La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Maduro

In 2018, La Flor Dominicana released a new cigar to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA), a membership group that gathers annually to discuss issues facing the industry and retailers. In addition, the TAA—which also includes approximately 40 manufacturers—puts on an annual trade show as well as a unique event that works on a group buying format in order to secure exclusive deals for these generally high-volume merchants.

La Flor Dominicana named that new cigar The Golden Blend—50th anniversaries have traditionally been associated with gold—and while the initial release in 2018 was only offered with a natural wrapper, subsequent incarnations have featured both natural and maduro wrappers.

Last December, La Flor Dominicana began shipping both a Maduro and Natural-wrapped versions of its TAA The Golden Salomones in the same 7 x 64 salomon vitola. The company has stated that the cigars are based on Golden Blend that the company has used for TAA releases since 2018, but La Flor Dominicana 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.

The La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Maduro and The Golden Salomon Natural began shipping to TAA retailers in December 2022. The MSRP is set at $35 per cigar and production of the Maduro version is limited to 700 boxes of 10.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Maduro
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Flor S.A.
• Wrapper: Undisclosed
• Binder: Undisclosed
• Filler: Undisclosed
• Length: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 64
• Vitola: Salomon
• MSRP: $35 (Box of 10, $350)
• Release Date: December 2022
• Number of Cigars Released: 700 Boxes of 10 Cigars (7,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Unlike what you may find with a brand like, say, Padrón, it is almost painfully obvious which of the two blends is the maduro-wrapped version when they are seen side by side; the wrappers on my three cigars are dark as coal, although there is some mottling that is noticeable as well. One cigar looks like it was dipped in oil before it was packaged up, while the amount covering the other two is not quite as obvious. The wrapper is smooth as silk to the touch with virtually no tooth at all and all three cigars are extremely firm when squeezed. Aromas from the wrapper include strong dark chocolate, bitter black coffee, earth, nuts, graham crackers and some light dry hay. Due to the nipple cap, the scents from the foot are not all that different, but I do notice that the black coffee note is a bit more aggressive. Finally, after a Dickman cut the cold draw brings flavors of dark chocolate and earth followed by cinnamon, generic nuttiness, cedar, barnyard and honey sweetness.

The foot of The Golden Salomon Maduro lights up very easily, immediately bringing notes of strong black pepper and espresso beans as well as copious amounts of thick smoke. Main flavors of creamy earth and almonds take over the profile, followed by additional flavors of dry straw, cocoa nibs, cinnamon, bitter espresso, leather and light lemongrass. The retrohale has a surprisingly light touch of black pepper—although it does seem to be increasing as the first third burns down—as well as a sweetness that reminds me of toffee candy. Flavor, strength and body all end the first third at a solid medium, but all are increasing as well. The draws and smoke production on all three cigars give me no issues whatsoever, but there are massive problems with the burn on two of them. My first cigar splits in three places which necessitates a few major corrections, while one of the other cigars each needs a touchup to keep on track.

Flavors of almonds and powdery cocoa nibs take over in the second third of the cigar, while the addition of some spice on my lips helps make the profile noticeably less creamy overall. Secondary flavors of earth, citrus peel, leather, cedar, hay and black coffee show up at various points, while the combination of toffee candy sweetness and black pepper continues to dominate the retrohale. Flavor increases enough to hit a point just over medium, while both the body and strength continue to be in lockstep, ending the second third at medium-plus. All three of The Golden Salomon Maduros feature continue to have issues with their respective burns leading to multiple touch-ups, but the smoke production and draws give me no problems whatsoever.

Cocoa nibs and almonds continue to lead the profile of the cigars during the final third of the La Flor Dominicana, followed by flavors of toasted bread, earth, hay, leather tack and lemongrass, the latter of which has returned to replace the citrus peel flavor that was present in previous third. In addition, the amount of black pepper on the retrohale has increased slightly while the amount of toffee sweetness has decreased as well, but neither have changed enough to make a notable difference in the profile.  Flavor remains at just over medium and the body stays at medium-plus, but the strength hits a point just under the full mark by the time I put the nubs down with about an inch remaining. Finally, the construction on all three cigars is a virtual carbon copy of the second third: two of the three cigars need burn corrections—albeit much more minor in nature—while the smoke production continues to be copious and the draws remain excellent until the end of the cigars.

Final Notes

• According to the company, 2022 was the final year that the Golden Blend would be used for TAA releases,
• La Flor Dominicana did not release a Golden Blend in 2020 or 2021.
• While not quite as thick or as overwhelming as what I have seen from multiple Liga Privada blends, the smoke production from this cigar is dense and plentiful from the first puff to the last. In addition, that smoke is extremely oily and coated the roof of my like no cigar I have smoked in recent memory.
• This is the second perfecto I have reviewed in a row; the first one was the Highclere Castle Senetjer, which measures a slightly smaller 6 3/4 x 52.
• Although the wrapper on the first cigar had some very significant issues, as noted above, the wrappers on the other two cigars had no such issues, leading me to think it was an outlier in that regard.
• Having said the above, I can’t remember the last time I had to correct the burn so many times on La Flor Dominicana cigars.
• The cigars smoked for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• The final smoking time for all three cigars averaged two hours and 14 minutes.
• If you would like to purchase any of the La Flor Dominicana TAA The Golden Salomon Maduro cigars, site sponsor Corona Cigar Co. has them in stock on its website here.