Flor De las Antillas

After inquiring about this cigar, decided to take one for a spin. Very tasty cigar with a few idiosyncrasies.
With all the hype, The anticipation was killing me. After a nice day at the local cigar shop enjoying a San Lotano maduro and later, a Diesel Unholy Cocktail (which were both absolutely delicious), picked up a toro and took it home for another day.
Pre-light aroma was moderate, with definite earth and light spices at the foot. Cut with a sharp guillotine cuter and lightly toaster her up. Immediately, the cap began to unravel, so a little micro surgery was in order, but taken care of successfully and was not an isue thereafter. Before long, the smoke was nice and thick, very easy to light. First taste was quite peppery on the tongue, lips and back of the throat. Flavor was nice and strong, similar to the first taste of a San Lotano. Very loose draw that soon reduced slightly to be perfect. First inch was a bit rough, with the Perrier at the forefront - not sure at that point it was my thing. Burn was razor sharp - no issues. The ash was beautiful, right until at the inch mark, it unexpectedly fell in my lap. This stick just wanted to be in control.
Body was mild - medium and after the ash fall, the cigar fell into a smooth routine, with the pepper subsiding markedly. Flavor morphed to creamy, smooth earthiness with something light and pleasant - maybe nuttiness. At the half way point, still perfect burn and draw with no taste changes- still not much pepper ans quite smooth. A bit further down to about the two thirds point, a spiciness came forward. Not pepper spice, but like a nice criollo with baking spices. Very nice and unexpected. Same burn and draw. This cigar was on autopilot and giving a first class performance.
The Antillas was one cigar I could leave and get back to after 5minutes or so and remained lit very well with no touch-ups needed. Draw remained cool and effortless with no off favors. It did tend to burn a bit fast in comparison to many maduros I've had, but still left plenty of good smoking time with the size of this viola. I enjoyed this stick down to about an inch and a half, which gets a little hot for me. Flavors had remained the same from the final third to the end, with no off favors at any point. Nice shot finish with no off aftertaste.
My drinks accompanying the Antillas were coffee, water and a dark Dos Equis beer. Each beverage coaxed a slightly different taste from the stick-nicely done.
The Flor De las Antillas is certainly a nice cigar, but as others have noted, it may not be the silver bullet it is hyped to be. Just a damn good cigar.
Construction was very good and attractive. Definitely something one would like to get into. Weight for the size was a little on the light side, but that is not a bad thing, given the excellent performance. Tis is a cigar that would be easy to take care of in the humidor. IMHO, it would benefit from some aging, which I certainly will do with future purchases.
Would I buy again-absolutely. Will not be one of my regular rotations, as I prefer a dark, robust maduro or obscure. That said, when I'm looking for something on the lighter side with nice flavor that does not need to be babysat, this one will by my target. Pepin does it right and hit a homer with this cigar.
Definitely en enjoyable stick. Almost forgot one important thing... Was a rainy, humid Florida afternoon when I smokes this baby. Not an ideal environment for having a cigar. A lot of stogies seem to absorb the 90% humidity we have here, but not this one- would be a good summer stick.

Oh Oh- gotta go...my dog just ate a lizard and is ralphing all over the porch!

RR