LFD N.A.S. by La Flor Dominicana

The LFD N.A.S. is a cheroot cigar that is slated for a national release by La Flor Dominicana. A limited run of this cigar was  released to Michael’s Tobacco of Keller Texas last year. At press time, the cigar has now been given a one month exclusive early release to Greensboro, retailer Pipe and Pint prior to the national release in April, 2014. While this easily looks like a cigar that could be smoked in a spaghetti western, the LFD N.A.S. has one additional twist – it is an all ligero blend. The end result is as one would expect – a little powerhouse. At the same time, I found this to be a cigar that also delivered flavor-wise. This cigar is one little rocket worth checking out..

The LFD N.A.S. is not the first cheroot to be released by La Flor Dominicana.  A few years ago, a retail exclusive was done for Empire Cigars in Raleigh, North Carolina called the La Flor Dominicana Cheroot that was nicknamed the “Ice Pick”. According to Empire Cigars web-site, it was rumored to be an all-ligero cigar.

The word is that the name of the LFD N.A.S. stands for “Nasty A___ S___”. Without further ado. let’s take a closer look at this one and see what the LFD N.A.S. brings to table.

Blend Profile

Specific details of the blend have not been disclosed other than this is is a cigar that contains only wrapper and filler. The blend is 100% ligero and contains Pelo D’Oro tobacco.

Vitolas Available

The LFD N.A.S. is available on in the cheroot size. Specific dimensions have not been disclosed, but we estimated this to be about 5 1/2″ long and around a 40-42 ring.

Appearance

The LFD N.A.S. is a rugged looking cigar, but that gives it its charm. It has a coffee bean color with some colorado red mixed in. The wrapper itself is not oily. The surface to wrapper is bumpy. There are visible veins which give the wrapper a toothy look. The cigar is tapered toward the head in a torpedo-like style. The tip of the cigar itself is pre-cut.

The banding is a radical departure than what has been seen on a La Flor Dominicana band in recent years. The band has a black background on the upper portion and the lower part is maroon. The letters “LFD” in black font (with a slight maroon trim) are on the middle of the band extending over both the black and maroon portions. Below that text is the text “N.A.S.” in smaller black font on the maroon portion of the band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

While the tip of the LFD N.A.S. was pre-cut, I opted to use a straight cut to take about another 1/8″ off to get a better draw. I then moved on to the pre-light draw.  The dry draw provided a mix of grass, earth and floral notes. While there was some spice component, I was a little surprised that I didn’t get much spice on the pre-light – that would soon change. Overall, I considered the pre-light draw of the LFD N.A.S. to be satisfactory.  At this point I was ready to light up this cigar and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Flavor Profile

With the LFD N.A.S., this isnt a complex cigar.  Given this is an all-ligero blend, I also wasn’t expecting much in the way of complexity.  However what I was looking for was to see what nuances I could get from the all ligero blend and Pelo d’Oro tobacco.

Right out of the gate I was treated to a strong blast of black pepper. I also detected some wood notes. The N.A.S. definitely started out as a spice bomb, and that spice was even more intensified on the retro-hale. By the first ten percent, the pepper notes were joined by a cedar sweetness. Meanwhile the pepper also was prominent on the finish as it really lingered on the tongue. At times, I also detected a slight grassy note in the background.

In the second third, the cedar sweetness got more prominent and for a while it took my attention away from the spice. The pepper spice was still very much present – especially on the finish and retrohale. I inferred that the Pelo D’Oro was at work delivering some of this sweetness. I found this sweetness a nice surprise.

The pepper notes however never totally went away. They resurfaced in the last third. The last stages of this cigar had a lot of spice. There was a slight bit of harshness at the end of this cigar. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and cool to the touch.

Burn and Draw

Ligero leaves are not known to be the best burning ones, so I wasn’t sure what to expect from the LFD N.A.S. Surprisingly, this cigar burned quite well. The burn line remained relatively straight. It required few touch-ups along the way, but I didn’t consider the amount of touch-ups excessive. The resulting ash wasn’t tight, but it wasn’t loose and flaky either. The ash itself was gray in color with some darker streaks. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.

 

Burn of the LFD N.A.S.

The draw was very good. It was not too loose and not too tight. Cutting the extra 1/8″ off on the pre-light draw seemed to help the tip from getting too soft when drawing.

Strength and Body

As mentioned at the beginning the LFD N.A.S. is a powerhouse.  It starts out what I considered full strength along the way and gets stronger (i.e. full +) along the way. This is definitely a nicotine bomb. There still is plenty of flavor with the N.A.S. and I still considered the flavors to have enough depth to be full-bodied.  However, make no bones about it – the LFD N.A.S. is going to emphasize strength over body.

Final Thoughts

As I mentioned with the flavor profile, I looked to see what this cigar would do based on being all-ligero. While I was fulling expecting a spice bomb, the sweetness I got off this cigar was a pleasant surprise.  I can only infer the Pelo de Oro tobacco was working its magic delivering both the flavor and strength. Overall, this is the kind of cigar that is not for the novice.  In fact, this would be for the experienced cigar enthusiast that desires a cigar that is full in body and full + in strength.  As for myself, the LFD N.A.S. impressed me. While I wouldn’t see this as an everyday cigar, it’s certainly one I’d keep a fiver around in my humidor and revisit from time to time.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Full
Body: Full
Finish Good
Assessment: 3.0 – The Fiver
Score: 90

References

Price: n/a
Source: Cigars provided by retailer (*)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a

* Cigar Coop is appreciative for the sample, but this does not influence this assessment.