At the Intertabac trade show we ended up talking to the makers of Dona Flor cigars, a Brazilian brand that makes Dona Flor, Alonso Menendez and more brands. They gave me a few samplers to try and one of the samplers was this 5x50 Dona Flor Reserva Especial robusto with a Brazilian mata fina wrapper. Now I am not a fan of Brazilian tobacco as it has a sweetness that I don't like.

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The cigar doesn't look appealing, the wrapper is dark but has a lot of thick veins, the band is tacky and the cigar looks dry. The construction feels good though and the predraw is fine. I taste tobacco but I smell a horse stable.

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I taste a sweet earthy flavor with some pepper. The flavors are sharp and spicy. The spiciness fades away though so I only taste a sweet earthy flavor. After half an inch I start to taste coffee too. After a third I mainly taste that earthy flavor again with some coffee and a little bit of lemon zest.

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Halfway I taste some chocolate with the flavors and the structure is a bit sticky. The lemon zest is replaced by some sweetness. Soon after I get an earthy flavor with chocolate, herbs and lemon zest again. The herbs fade away but the cigar gets spicy near the end.

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This cigar lasted me for an hour and thirty-five minutes. The draw is good and I got a lot of smoke. The light colored ash is firm and compact. The burn is good. This cigar is medium bodied and medium flavored. The Brazilian sweetness was not as strong as I expected.

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Would I buy this cigar again? No, Brazilian tobacco ain't my thing

Appearance: 6 / 10
Construction: 7 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 7 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 6 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 7 / 10
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I'm with ya Ferdie...not a big fan of Brazilian sticks either.
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I may just grab a couple for the ladies...thanks again brother
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Not sure if I have had a Brazilian or not....thanks for the review....I thought it looked pretty cool too bad you didn't enjoy it, but that's part of the life right?
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Trust me bro, if you ever had a Brazilian you WOULD remember! :-)
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Isn't there a Brazilian Mata Fina wrapper on the Liga Privada line?
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Yes there is, but one leaf or a puro makes a big difference
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Now that's just plain funny:-)

I bought a box of these years ago and they sucked. Aged them for 5 years and they are great. The reserva band on mine are red. Not sure if that means a different blend, but the difference with age was night and day.
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I was given 2 of these by the Rep as he stopped in at my Local B&M. Will give it a try, but doesnt sound good. I have found Ferdies reviews match my taste.
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Sounds like a flavorful, complex smoke to me. I'll give this a try if I find it.
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