Flor de las Antillas Toro

[treberty]

I believe it was CA cigar of the year 2013 or 14.... it had been rated 96 and was only $120/box. In other words a steal... on paper (even if I think that CA's reviews are not exactly the best the video review of this cigar convinced me to give it a whirl).

A friend and I each got a box. When we smoked the first cigar we just could not beilieve it had been considered cigar of the year: it was just really strong, with no flavour! We almost chucked it after the first third, but kept on smoking it out of principle. The construction was great however - as all Pepin Garcia cigars. We smoked one or two a year since then and although it was not as bad as the first one it wasn't close to be a cigar of the year contender.

So, I smoked another one last night when it was about -5C. I smoked it with water. Maybe it was the cold (!), but it finally was a decent cigar. Not cigar of the year good by any mean, but a good $6 cigar. Floral notes, some coffee, almonds... pleasant smoke.

Will smoke another shortly to see if this was a one-off!

[jwr0201]

Try the La Antiguidad - MUCH better cigar. The FDLA is pretty flavorless, but the Antiguidad is more full and tasty!

[Corylax18]

It was 2012. You guys must have gotten some bad boxes/sticks. I love these things. Its been a while since I've had one, but I still have a dozen or so left. I will try to pull one out this weekend to see if they have lost any of what I remember. They are certainly strong, two binders and a Sun Grown Wrapper are probably the main reason for that.

I store my NCs at every bit of 70% RH, I let one of these get a bit dry on vacation before I smoked it and it was not nearly as good. If you are storing these with your CCs at a lower RH you may not be getting the full flavor potential.

[Hunter1974]

I believe it was CA cigar of the year 2013 or 14.... it had been rated 96 and was only $120/box. In other words a steal... on paper (even if I think that CA's reviews are not exactly the best the video review of this cigar convinced me to give it a whirl).

A friend and I each got a box. When we smoked the first cigar we just could not beilieve it had been considered cigar of the year: it was just really strong, with no flavour! We almost chucked it after the first third, but kept on smoking it out of principle. The construction was great however - as all Pepin Garcia cigars. We smoked one or two a year since then and although it was not as bad as the first one it wasn't close to be a cigar of the year contender.

So, I smoked another one last night when it was about -5C. I smoked it with water. Maybe it was the cold (!), but it finally was a decent cigar. Not cigar of the year good by any mean, but a good $6 cigar. Floral notes, some coffee, almonds... pleasant smoke.

Will smoke another shortly to see if this was a one-off! Agreed its TRASH!!!!!!!

[treberty]

It was 2012. You guys must have gotten some bad boxes/sticks. I love these things. Its been a while since I've had one, but I still have a dozen or so left. I will try to pull one out this weekend to see if they have lost any of what I remember. They are certainly strong, two binders and a Sun Grown Wrapper are probably the main reason for that.

I store my NCs at every bit of 70% RH, I let one of these get a bit dry on vacation before I smoked it and it was not nearly as good. If you are storing these with your CCs at a lower RH you may not be getting the full flavor potential.

Wow, you are right... it was 2012! Time flies. I keep my NCs in a separate humidor, but at the same RH than my CCs. I'll increase it to around 70% to see if I can taste a difference. That said, I have always enjoyed other NCs at that RH so maybe some cigars are just more high maintenance ;-) Thanks for the tip.

I also know that Don Pepin couldn't keep up with the demand after the cigar of the year issue came out, so maybe the quality of the boxes I got wasn't the same...

Try the La Antiguidad - MUCH better cigar. The FDLA is pretty flavorless, but the Antiguidad is more full and tasty!

I did - got a box of robusto last year. I do enjoy it.

Thanks!

[RijkdeGooier]

Nice cigar for a change of pace

[zeavran1]

I really like Flor de las Antillas. They're great for the price.

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[mikemerry]

There pretty good. I grab singles of them when on that side of the pond. The bijou I'm told is more "Cuban" like but I haven't had the chance myself yet. Does anyone else find that after a brand gets the honour by CA the tobacco seems to fall off a year or two later. Olivia series v's for example.

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[Corylax18]

There pretty good. I grab singles of them when on that side of the pond. The bijou I'm told is more "Cuban" like but I haven't had the chance myself yet. Does anyone else find that after a brand gets the honour by CA the tobacco seems to fall off a year or two later. Olivia series v's for example.

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I would tend to agree. I cant speak to this cigar, but certainly the Oliva Vs. Its a double edged sword. Most of the tobacco in the FDLA toro is supposed to be aged for a number of years. This seems to be the case with most NCs at this point. I think they also lay the sticks them selves down for at least 6 months after they have been rolled.

This creates something of a natural bottleneck in the system. The cigar gets more popular, so they want to sell more of them. The only problem is that (In theory) you can only up production by as much as you anticipated say 3 years ago (when you harvested the tobacco and began the curing/ageing process)

If you didn't anticipate a jump in production then, you cant make more now. Unfortunately, its seems they find a way to make more. Weather that's by using younger tobacco, or maybe lower quality leaves from the bales that may have been passed over and used for something else. They may also tweak the blend to include some more available filler tobacco to help fill the short comings as well.

Its amazing how people (mainly us Yankees I think) follow CA like its fact. I'm certainly not as down on them as others, but I have found my tastes to rarely match those of the CA editors. (This cigar being an exception) If the manufacturers can control themselves and keep production low and steady (Opus X) CA can be a blessing. If the manufacturer gets short sighted they may sell out for the quick profits.

[ElLoboLoco]

I think there are more times in the NC world, original releases are the best and blend quality drops in subsequent releases. I think this is due to the fact there are always new lines being released.

[Lotusguy]

I like the new Tubo version

[Corylax18]

I like the new Tubo version

Agreed absolutely beautiful. The Tubes are like individual boxes. There is another post asking everybody's favorite bands,this one is the winner for me far and away.

I still have plenty from the original batch, so none of the Tubos for me......