Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch No. 7

LA FLOR DOMINICANA

• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera La Flor S.A.
• Wrapper: Dominican Republic (Pelo de Oro)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 52
• Vitola: Toro Extra
• MSRP: $23.20 (Box of 105, $2,436)
• Release Date: Dec. 9, 2020
• Number of Cigars Released: 250 Boxes of 105 Cigars (26,250 Total Cigars)
• Original Score: 91

After a four-year hiatus, the Litto Gomez Diez Small Batch returned to shelves in late 2019 in somewhat unheralded fashion. For a line that may or may not be the flagship of La Flor Dominicana, it seemed like its return should have been a bigger deal.

If you are a fan of La Flor Dominicana, I hope you got to smoke some of these because this is the type of cigar I think of when I think of La Flor. It’s not mild; it’s not shy; it’s not for everyone. But if you like full-flavored, full-strength, big cigars—then this is a cigar that’s worth the $23 and change. With little exception, the Small Batch Series has produced high scores on halfwheel and its predecessors, and the latest version is another winner.

I wrote in my review that, while it could end up being a bit monotonous, if I could only smoke one line from La Flor Dominicana for the rest of my life, it would be Small Batch. While the cigars oftentimes end up quite similar—strong, full-flavored and complex—they are actually all rather different because of how they are made. The Small Batch Series is one of the few single farm vintages, meaning that all the tobacco comes from a single farm in the Dominican Republic, and all from a single harvest. We still don’t know which harvest that was for the 2019 version, but it doesn’t matter: smoke it, just make sure you’ve had a big meal first. — Charlie Minato.