For those of you that don’t know…

One of the most anticipated releases at the IPCPR show in Las Vegas back in July was the La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro, a “somewhat” limited release that would be sold in cabinets of 50 and are to be shipped only twice a year. Litto is on record as saying that he could not source enough of the wrapper to make it a regular release, thus the limited nature of the cigars.

The cabinets of 50 that they are sold in look like this:

(Photo Courtesy LFD)

The La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro comes in four different vitolas. They are:

• No. 2 — 4.25 x 48 — $6.75
• No. 3 — 5 x 50 — $7.15
• No. 4 — 5.25 x 54 — $7.75
• No. 5 — 5.75 x 60 — $8.15

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But enough of that, let’s get down to business, shall we?

• Cigar Reviewed: La Flor Dominicana Colorado Oscuro No. 2
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Flor S.A.
• Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
• Binder: Dominican Sumatra
• Filler: Dominican and Nicaraguan
• Size: 4 1/4 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 48
• Vitola: Petit Robusto
• MSRP: $6.75 (Cabinet of 50, $292.50)
• Date Released: September 2011
• Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 5

The wrapper is a dark and mottled espresso brown, fairly bumpy along the length and glistens with quite a bit of oil on the wrapper. The cigar smells strongly of barnyard, hay, and sweet leather. Pre-draw is a great dark chocolate with a tiny amount of wood.

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The First Third starts with a great amount of spice on the lips and black pepper on the retrohale, along with strong flavors of toasted bread and green peppers and leather. There is a wonderful sweetness underneath the other flavors that really sets off the profile.

The Second Third shifts to more of a dark profile with quite a bit less spice and pepper, although I can taste the black pepper on the retrohale easily. Instead, I have flavors of dark, slightly bitter chocolate, espresso and less sweetness, although still in the background.

The Final Third continues to have bitter chocolate and espresso as the main flavors, along with that nice sweetness underneath. It has gotten stronger at the end, but still not close to Litto’s signature strength.

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Final Notes:

• I smoked three different vitolas for this review (the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4) and of all of them, I prefer the smallest size, the No. 2. It seemed to be just a bit stronger (without being too strong) and have just a bit richer profile.
• Honestly, I usually find that the majority of Litto’s blends are a bit too strong for a novice or even a wimpy aficionado, but this blend seems to be perfect for an introduction to his sticks. As a test, I smoked two of these in the morning before having breakfast, to see how the strength (or lack thereof) affected me. It has a nice strength, but it never seems to get above about a strong medium.
• Lots and LOTS of smoke, especially in the smaller vitolas.
• Interestingly, the Chisel vitola that Litto has made famous is missing from the lineup, so far. I am excited to see if he ever releases this blend in a Chisel, as it is one of my favorite vitolas.
• I don’t know if it is the blend, or the sizes I smoked, but it seemed to me that this cigar got VERY bitter the faster I smoked it, more so then other cigars. When I slowed down, the flavors popped out.
• The construction was amazing, with each and every sample drawing and burning like a dream.
• The whole “Colorado Oscuro” name confuses me, as it is almost a contradiction in terms…In typical cigar terms, “Colorado” is a lighter colored wrapper, while “Oscuro” is typically a darker color.
• This blend seemed to burn slow on all sizes, perhaps due to the wrapper, and the Final Smoking Time for the No. 2 was right at 1 Hour and 10 Minutes.

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The Bottom Line: I had heard that this blend was not as strong as Litto’s normal cigars and that definitely proved to be the case. However, I did not expect the wonderful sweetness that blended so well with the pepper and spice and other flavors. This is a wonderfully balanced blend with flavors coming at you from every side, especially in the smaller vitolas. It seems to me that Litto produced this cigar for more flavors and less strength, and succeeded.

Final Score: 90