La Flor De Cano Grandiosos (ER Asia 2013)

Punch, Ramón Allones, Bolívar and Por Larrañaga.

If you were asked to name at least one Cuban Edición Regional cigar, chances are pretty high that one of those marcas would be the one you named. Of course there are other marcas that have been used in the program, but one of the few that have only seen a handful of releases is La Flor de Cano. Five years after the ER program was introduced saw La Flor de Cano’s first introduction to the series with a 2010 release for the United Kingdom.

Since then only three other releases have come out:

• La Flor de Cano Short Robusto Edición Regional Reino Unido (2010) (4 x 50) — 1,200 Boxes of 25 Cigars (30,000 Total Cigars)
• La Flor de Cano Grandiosos Edición Regional Asia Pacifico (2013) (5 3/8 x 52) — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• La Flor de Cano Gran Cano Edición Regional Gran Bretaña (2013) (5 5/8 x 50) — 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• La Flor de Cano Siboney Edición Regional Canada (2014) (4 3/8 x 42) — 2,000 Boxes of 25 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)

As Patrick Lagreid noted last week, the Edmundo shape has been a popular one for Habanos S.A.’s Edición Regional series.

• 2009 – Bolívar Fabulosos (Benelux), Ramón Allones Beritus (Lebanon)
• 2011 – Bolívar Oryx (Qatar), Juan López Supreme (Canada), Ramón Allones Macedonian (Greece and Cyprus)
• 2013 – La Flor de Cano Grandiosos (Asia Pacific)
• 2014 – Juan López Don Juan (Benelux), La Gloria Cubana Paraiso (Carribean)

• Cigar Reviewed: La Flor de Cano Grandiosos Edición Regional Asia Pacifico (2013)
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Factory: n/a
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Size: 5 3/10 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Edmundo
• Est. Price: $20 (Boxes of 10, $200)
• Date Released: 2013
• Number of Cigars Released: 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

I’m not overly familiar with the La Flor de Cano marca, but at first glance I am impressed with the Grandiosos. The uniform wrapper is virtually seamless in its application with the triple cap and bands both perfectly applied. It’s quite firm when squeezed and the wrapper has a bumpy, but soft and slightly oily feel to it. Fresh grains, hay and very light leather make up the aroma coming off the wrapper while the cold draw features fresh ground cinnamon, root beer, vanilla and graham cracker. Overall quite the unique cold draw.

Starting into the first third starts out quite sweet and creamy, with vanilla, hot cinnamon and cedar. The draw is a little snug but manageable, though I would say it’s just outside of the ideal range. Starting out the burn was quite lopsided, though about an inch in it has evened itself up nicely. The ash is very firm, almost refusing to roll off the cigar even at an inch. The profile is quite smooth, so I tentatively retrohale a partial draw and am surprised by the kick of it, with notes of creamy cedar, some white pepper and a touch of fresh hay.

The second third continues with more of the sweet creamy cedar, paired with vanilla, grains and a touch of spice, though the cinnamon from before has faded. The draw has opened up and is producing plenty of smoke with each puff. The burn isn’t perfect, but it’s even enough that I don’t pay it much mind. The flavors continue much the same, with an overall Cubanesque profile that seems vaguely familiar though as previously stated I’m not intimate with the La Flor De Cano profile.

The final third doesn’t see much change, with more creamy cedar, vanilla and spice, though it’s developed a minor sour note in the background—not harshness, but it’s not incredibly pleasant. The burn lagged behind enough that it needed a slight touch up, though the ash is still holding firmly. Luckily the sourness doesn’t develop much past a bit in the background, allowing the cigar to finish up without having the profile fall apart.

Final Notes

• La Flor de Cano is also an interesting situation, as the only regular production cigars being released are made up of short filler. All of the La Flor de Cano ER releases are of course made with long filler.
• Other marcas with notably small representations include Diplomáticos, Fonseca, La Escepción, Montecristo, Quai d’Orsay, Rafael González, Saint Luis Rey and Sancho Panza. Each has only had three or fewer releases in the program.
• Each sample I smoked performed very similarly, with only minor variances. One sample had a slightly tighter draw while the other two were ideal. One sample performed good for the entire cigar while the other two dropped in enjoyment very slightly with each third.
• Pacific Cigar Ltd. is the distributor for the Asia Pacific region, it distributes to over 30 places across Asia including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Macau and Singapore, however it is not the distributor for mainland China, India, Kazakhstan nor Russia.
• As with many ERs, these can still be found in stock with only some minor effort despite having been released two years ago.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged a nice, slow two hours.