Hell Bent for Leather: La Flor Dominicana Double Ligero Chiselito Maduro

After my disappointing experience with the Excaliber Epicure natural, I hoped to redeem my day by smoking something with a real kick. But I got busy with other things and before I knew it, it was midnight. Not about to let the Excaliber have the last word, I opened my humidor and picked out the smallest, meanest-looking cigar of the bunch: The Double Ligero Chiselito Maduro by La Flor Dominicana.

This sharp-looking little 44-ring, 5-inch long cowboy looked mighty taut, dark, and dangerous. That chiselled cap looked like a serpentine funnel designed expressly to deliver a palate-blasting burst of smoke to its unsuspecting victim. Bring it on, I thought. I'd read enough about La Flor to hope that it would knock me on my ass and make me forget all about the Excaliber betrayal. Strong medicine. Come to Jesus. I braced myself.

With the first tight, brawny puff on this whippersnapper, I knew I had broken the Excaliber's gloomy spell. This chiselito was leathery, rugged, woody and slightly spicy, with a unique quality that I can only liken to the dusky pungence of milled grains wafting from open barrels in some creaky-floored general store circa 1879. The draw was firm but not prohibitive, and the flavor fresh, strong and panoramic. I could have been on the open prairie, wearing a ten gallon hat and spurs, looping steers with a lasso and leaving clouds of dust in my wake. This was one damned fine little smoke. I settled in for what I figured to be an exhilarating 40 minute ride.

Now I knew what the cigar-rating aesthetes meant by the term "leathery": They were talking about the sublime, crackling quality of the La Flor double ligero. I've encountered nothing else like it. Most of the other so-called "leathery" smokes I've tried have reminded me more of the aroma of fried eggs blown through a hair dryer. The double ligero takes the concept of leather, runs with it, captures it, and owns it. Do not say "leathery" unless you have smoked a La Flor double ligero. Until then, you know nothing, NOTHING about leather.

And one more thing: Don't be fooled by size. This teeny little critter stood and delivered for more than an hour. I limped off to bed at 1:30, one spent and happy cowboy.