One of the companies that have been a staple of the Tobacconist Association of America (TAA) Exclusive Series is La Flor Dominicana. Since 2012, La Flor Dominicana has delivered a limited edition cigar to the TAA Exclusive Series. In 2019, La Flor Dominicana would release not one, but two cigars to the TAA. These cigars have been branded the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición. The blend to the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural is based on the 2018 release done for the 50th anniversary of the TAA – the La Flor Dominicana TAA 2018 – The Golden Anniversary. Today we dive deeper into one of the blends released for the 2019 TAA Exclusive Series – the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural.

 

TAA Exclusive Series consists of cigars made by leading manufacturers that are exclusively sold at TAA member retailers. The TAA is a small group of retailers. At press time the number of retailers is approximately 80. The TAA has defined itself as:

The Tobacconists’ Association of America, Ltd. is a trade organization established in 1968 by visionary retail tobacconists. By providing education, communication, research, advocacy, and member discount programs, The TAA works with our members and the industry they support to offer the tools and relationship building opportunities needed to maximize professionalism and success.

There are 14 cigars released for 2019 as a part of the TAA Exclusive Series:

• AJ Fernandez New World Redondo
• Brick House Ciento Por Ciento TAA Exclusive by J.C. Newman Cigar Company
• CAO Brazilia Select
• Crowned Heads The Angel’s Anvil 2019
• Don Pepin Garcia Original TAA Exclusive Limited Edition 2019 by My Father Cigars
• E.P. Carrillo La Historia 656
• Eiroa Jamastran 11/18
• Joya de Nicaragua Antaño Gran Reserva Presidente
• Joya de Nicaragua Selección de Torcedor 2019
• La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural
• La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Maduro
• La Palina Silver Label Toro
• Timeless 2019 Limited Edition for Nat Sherman
• Tatuaje TAA 51th

The following have been the La Flor Dominicana TAA Exclusive Series offerings:

• 2012 La Flor Dominicana TAA 2012 Air Bender Maduro Torpedo
• 2013 La Flor Dominicana Double Press Maduro (TAA Edition)
• 2014 La Flor Dominicana 2014 TAA Exclusive – The 707
• 2015 La Flor Dominicana TAA 47
• 2016 La Flor Dominicana TAA 48 and La Flor Dominicana TAA 48 Celebration Limited Edition Maduro (Event Only)
• 2017 La Flor Dominicana TAA (2017)
• 2018 La Flor Dominicana TAA 2018 – The Golden Anniversary
• 2019 La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición (Natural and Maduro)

Without further ado, let’s break down the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural and see what this cigar brings to the table.

SPECIFICATIONS

Blend and Origin

The La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural consists of a Nicaraguan wrapper over Dominican tobaccos for the binder and filler. The filler includes the Dominican Criollo ’99 tobacco.

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, including Criollo ’98
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera La Flor

Vitolas Offered

Both the Natural and Maduro blends of the TAA 50th Segunda Edición comes in one size – a 6 1/2 x 54 box-pressed toro. The cigars are presented in 20-count boxes.

Appearance

The Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición had a medium brown, almost cocoa-colored wrapper. There was a light coat of oil on the wrapper. There were some visible wrapper seams and visible veins. The box-press itself had a slight soft Cuban press style to it.

There are two bands on the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural. The primary band is basically a gold-colored version of a basic La Flor Dominicana background. It features “LFD” in gold scripted font surrounded by gold adornments on a gold foil background.   Below the LFD logo, it says “La Flor Dominicana” in white script.  Below the white script, it says “Oro” in white font. The remainder of the band has black and gold design elements.

The secondary band has a gold foil textured background with black trim. On the secondary band is the 50th anniversary logo for the TAA.

Pre-Light Draw

A straight cut was used to remove the cap of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural. After the cap was removed, it was time to commence the pre-light draw. The dry draw delivered notes of sweet natural tobacco, cedar, and a slight amount of black pepper. Overall this was a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point, it was time to light up the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural and see what the smoking phase would have in store.

Tasting Notes

The La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural started out with notes of natural tobacco and mixed fruit. The natural tobacco had a sweetness that had a nice fusion with the fruit notes. Rounding out the flavors were notes of cedar, nut, and a combination of red and black pepper. The retro-hale delivered additional layers of black pepper, cedar, and fruit.

Toward the latter part of the first third, the fruit sweetness diminished into the background joining the cedar and pepper notes. By this point, the nut flavors had dissipated. Concurrently some earth notes started to emerge in the forefront. The natural tobacco notes remained grounded as the primary note, but as the cigar moved through this phase of the cigar, the earth notes played more of a key role.

Toward the midway point of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural, there was more in the way of black pepper on the tongue displacing the red pepper notes. The black pepper also took over on the retro-hale. It was around this point that the finish of the cigar produced a mix of the fruit notes and black pepper notes.

The last third of this cigar saw the profile have primary notes of earth, natural tobacco, and pepper with some cedar and fruit in the background. While the pepper was not overwhelming, at times it threw the balance off. This is the way the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural came to a close. The resulting nub was soft to the touch and slightly lukewarm.

Burn

There was some unevenness on the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural. This required frequent touch-ups along the way to keep the cigar on a straight burn path. The resulting ash wasn’t overly firm, but it wasn’t a loose or flaky draw either. This was an ash that was silver-gray in color with some darker spots in it. The burn rate was ideal, but I did find this cigar burned a little warm in the last third.

Draw

The draw to the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural performed quite well. This cigar struck a nice balance between resistance and openness. At the same time, this was a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

The TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural started out with medium strength and medium body. Along the way, there was a slight increase in the intensity of both the strength and body, but in the end, the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural stayed in the medium range of the spectrum for both attributes.

OVERALL ASSESSMENT

Final Thoughts

The La Flor Dominican TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural was a classic “tale of two cigars.”.] This is a cigar that came out of the gate like gangbusters. During the second half, the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural became ordinary and toward the end became somewhat unbalanced. Along the way, there was a nice amount of flavor nuances and transitions. In the end, if I had to pick between the TAA 50th Segunda Edición Natural and La Flor Dominicana’s 2018 Golden Anniversary release, I would still go toward the 2018 release. This is a cigar that I would recommend to a seasoned cigar enthusiast, but certainly would not discourage a novice from trying. At $20.00, it’s not an inexpensive cigar, but it is still one worth buying and smoking again.

Summary

Key Flavors: Natural Tobacco, Fruit, Cedar, Black Pepper, Red Pepper, Nut
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium to High
Strength: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium (1st Half), Medium to Full (2nd Half)
Finish: Very Good

Rating

Value: Buy One
Score: 90

References

News: La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Segunda Edición Debuts at Convention
Price: $20.00
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: La Flor Dominicana
TAA Exclusive Series 2019 Reference: 2019 TAA Exclusive Series

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop