Today we take a look at one of La Flor Dominicana’s two cigars that were a part of the 2021 Tobacconists Association of America (TAA) exclusives, the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Maduro. When it comes to the TAA, La Flor Dominicana has been one of the more active participants in the TAA’s Exclusive series. Since 2018, La Flor Dominicana’s TAA releases have been based on a cigar known as The Golden Anniversary. Since then, there have been several extensions of that release – one of which is the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural. The Tercera Edition is one of the more unique projects that La Flor Dominicana has released. It is an offering that uses La Flor Dominicana’s signature (and patented) chisel-shaped cap.
The TAA Exclusive Series consists of cigars made by leading manufacturers that are exclusively sold at TAA member retailers. The TAA is a small group of retailers. At press time the number of retailers is approximately 80. The TAA describes itself as:
The Tobacconists’ Association of America, Ltd. is a trade organization established in 1968 by visionary retail tobacconists. By providing education, communication, research, advocacy, and member discount programs, The TAA works with our members and the industry they support to offer the tools and relationship building opportunities needed to maximize professionalism and success.
There are 15 cigars released for 2021 as a part of the TAA Exclusive Series:
CLE Signature THT-EKE 03/17
Crowned Heads- The Lost Angel TAA Exclusive 2021
JC Newman Brick House Beginnings Natural
JC Newman Brick House Beginnings Maduro
Diesel Disciple TAA Exclusive 2021 (Scandinavian Tobacco Group)
E.P. Carrillo TAA 2021
Gurkha Nicaragua Series TAA Exclusive
Illusione TAA Exclusive 2021
Joya de Nicaragua Cuatro Cinco Edición Americana
Kristoff 685 Woodlawn Box Press
La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural
La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Maduro
La Palina White Label Toro
Rocky Patel Vintage 2006 San Andreas Bala
Villiger TAA Exclusive 2021
The following have been the La Flor Dominicana TAA Exclusive Series offerings:
2012 La Flor Dominicana TAA 2012 Air Bender Maduro Torpedo
2013 La Flor Dominicana Double Press Maduro (TAA Edition)
2014 La Flor Dominicana 2014 TAA Exclusive – The 707
2015 La Flor Dominicana TAA 47
2016 La Flor Dominicana TAA 48 and La Flor Dominicana TAA 48 Celebration Limited Edition Maduro (Event Only)
2017 La Flor Dominicana TAA (2017)
2018 La Flor Dominicana TAA 2018 – The Golden Anniversary
2019 La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Segunda Edición (Natural and Maduro)
2021 La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion (Natural and Maduro)
2022 La Flor Dominicana TAA – The Golden Salomon (Natural and Maduro)
2023 LG Emeraude
From 2018 through 2022, the La Flor Dominicana TAA releases were based on 2018’s Golden Anniversary blend. The releases that followed The Golden Anniversary included the Segunda Edición, Tercera Edicíon, and The Golden Salomon. While the Golden Anniversary was released in one blend (a Natural), the Segunda, Tercera, and Golden Salomon releases have been offered in both Natural and Maduro wrappers.
Without further ado, let’s break down the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Maduro and see what this cigar brings to the table.
SPECIFICATIONS
Blend and Origin
The La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Tercera Edición Natural consists of a Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper over Dominican tobacco for the binder and filler. The filler includes Dominican Criollo ’99 tobacco.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, including Criollo ’98
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Factory: Tabacalera La Flor
Vitolas Offered
Both the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50th Tercera Edición Natural and Maduro offerings come in one size – a 6 1/2 x 58 box-pressed vitola featuring La Flor Dominicana’s signature chisel cap. Both cigars are presented in 20-count boxes.
Appearance
The Nicaraguan Sun Grown wrapper of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural had a medium brown color with a slight rosado tint to it. There was some oil present on the wrapper’s surface. The surface of the wrapper also had some visible veins. There were also some thin wrapper seams that were visible.
One thing that is consistent when it comes to La Flor Dominicana’s patented chisel-tip is that it looks like the head of chisel tool. It gives the cap a wedge-like shape to it. There is a slight amount of tapering on the cigar to that wedge tip.
PERFORMANCE
Pre-Light Draw
A very thin straight cut was used to remove the cap from the chisel head of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural. Once the cap was removed, it was on to the pre-light draw ritual. The cold draw delivered notes of natural tobacco and cedar. While normally a natural tobacco and cedar pre-light draw would not have me doing handstands, the sweetness from the natural tobacco came through nicely and made this a satisfactory pre-light draw experience. At this point, it was time to toast up the footer of the Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural and see what the smoking phase would have in store.
Tasting Notes
The La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural opened up with an assortment of flavors including natural tobacco, coffee bean, earth, dried fruit, cedar, and black pepper. Early on the natural tobacco became the primary note. Meanwhile the earth, fruit, cedar, and black pepper notes settled in the background. As for the coffee bean notes, they floated between the forefront and background. Meanwhile, the retro-hale produced an additional layer of black pepper.
The start of the second third of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural saw the natural tobacco still in the forefront. The coffee bean notes became more present in the forefront and by the second half of the cigar, the coffee bean notes displaced the natural tobacco. The natural tobacco settled in the background with the earth, dried fruit, cedar, and black pepper. During the second third, there was a gradual increase in the pepper notes.
There wasn’t much change in the final third. The coffee bean notes remained primary. This was rounded out by the pepper, natural tobacco, earth, dried fruit, and cedar notes. The pepper was a little more prominent than the other secondary notes. As the cigar experience came to a close, the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural finished with a cool, but slightly soft nub,
Burn
The La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural is a cigar that did require frequent touch-ups to maintain a straight burn path and straight burn line. While the touch-ups kept the burn on track, I did find there were more touch-ups required than I preferred. The resulting ash was silvery-gray. This wasn’t an overly firm ash, but it wasn’t a loose or flaky ash either. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both maintained ideal levels.
Draw
The draw to the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural performed excellently. It had a touch of resistance to it – which is something that I like. This made for a low-maintenance cigar to derive flavor from. These factors unite for an enjoyable smoking experience from start to finish.
Strength and Body
The strength and body of the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural started off at medium to full. Both attributes gradually increased in intensity. By the last third the strength crept into full territory. While the body had more intensity than at the start, it still remained in the medium to full range of the spectrum
In terms of strength versus body, the strength maintained a slight edge throughout the smoking experience.
BANDING AND PACKAGING NOTES
The banding on the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural is something that is very worthy of a TAA cigar. The primary band is the gold LFD band that is seen on La Flor Dominicana’s Oro line. The secondary band is also gold and is unique to the series of La Flor Dominicana 50th cigars. This secondary band features the TAA’s 50th-anniversary logo. These are the same bands that were found on the Tercera Edicion Maduro.
OVERALL ASSESSMENT
Final Thoughts
The obvious question is how the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural compares to its Maduro counterpart. Very simply the natural is a better cigar. It has better flavor and offers more in the way of complexity. In terms of the 2021 TAA Exclusive Series as a whole, overall it was quite disappointing, but one of the standout cigars of the series was the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural. As I have said, La Flor Dominicana puts a lot of effort into its TAA cigars and this one shows it. This is a cigar I would probably steer to a more seasoned cigar enthusiast. As for myself, while this cigar carries a higher price point at $23.10, it is still I cigar I would buy and smoke again. Coming in at 90 points, the La Flor Dominicana TAA 50 Oro Tercera Edicion Natural earns a Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence designation.
Summary
Key Flavors: Coffee Bean, Natural Tobacco, Earth, Cedar, Dried Fruit Pepper
Burn: Very Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Medium Plus
Strength: Medium to Full (1st Half), Full (2nd Half)
Body: Medium to Full
Finish: Very Good
Rating
Value: Buy One
Score: 90
Cigar Coop Standard of Excellence
REFERENCES
News: n/a
Price: $23.10
Source: Purchased
Brand Reference: La Flor Dominicana
Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
Originally posted on April 30, 2023 @ 1:18 pm