Flor de las Antillas Cigar Review

Last winter when Cigar Aficionado released their 25 Best Cigars of the Year for 2012 there was a small amount of grumbling surrounding their pick for number 1 (at least in my circles) therefore I am reviewing the cigar today to see how it stacks up. The Flor de las Antillas is a sun grown Nicaraguan puro and I will be reviewing the 6×52 Toro size which is the same size that received the honor from CA. I will avoid trying to determine if CA was right or wrong for their assessment and instead just give you my thoughts on the cigar and you can make of that what you will.

I love the shelf appeal of the Flor de las Antillas as it features a classic looking band with a antique appearing painting yet at the same time has a modern flare with the textured paper and elegant die-cut band. These cigars look flat out gorgeous sitting in your humidor.

The slightly box-pressed, leathery brown, sun grown wrapper has a very pleasant hay and earth aroma and the pre-light draw reveals the typical perfect resistance from all the cigars that come out of the My Father Cigars Factory. When lighting the Flor de las Antillas the first thing you might notice is its much more subtle strength and flavor profile than some of the other Pepin blended cigars. While that might be a negative to some folks I found myself enjoying the balance of this cigar. The Flor de las Antillas fills your mouth with a nutty, cedar, smoke with a subtle white-pepper spice on the finish.

The best part of this cigar in my opinion is the first half of the smoke. Not that the second half was bad or anything it’s just that I found the flavors to be the most enjoyable and the smoke to be the most satisfying in the first half. I was forced to touch up the cigar a couple times but there certainly wasn’t any construction issues that ruined my experience. I did however follow up this cigar with the My Father Cigars #1 and it’s my opinion the number 1 is still the superior smoke. The Flor de las Antillas is a cigar you could smoke at any point of the day, morning, noon, or night, which makes this selection a great one to have on hand.

So did this cigar deserve such a high rating from Cigar Aficionado? The Flor de las Antillas is a quality smoke and I think they are box worthy therefore I can’t argue with CA’s rating although there were several great cigars that were released in 2012. I certainly would not argue CA was wrong to award this cigar such a high rating.

Would I smoke this cigar again?

I have had three of these cigars now and I enjoyed them each time. And you certainly cannot argue the fantastic price point of this cigar coming in at under $7 therefore I would gladly smoke more of these cigars. In fact I have several more resting in my humidor resting for a future smoke date.