La Flor Dominicana Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary

Back in February, we reported that a retail exclusive, limited edition blend from La Flor Dominicana was coming to the Pipe and Pint in Greensboro, North Carolina.  This cigar was to commemorate the shop’s 15th anniversary, thus the cigar is appropriately titled La Flor Dominicana Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary.  Much of the details of this cigar are under a cloud of mystery, but I’ve always said that sometimes injects an element of fun into the smoking experience.  I have recently had a chance to smoke the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary.  This cigar is something special and everything a retail exclusive cigar should be.  If you are an LFD fan, this is a cigar you want to put on your radar.

In our preview, we noted a Facebook post by the folks at Pipe and Pint in regards to the La Flor Dominicana Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary:


“Handcrafted by The King of Ligero, Litto Gomez, celebrating 15 years as the “Tobacconist to the Triad of North Carolina”!!!  The Cigar: There is limited, and then there is LIMITED. Only 2,000 total cigars crafted.” 


Without further adieu, let’s take a closer look at the La Flor Dominicana Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary and see what this cigar brings to the table:

Blend Profile


We were told that LFD owner and blender Litto Gomez did not even disclose the details of the blend to the folks at Pipe and Pint.  The only details that were disclosed about the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary were that “the tobacco’s that have been used are very, very old.”  


Vitolas Available

The Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary is a 6 1/2 x 54 vitola described as a “true box press“.   The cigars are also boxed slightly damped with lids hammered in place tightly.  There are ten cigars in a box, so given that 2,000 cigars were made, one can infer that production was set at 200 boxes. A box price has an SRP of $150.00.

Photo used with permission – originally from Pipe and Pint Facebook page.

Appearance

The wrapper to the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary is a rich coffee bean color with a touch of colorado red to it. If you look closely at it, you can see some darker marbling on the wrapper. The surface of the wrapper definitely has some oil to it.  There are some visible wrapper seams and some visible veins.  The box press is well-packed with no soft spots.  Finally there is a slight pig-tail on the cap.

The cigar has a single band on it.  It is a classic LFD gold script logo with the burnt red and black background.  It also has the standard LFD gold adornment for trim.  There is a gold medallion and leaf on the left and right side of the band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For my smoking experience of the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary, I went with a straight cut instead of removing the pig-tail directly.  This is consistent to what I do with all cigars that have a pig-tail cap.  Once the cap was clipped, I moved on to the pre-light draw.  The dry draw provided notes of leather, coffee, and a touch of cedar spice.  Overall, this was a very positive pre-light experience.  At this point, I was ready to light up my La Flor Dominicana Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary and see what would follow.

Flavor Profile

The start to the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary provided a strong dose of pepper to start.  As the pepper settled down, notes of roasted coffee surfaced and took over as the primary flavor.  There also was an interesting sweet-spice in the background.  I couldn’t quite put my finger on the sweet-spice, but it seemed to be in the cedar family. This was soon followed by some background cream notes.  The retro-hale had what I would term a mild spice to it and I found that quite refreshing.

The coffee notes continued to hold primary throughout the first third with the sweet spice and cream as secondary. At times the coffee notes had more of a stronger espresso taste to it.  By this point, I also detected some earth notes that switched up between primary and secondary.  By the end of the first third, the sweet-spice changed up to more a combination of pepper and citrus notes – both of these flavors remained in the background.  The cream notes had dissipated.

In the second third, the earth notes took over as primary.  The coffee notes joined the pepper and citrus in the background.  I also detected some natural tobacco notes in the background.  By the midway point the pepper spice began to increase.

In the last third, the pepper picked up on both the tongue and on the retro-hale and became the dominant flavor in the last third.   The natural tobacco and earth notes were pretty much the background flavors right until the end.  The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

The Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary has some outstanding construction and this was reflected in the burn and draw.  Both attributes scored very well here.  The burn line was sharp and straight from start to finish – requiring very little in the way of touch-ups.  The resulting ash is tight with no flaking or flowering along the way.  The ash has a nice white color with some gray speckles.   The burn rate and burn temperature are both ideal.

Burn of the La Flor Dominica Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary

The draw is as good as it gets.  The draw to the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary has a touch of resistance – which I find makes a very good draw.   The draw was also low maintenance – making for a great smoking experience.

Strength and Body

When it comes to what I consider a classic LFD smoke, then my expectations are usually one for a cigar with strength and body on the fuller side – and that’s exactly what I got with the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary.  From a strength perspective, the Pipe and Pint 15th Anniversary starts out medium to full.  Along the way, the cigar does increase in strength and by the second half this is a full strength smoking experience.   The depth of the flavors follow a similar pattern – starting out medium to full-bodied in the first half and then progressing to full-bodied in the second half.   The balance between the strength and body is outstanding along the way as neither attribute overshadows the other.

Final Thoughts

As we mentioned there is not a lot known about this cigar, but the experience the cigar produces is more than satisfying.  When the cigar was announced, Pipe and Pint positioned this cigar as “Incredibly full, balanced, and ridiculously smooth. The epitome of Litto’s blending mastery.” After smoking the Pipe and Pint 15 Anniversary, I could not agree more with this statement.  This cigar also has some nice complexity to its flavor profile.  This still is a cigar I would position to a more experienced cigar enthusiast as it still might too full for the novice cigar enthusiast.  I would also highly encourage LFD fans to check out this cigar.  As for myself, this is definitely a cigar I will revisit again.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Good
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 93

Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from the Pipe and Pint in Greensboro, North Carolina.