The La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition is a special offshoot to La Flor Dominican’s 1994 line. It was back in 2014, the La Flor Dominicana released the1994 line. The 1994 cigar quickly garnered both critical and commercial acclaim. The La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition features a different blend, a different size and some special packaging. As the name indicates, the cigars are packaged in a limited edition, hand-painted beer stein. Recently I’ve had an opportunity to smoke the La Flor Dominicana Beer Stein Limited Edition. Overall, not only did I find this to be an excellent cigar, but one that has continued to get better with age.

1994 marks the year, La Flor Dominicana company founders Litto And Ines Gomez started in the cigar business. The original company founded by the Litto and Ines was called Los Libertadores. It was two years later when the company was rebranded La Flor Dominicana. The company became a vertically integrated company as they own their own factory (Tabacalera La Flor) and farms (La Canela).

The beer stein unit itself showcases the artesian qualities of La Flor Dominicana. It is ceramic and includes company founder Litto Gomez’s signature panama hat for the design of the lid.

 

 

 

The original 1994 line, including the Beer Stein Limited Edition was showcased at the 2014 IPCPR Trade Show. Shortly after the trade show, the regular production 1994 began to arrive at retailers. The Beer Stein Limited Edition shipped several months later arriving early in 2015.

Without further ado, let’s break down the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

As mentioned the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition features a different blend. While the regular production La Flor Dominicana features San Andres Natural wrapper, the 1994 Beer Stein cigar utilize a San Andres Maduro wrapper. The remainder of the blend Dominican tobaccos will come from the company’s La Canela farms.

Wrapper: San Andres Mexican – Maduro
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic (Tabacalera La Flor)

Vitolas Available

The La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Maduro cigar comes in one size – a  6 x 54 Toro. As mentioned this is also a unique size for the line as the regular 1994 line does not have a cigar with these dimensions.

There are 20 cigars packaged in the stein. A total of 5,000 steins were produced for a total of 100,000 cigars.

Appearance

The La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition’s San Andres Maduro wrapper has a medium to dark brown color. Upon closer examination, there is some darker marbling. While there is a light coating of oil on the wrapper, there is a bit of a sandy feel on the surface. The wrapper itself has thin visible veins and thin wrapper seams.

The band for the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition is the same as on the regular production 1994 cigar. It features a maroon colored background that has a darker gradient effect as you move away from the center.  The center of the band features a flower with lavender pedals and green leaves.  The flower sits on a black circular background surrounded by a multi-faceted gold design.  Below the circular background is the text “La Flor Dominicana” in gold cursive font. Below that text is the text “1994” – also in gold font.  To the left and right of the lower is the gold “LFD” gold wreath logo. There is also gold trim going around the edges of the band.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

As I normally do, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap of the a La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw phase. The dry draw provided a very simple profile as it delivered notes of coffee and wood. Overall, while simple I still found this to be a very good pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the a Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition and see what the smoking phase would bring to the table.

Flavor Profile

The start to the La Flor Dominican 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition delivered a mix of chocolate, earth, classic wood, and a slight raisin note. Typically I consider raisin notes to be a major red flag in terms of a cigar being young, but with this cigar it was clearly not the case. The raisin notes were more subtle and didn’t provide an overwhelming sweetness. During the early stages the chocolate notes became primary with the earth, raisin,  and wood. Meanwhile a combination of cedar and white pepper made up the retro-hale.

Throughout the first third, the chocolate notes remained primary. I found this cigar developed a nice smooth and creamy texture during this time. The earth and raisin notes remained secondary and the classic wood notes morphed into more of a subtle cedar sweet-spice.

The second third of the La Flor Dominican 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition saw the cedar notes join the chocolate in the forefront. The background notes had a combination of earth, hay and that slight raisin note. Meanwhile, thehe creamy texture of the flavor profile still remained.

The final third of the cigar was very similar to the first. The one difference is the raisin note faded to the more distant background. This is the way the La Flor Dominican 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition came to a close. The resulting nub was cool in temperature, but soft to the touch.

Burn and Draw

Overall I found the burn and draw to score very well on the La Flor Dominican 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition. The burn path remained straight from start to finish. The burn line had a touch of jaggedness, but overall was relatively straight and didn’t warrant any other touch-ups. As for the ash, it was quite firm coming off the cigar in nice clean chunks. The ash itself was nearly white in color. Meanwhile, the burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.

The draw to the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition had a touch of resistance – something that I like. The result was a very satisfying draw. I also found a decent level of smoke production from this cigar.

Strength and Body

When the regular production 1994 was introduced, it was a departure from the reputation the company got for the full strength, full-bodied cigars. The 1994 delivered a cigar line in the medium range for both attributes. The 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition falls into the same category as I also found it to be a medium strength, medium-bodied smoke. In fact, I think the strength and body decreased a bit along the way. Both the strength and the body of the 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition balance each other very nicely with neither attribute overshadowing the other.

Final Thoughts

First a comment on something that did not effect the score one way or another. I love the beer stein unit itself, but it is worth noting that it is not a humidor. On one hand, I would have loved it to be sealed like a humidor because it would be awesome to store the cigars in the unit long term. On the other hand I love the authenticity that it really is an actual beer stein. The big bonus is the artistry showcased on the unit itself.

Overall, the La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition cigar is excellent. I have been smoking some of these over the past year, and they have seem to be responding very well to age. They are little more dialed back from when they first came out, but I think that works in favor of this blend because it allowed the flavors to shine.

The 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition is a cigar I could easily recommend to both a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would smoke again – and one easily worthy of purchasing another beer stein.

Summary

Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium
Finish: Good
Assessment: 4-Box Worthy
Score: 91

References

News: La Flor Dominicana 1994
Price: $12.50 (per cigar), $250.00 (Beer Stein of 20)
Source: Purchased
Stogie Geeks Podcast: Episode 123, Episode 204
Stogie Feed: La Flor Dominicana 1994 Beer Stein Limited Edition
Brand Reference: La Flor Dominicana