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I had been wanting to review La Flor Dominicana El Jocko Number 2 for a while now, but had been hindered by the fact that the only way I can get them is by online order. I rarely buy cigars online and hate to wait so long to receive things in the mail. Well, I’ve had a couple of them now and must say that it is a really interesting cigar.

Sure it’s a milder smoke, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be interesting. In fact La Flor Dominicana has managed to pull off a beautiful progression of spice in this stick. I’m a sucker for this kind of thing, and so I was pretty impressed and had a lot of fun smoking these.

On the nose, the wrapper doesn’t say much at all, and it doesn’t really taste like much either before lighting. Once lit, though, some semisweet notes ooze from the stick and tickle the nose. The smoke is plentiful and, though incredibly mild, it retains a certain spiciness that keeps me smoking on. “I’ve had a lot of light, carboardy, mild smokes before, but this cigar isn’t one”, I thought to myself right away.

The burn is very good, and that means a lot to me. As for the ash, it piled on solidly as you can see below. As it burns on, the cigar continuously progresses to ever more spicy notes until it becomes down right peppery in the last third and very piquant before the end.

Overall, though this cigar does not exactly represent my flavor “profile”, it certainly was a lot of fun to smoke. It was easy, light, and spicy. The progression of flavor and intensity of the pepper notes is just classic. Now I just have to try the maduro version and see how it compares to this. If you enjoy lighter bodied smokes, this cigar is for you.

There’s a certain mystique about Cuban cigars that would have many believe that Cuban tobacco is all about sheer power. Actually, in my experience, nothing could be further from the truth. When I think of a Cuban cigar, what really comes to mind is a good balance between flavor, ease of smoke, and punch; the latter being the last and least. I mean, sure there are some Cuban powerhouses out there, but when the whole story is told, even those cigars are very well balanced and extremely full flavored.

Cuban Montecristos are a favorite of many connoisseurs. They are very rich tasting, rather complex, and pack one of the mildest punches of them all, making them an easy pleasure to smoke. It is just this fact that has made me acquire all kinds of vitolas from this brand; and today’s review features the relatively affordable Montecristo No. 4.

This cigar sports a beautiful, mouth watering, dark brown wrapper that, on the nose, hints of the earth, grass and pepper notes that will punctuate the smoke at various times. I couldn’t wait to light this one up.

Now, every time I have one of these, I pay a lot of attention to lighting up. It has to be done thoroughly and patiently to ensure an even burn to follow. The few puffs after lighting were immediately rewarding with a rich smoke that was full of a sweet woody and yet earthy predominant note. It’s a stick that doesn’t wait before kicking the flavor up a few notches. Soon thereafter, the dark earthy notes were bellowing from it, but still laced with those buttery sweet cedar undertones.

I always find the draw on these a bit on the tight side, but not so much so as to ruin the cigar. Still, I try not to rush it; instead, I draw slowly as I monitor the burn to void tunneling and allow it to even out as I go. The resulting smoke is pleasantly rich. You can expect a bit of pepper to surface a tad about half way and along with bit of leather, while remaining to turn out more sweet woody notes toward the end. The sweetness will dominate the classic Montecristo finish.

I didn’t have any problems with the burn and took it right to the end. I should probably point out, though, that one in every few cigars from a box can be difficult on the draw and so develop burning issues. So, if you’ve had one and thought it burned poorly, you probably got the occasional dud. Overall, I recommend this cigar as a great tasting example of the more reasonably priced Cubans.