La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Begins Shipping

Just before the end of the year, a pair of new La Flor Dominicana cigars are heading to select stores.

The company has begun shipping the La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomones, two different exclusive cigars for retailers that are members of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA). Both cigars are 7 x 64 salomones, offered with either Maduro or Natural wrappers.

La Flor Dominicana says that the cigars are based on Golden Blend that the company has used for TAA releases since 2018 but it’s declined to disclose blend specifics for 2022. Those past Golden Blend cigars have used a Nicaraguan sun grown wrapper for the Natural versions and Connecticut broadleaf for the Maduro offerings. Underneath that has been a variety of Dominican tobaccos including a corojo 99 binder that the company said upon introduction was being used just for its TAA releases.

This is the final year that the company is using the Golden Blend concept for its TAA release, something that was created when the TAA celebrated its 50th anniversary. The 2023 La Flor Dominicana TAA exclusive is described as a different concept, though details have not been announced.

The MSRP is set at $35 per cigar and production is limited to 700 boxes of the Maduro and 400 boxes of the Natural, an increase from the 750 total boxes that La Flor Dominicana originally announced.

The TAA is a membership group, which also includes approximately 40 manufacturers, that gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers, as well as to have its annual trade show, a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

During the event—which occurred in late March in Cabo San Lucas—the organization holds two selling events, one known as the Dream Machine where the retailers collectively order to secure larger discounts, while the other is a more traditional trade show. Typically, around a dozen manufacturers release new exclusive cigars for the retail members of the organization under the TAA Exclusive Series Program banner. Those manufacturers agree to give a portion of the proceeds to the organization, a minimum of 50 cents per cigar.

Asylum, E.P. Carrillo, Ferio Tego, Forged Cigar Co., Gurkha, Illusione, Joya de Nicaragua, La Flor Dominicana, La Palina, Rocky Patel, Tatuaje and Villiger created TAA 2022 releases.

Image via Jon Carney