Earlier this week, we had Jon Carney from La Flor Dominicana in the studio for a taping of The Cigar Authority which is set to air later today. During the course of the show we spoke about the various new releases coming from this great company at the 2014 IPCPR trade show. During the show we smoked the 1994 which is a celebration of their 20th Anniversary and today we look at the sequel to Tony Gomez’ Chapter One, the Capitulo Dos. As with the first, the Capitulo Dos which translates from Spanish to English as Chapter Two was blended by Antonio Gomez.
The cigar will be available in 10 count boxes, and is a limited edition. However, the Chapter One was considered to be a limited edition last year and Mr. Jonathan Carney shared during the course of the show that it would become a regular production line.
Cigar: La Flor Dominicana Capitulo II
Size: 6 ½ x 58 (Chisel)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Colorado
Binder: Ecuador Habano
Filler: Dominican Republic
Distributed By: La Flor Dominicana
The Look: Another IPCPR Pre-release this one was without a band. The Colorado classification of the Nicraguan wrapper is one of the oiliest wrappers I have ever seen. The Capitulo II is rolled in the La Flor Dominicana trademarked shaped Chisel. In the hand the cigar is very heavy and it has the look and feel of a smoke that will take some time to get through. It is spongy to the touch with a well packed foot.
The Notes: On the show we debated the proper way to cut a chisel. There was Rush Limbaugh’s argument you pinch the cigar, the straight cut, and the single punch. But the proper way to cut a Chisel is to punch through the cigar (you can see a picture below). The nose of the cigar is earth with the slightest bit of spice. The cold draw reminds me of crushed red pepper.
Once the cigar is lit there are notes of leather that forms the canvas with continued notes of red pepper and a slight sweetness that is fighting to be recognized. Working into the first third a cinnamon note begins to develop which creates a nice contrast to the continued red pepper that dominates.
In the second third the strength of the cigar slows down just a little bit. There are notes of roasted chestnuts which make me realize this will be the first true winter I will have to go through in the last 3 years. The cinnamon notes remain with a nice hearty wood note as well.
The last third of the cigar it develops a dark chocolate note over some crushed red pepper. It sounds like a combination that wouldn’t work but it works here with some coffee and roasted nuts on the finish.
The Burn: Like many oily cigars the burn line could be a tale of two cities. The majority of times this cigar burned perfect with a razor sharp thin carbon lines, the other 10% it looks like series of mountains and valley’s. What does this mean, absolutely nothing as I never needed to take my lighter to it. The punch through method of cutting the La Flor Dominicana Capitulo II crease a large volume of smoke and an effortless draw. The light color ash had some dark brindle like marking throughout. It held on well, for more than a quarter of the cigar at time, although it was a bit flaky.
The Finish: Like the Chapter One, the Capitulo Dos was outside of my comfort zone in terms of strength for the first third of the cigar. As I smoked it, it leveled off and became a cigar I very much enjoyed. The Capitulo II has much more complexity than the Chapter One and because of that I can see smoking this once again. Make no mistake though, this is a smoke with a lot of power behind it and is definitely not for the beginner.
Score: 90
Price: $10.50
Note: I took pictures of the cigar before it was lit without a memory card in my camera. Thus there is only a picture of the cigar being smoked and the stock image provided by La Flor Dominicana. #RookieMistake #Fail
La Flor Dominicana Capitulo II
La Flor Dominicana Capitulo II
