Falto Lonsdale

[Don Fernando]

A few years ago, like 7 or 8 years back, I got in touch with Luis Falto from Falto Cigars/La Garita Cigar Company and he shipped me a bunch of cigars in exchange for reviews. And he was very courteous as he send me 4 sticks of each blend & vitola he made. I reviewed quite a few of them but recently I noticed I missed a bunch of reviews on my blog, probably they got deleted when I tried to edit them or add a category and pressed a wrong button, it happened to other reviews too, usually a case of me being quicker than my internet connection and pressing ‘save’ before the edited data is actually on the screen. But that’s not important now, I’m just happy I have some Falto cigars left to revisit them and post a new review.

Falto started during the Cigar Boom in the 1990’s and the cigars are made by the oldest cigar factory in the Dominican Republic, La Aurora. Even though Falto uses the La Aurora factory he blends his cigar himself and he is using tobacco that is rare to La Aurora and his production is very limited, a choice he made consciously to ensure quality and to set the company apart from the rest. The lonsdale that I’m reviewing today measures 6 1/2×42 and is made from Dominican filler, Dominican binder and a Sumatra wrapper from Ecuador.

The cigar doesn’t come cello wrapped, I got them in sturdy ziplock bags, maybe the boxed cigars are cellophane wrapped but I’m not sure. The wrapper is a bit pale brown but has a little tooth, a little shine and a sparkle here and there from the minerals in the soils. The construction feels good and the head of the cigar is round with a pretty triple cap. The ring is beautiful, a thick golden outline and then a yellow and blue logo with a curly F. The aroma is pretty mild after all these years but I smell some hay.

I grabbed my xikar to cut the cigar. The cold draw is perfect and the cigar is quite spicy. After lighting the cigar, of course with my soft flame, I taste spices, fresh wood and some honey. After a few puffs, a quarter of an inch into the cigar I taste the fresh wood, honey, a spice mix and a hint of chocolate. After a third I taste nuts with a little cocoa in the aftertaste. The flavor then changes to a sharp wood with spices. The flavors are dry, a little harsh but not unpleasantly. After two thirds the cigar gets hot so I slow my smoking speed down to let the cigar cool a bit and prevent bitterness due to heat. I still taste the wood but now with some toast. The nuttiness is coming back but now with some pepper.

The draw is perfect, just the right amount of resistance. The ash is almost white, dense and firm. The smoke is medium thick and medium in volume too but the further I get into the cigar the ticker and more it gets. The brittle wrapper rips in the beginning causing a bit of a issue with the burn but as soon as the ripped piece is burned off the burn is straight as an arrow. The cigar is medium bodied and medium full flavored. The smoke time is an hour and ten minutes.

Would I buy this cigar again? I might, love the vitola, liked the flavors.

Score: 92

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