Prior to the 2016 IPCPR Trade Show; Pure Aroma Cigars, the makers of D’Crossier Cigars announced the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 line. The Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 is a line that introduced two 60+ ring gauge offerings. While D’Crossier Cigars has produced 60 ring gauge cigars in the past, this line is D’Crossier’s first offerings beyond the 60 ring gauge. The Enormous 360 offers a Claro and Oscuro offering with both options blended for a large ring gauge format. Today we take a closer look at the Flor de Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro – a big 6 1/4 x 68 ring gauge cigar. Over the years, D’Crossier Cigars has delivered some great cigars. With the Flor de Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro, the company does not miss a beat – delivering an excellent large ring gauge offering.

Both blends of the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 are be offered in 12 count slide-top cabinet boxes. The 12 count box factors into the “360” name. Each  Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 cigar weighs 30 grams each. Factoring in the 12 cigar box count, the total weight of the cigars comes out to 360 grams. With the cigars being large and the net-weight of the cigars per box being 360, the results in the Enormous 360 name.

Without further ado, let’s break down the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile and Vitolas Available

For completeness, we list both the Oscuro and Claro offerings of the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360. Both offerings consists of one size – and each size and blend is unique to the offering.

In terms of the tobacco components, D’Crossier is not disclosing many of the details. D’Crossier says the cigars in the Enormous 360 line are aged a minimum of 16 months.

Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro

The Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 uses a wrapper from Costa Rica. The blend also incorporates three ligeros (two f3 and one f4) from 2005. The Oscuro features the larger of the two ring gauges as it measures 68.

Wrapper: Costa Rica
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed
Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Vitola: 6 1/4 x 68

Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Claro

The Claro offering is even more of an unknown.

Wrapper: Not Disclosed
Binder: Not Disclosed
Filler: Not Disclosed
Country of Origin: Costa Rica
Vitola: 6 1/8 x 65

Appearance

The Costa Rican wrapper of the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro has a rich roasted coffee bean color to it. Upon closer examination some darker marbling can be seen on the surface. This has a thick and oily wrapper. There were some visible veins and visible wrapper seams. This was also a well-packed cigar with plenty of tobacco in it and no soft spots.

The band to the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro is black in color with black and gold adornments on the edges. On the band is the text “FLOR de D’CROSSIER” in gold font arrange in a curved fashion. Just below that text is the text “EnormouS” – also in gold font. Just below that is the text “360” in a smaller gold font. The remainder of the band features additional gold-colored adornments.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. For this cut, I used a larger cutter geared for 70 ring gauge cigars. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw experience. The dry draw delivered rich coffee bean notes, a slight bit of natural tobacco sweetness and an earthy component. There wasn’t much in the way of spice with this pre-light draw. Overall I still considered this to be an excellent pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro and move into the smoking stage.

Flavor Profile

The Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro started out with notes of sweet cocoa, coffee, earth, cedar, and pepper. Early on, the sweet cocoa notes moved to the forefront. There was also a smooth, underlying creaminess to these cocoa notes. The pepper was the least prominent of the background notes as it had a very subtle effect on the flavor profile. The retro-hale takes a little bit to get going, but eventually I detected some cedar on the retro-hale.

The sweet cocoa remained a primary note throughout the first half. There was a slight increase in the cedar, but it still very much was a background note with the coffee, earth, and pepper. Toward the midway point, the coffee notes started to increase in intensity. By the latter part of the second third, the coffee notes joined the sweet cocoa in the forefront.

The last third of the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro saw the cedar notes ramp up once again. For the most part, it was a combination of the cocoa, coffee, and cedar notes working together. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

For the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro, the burn was not perfect by any means. At the same time, this wasn’t a poor one either. I did find this cigar needed more touch-ups than I prefer. This cigar did have good combustion and maintained both an ideal burn rate and ideal burn temperature. The resulting ash had a dark gray color to it. This was not a right ash, but it was not a loose, flakey one either.

For a big ring gauge cigar, I found the draw of the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro performed quite well. It had the right amount of resistance to prevent it from overturning, yet for a big ring gauge it had the right amount of open-ness. Overall I found this to be one of the better draws on a 60+ ring gauge cigar.

Strength and Body

With the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro, this is a classic case of don’t judge a box by its cover.  Given this a big ring gauge cigar with a thick, oily wrapper, one might think this could be a power bomb. This was not the case. In terms of body, this is a cigar that pretty much remained mild to medium from start to finish.

Strength-wise, I also found this cigar to start out in the mild to medium profile. During the last third, I found a spike in strength occurred and this resulted in the strength level moving to medium.

In terms of strength versus body, I gave a slight edge to the strength. This is what I would consider an unusual case as it is not that often that strength outflanks body on a dialed back cigar.

Final Thoughts

Owner Isaias Santana Diaz and D’Crossier Cigars once again deliver another winner with the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro. Overall I consider this a successful launch into the 60+ ring gauge territory for Diaz. I was a little surprised how dialed back this cigar is because of the fact that there are three ligeros in the blend. At the same time, I found the dialed back profile of this cigar worked beautifully with the flavor profile. At a price point of $17.20, the Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360 Oscuro isn’t cheap, but you are going to get plenty of cigar – and a cigar that is quite enjoyable. This is a cigar I’d recommend to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast who is open to smoking a big ring gauge cigar. As for myself, it’s one I’d smoke again – and its one worthy of a box split.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium
Strength: Mild to Medium (1st 2/3), Medium (Last Third)
Body: Mild to Medium
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: 3.5-Box Split
Score: 90

References

News: D’Crossier Introducing Flor de D’Crossier Enormous 360
Price: $17.20
Source: Cigars Provided by Manufacturer (Prior to August 8, 2016)
Stogie Geeks Podcast: n/a
Stogie Feed: n/a
Brand Reference: D’Crossier