La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero

In July 2007, La Flor Dominicana produced 100 boxes of 20 cigars in their Double Ligero blend, but wrapped in a Cameroon wrapper instead of the normal Ecuadorian wrapper. The cigars were sold exclusively by Puff ‘N’ Stuff Cigars in Decatur, Ga, and each box was individually numbered and signed by brand owner Litto Gomez. One month after the first 100 boxes sold out, 40 more boxes of the exact same blend were sent to Puff ‘N’ Stuff, this time numbered 101-140.

Alan Tybor, owner of Puff ‘N’ Stuff, had this to say when the cigars showed up virtually unannounced:

These are here and I’m smoking one. I thought I would tell you guys about it. Litto hasn’t told me much about this cigar, so it was a surprise when it arrived today, It is a Double Ligero Cameroon. Holy shit! This thing is awesome! Very full bodied and spicy with a wonderful almost fruit like after taste.

Interestingly, that same year, La Flor Dominicana also shipped 100 Double Ligero Culebras (7 1/2 x 39) to Puff  ‘N’ Stuff with each section of the Culebra using a different wrapper, and each of which included one of the same Double Ligero blend with a Cameroon wrapper as the Puff ‘N’Stuff release:

• La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon
• La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Ecuadorian Sumatra
• La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Ecuadorian Oscuro 

Over the years, Puff ‘N’ Stuff Cigars has had four different Limited Edition cigars produced for them, from two different manufactures. They are:

• La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero (7 x 38) – July 2007 – 140 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,800 Total Cigars)
• La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Culebra (7 x 38) – October 2007 – 100 Boxes 3 Cigars (100 Culebras)
• Don Pepin Garcia Blue Lancero (6 7/8 x 42) – 2007 & 2008 – 250 Boxes of 25 Cigars (6,250 Total Cigars)
• My Father Le Bijou 1922 Corona Gorda (5 5/8 x 46) – May 2011 – 300 Boxes of 23 Cigars (6,900 Total Cigars) 

• Cigar Reviewed: La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Flor S.A.
• Wrapper: Cameroon
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Size: 7 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 38
• Vitola: Lancero
• MSRP: $9.00 (Boxes of 20, $180.00)

• Date Released: July 2007

• Number of Cigars Released: 140 Boxes of 20 Cigars (2,800 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero is a wonderful looking cigar, with a rustic medium brown wrapper that has some tooth when touched. It is appropriately spongy when squeezed for a lancero, and there are a few minuscule veins running up and down its length. The cap has a small, cute pigtail that is glued down, and there is a noticeable box-press to the foot. The aroma coming off of the wrapper is intoxicating with strong notes of cedar, barnyard and sweet chocolate chip cookies.

The first third of the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero starts off with flavors of leather, oak, earth and espresso, along with just a little bit of spice on the tongue. I can taste the chocolate chip cookie sweetness distinctly as well, especially on the finish, and there is a massive amount of black pepper on the retrohale that does not seem to be calming down anytime soon. The smoke production is astounding, although it is a bit thin body wise, and the draw and burn are perfect. Overall strength is milder than I expected, but still ends the first third firmly in the medium range.

Starting the second third of the La Flor Dominicana Lancero, the profile has shifted noticeably to a more creamy and woody with other notes of milk chocolate, nuts, bitter espresso and earth. The chocolate chip cookie sweetness has changed as well, into a great sweet citrus, almost like an orange. There is less spice on the tongue, but the black pepper on the retrohale has not decreased at all. The burn and draw are still perfect and the smoke is still pouring out of it like a grass fire. The strength has noticeably increased ending the second third just below the full mark.

The final third of the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Cameroon Lancero sees yet another shift, turning more earthy with notes of bitter espresso, nuts, dark chocolate and a little bit of licorice. The citrus note has neither increased nor decreased, which is a good thing for the profile. Smoke production has picked up noticeably, and the black pepper has increase just a bit as well. The construction is still excellent, while the strength never quite reaches the full mark, but it comes damn close.

Final Notes:

• These were quite a bit stronger when they were first released, as I recall, well into the full category. They also showed some harshness that time has apparently balanced out nicely.
• For what it is worth, my box is numbered 64/100.
• In case you are wondering, the Cameroon Cabinet blend is different then this blend, although there is a Lancero in that line as well.
• The final box numbered #140 also has La Ultima, which translates into The Last, written on it.
• While Puff ‘N’ Stuff was the first store to get the La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Culebras, they have also been sold by Empire Cigars out of North Carolina in the past.
• I know that a lot of people say that Cameroon does not age well, but this blend is one of the exceptions to that, in my opinion.
• Interestingly, a friend of mine searched out a box of these after smoking one from my box and loving it, and we smoked one of his to compare. Honestly, it was not even close to the cigars in that came out of my box, flavor-wise. It is possible that some of the cigars in this release were inconsistent, or that the other box was just stored incorrectly, but each one of the samples I have smoked out of my box have tasted wonderful.
• I can’t say enough about the construction on these cigars. Not only were the burn and draw phenomenal, but on all three of the samples I smoked, I only had to ash three times, and each section of ash stayed fully formed in the ashtray. The epitome of a well constructed cigar.
• Smoke production was just a bit above average, although interestingly, on every sample, the smoke production increased noticeably in the final third.
   
• For some reason, the box has a label on the front that says “Cameroom” with an M, instead of Cameroon with an N, as you can see in the box photo above. There is no specific reason for this, as far as I can gather from all the research I did for this review.
• If these Cameroon wrapped cigars did not come in a box with the aforementioned label and that were signed and numbered, there would be no way to tell them apart from the Ecuadorian wrapped lanceros, as the wrappers look almost identical. There is no special band or any indication at all that they are anything other than a normal Double Ligero Lancero.
• If you are looking for these cigars, they sold out long ago, and the only place you can get them on the secondary market.
• The average smoking time for all three samples was one hour and 35 minutes.