecao because of that. But truth be told… I liked it. I don’t know if I liked it as much as the original, but I haven’t had one of those in years. I was glad to see there was that elusive flavor I recall from back then. I think Dona Flor is worth re-visiting, or trying if you haven’t had the chance.

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