Dona Flor Selecao Robusto

Dona Flor is line of cigars produced by the Brazil Cigars & Tobacco Company.  As you might guess, all of the cigars are made using 100% Brazillian tobacco from the Bahia region of Brazil.  This region and country is most popular for their Maduro wrapper leaves.  The company manages the whole growing process from planting the seeds to the final cut and packaging, not purchasing any leaves used in their manufacturing process from any third parties.

The Dona Flor line comes in a variety of Vitolas and 2 types of blends.  The standard line is just called Dona Flor and their specialty line is called the “Dona Flor Reserva Especial”.  The especial line uses Cuban-seed corojo while the standard line uses Connecticut and Mata Fina Maduro wrappers.  The vitolas range from a Petite Corona all the way up to a Double Corona making up a total of 9 Vitolas in the standard line and 3 in the Reserva Especial line.

The vitola up for review today is the standard line Dona Flor Selecao Robusto with a Connecticut wrapper. Read on to see my thoughts on this Brazilian puro cigar and see if the Brazillian Connecticut is as good as their popular Maduro wrapped cigar found on many different brands. You can also read more about the company and the cigars at their website: www.donaflorcigar.com

Cigar: Dona Flor Selecao
Drink: Diet Dr. Pepper
Vitola: Selecao Robusto (5 x 52)
Wrapper: Brazillian Connecticut

Binder: Brazillian

Filler: Brazillian
Price: Gifted from @BelicosoBrother (MSRP $6.50)
Burn Time: 1.25 Hours

Construction:
• Wrapper has some bumps and one large vein
• 3 bands on this cigar, one looks like it got way too much glue
• Foot looks tightly packed
• Seems a lot smaller than the claimed 5×52 and it’s not box pressed?
• Even and firm throughout with a small spring
• Clean triple cap
• Medium dark brown wrapper
• Cut made a mess but left a clean cap
• One crack formed just past the halfway mark, no major problem yet though

Burn:
• Toasting was very uneven and messy
• Burn after first few draws is very wavy
• Burn evened out within a half inch and has burned fairly straight to the half-way mark
• Some small waviness after the half way mark
• No major corrections needed and no extra attention needed to keep lit.

Smoke & Ash:
• Medium mouth of smoke
• Lots of resting smoke, giving a burning wood aroma
• Ash is light grey
• Appears to be weak and is flaking a bit
• Ash held on to near 2 inches, pretty good for the smaller vitola

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is very woodsy and earthy, not a cedar smell, more like chopped firewood
• Foot has the same woodsy aroma and a mild spice, similar to nutmeg. Also a hint of honey-like sweetness
• Pre-light draw has similar flavors to the aroma
• Initial draws are of roasted wood and the nutmeg flavored spice
• Retrohale is very mild with a woodsy and slightly sweet finish
• About an inch in Im picking up some leather flavors
• The woodsy flavors became very prominent at the halfway mark, spice is no where to be found any longer
• Body has been fairly mild-medium throughout
• Leather flavor has taken over the dominant role, not my favorite flavor
• Some bitterness crept in near the last inch but nothing overpowering

Final Thoughts:
To be honest, I wasn’t expecting much out of this cigar.  I had never really heard about it until I got it in this package.  It wasn’t a top ranking cigar but it was still a good smoke.  Lots of wood and leather flavors with good construction, smoke and ash.  The MSRP on these cigars is at a fair price but they seem fairly hard to find.  I would like to try these again and maybe try the Maduro wrapper as well.  If you stumble across them during your B&M shopping, pick one up.

Pairings:
I went with a simple Diet Dr. Pepper here because it was an early day smoke.  It actually paired fairly well with the slight sweet and spiciness I got in the first half and counteracted the stronger leathery flavors near the end.  This would make a perfect match with a good coffee or amber/dark beer.