Doing cigar reviews takes time and even though I wright down my notes and snap the photos, the reviews tend to get backlogged in the process. I have decided to start catching up on some of my past reviews and today we review the Boutique Blends – Swag Puro Dominicano. I got these cigars as part of a Boutique Blends sampler box when I bought a box of Havao Connecticut cigars at a local event at Paradise Cigarz in Rockledge, FL.
There were two Swag Puro Dominicano cigars in the sampler box along with some other fine Boutique Blends sticks. I decided to smoke the Puros with my son Dominic during this past Christmas when he was visiting for the holidays. Dominic and I have been sharing the pleasures of the leaf since his 18th birthday – but that is another story. He is a life member of the Stogie Press Lounge, where ever we locate it.
The Swag Puro Dominicano is a Dominican Puro but not your typical Dominican blend. Though it is constructed of all Dominican leaf, it is made with only ligero leaf from one Dominican farm. It is the creation of Rafael Nodal the owner of Boutique Blends. If you ever met Rafael you would understand what a gem of a man he is. Down to earth, honest, and as pure as this blend is. I consider Boutique Blends to be one the finest manufacturers in the business, and when I talk to shop owners they whole-heartily agree with me.
The Boutique Blends website states:
This is a new kind of Dominican Cigar, with the aroma, flavor and combustion that the Dominican tobacco has been known for, but with strength, complexity and character until now, found only in Nicaraguan tobacco.
I chose this cigar to share with my son for two reasons:
- It is pure Dominicana and his name is Dominic
- It is bold and out of the box like him.
The Swag Puro Dominicano comes in 6 vitolas:
- Elite 7×38
- Fierce 6.5×52
- Ego 6×60
- Infamous 6×54
- Quickie 5.3×42
- Lavish 5×54
Dominic and I sampled the Lavish 5×54 on this Christmas Eve day. You could say Santa Clause came early, bringing lots of pepper and flavor. i usually leave out cookies and milk and carrots for Santa but maybe I should leave him a box of cigars this year. Actually my wife did just that and Santa enjoyed every one I am told.
Examining the Swag Puro Dominicano you will notice it is a large outer sleeve that wraps the cigar. The band itself is a crimson red color with top and bottom gold, black, and red bands. The Swag Logo is imprinted in white and gold with the white words “Cigar Lifestyle” below it. There is also a foot band that has a look similar to the main band except it denotes Puro Dominicana in white and gold on the red background. The sleeve is white with the website www.swagcigars.com imprinted on the top along with the gold Swag logo and the white words “Cigar Lifestyle” scattered about it. I would have to say that Rafael knows the cigar lifestyle well and of course we all like a little swag now and then.
The Swag Puro Dominicano has a slightly marbled oily wrapper when the sleeve is removed and there are just a few faint veins. The cigar feels good between the fingers and we detected no soft spots. There is a nice chocolate scent to the barrel and the foot had a larger than normal pepper aroma. A little sneeze occurred on that sniff.
Swag Puro Dominicano
So far so good, so we sliced the caps and took a few dry draws. The draw was easy and there was a pronounced Cocoa flavor on the dry draw. As we fired the Swag Puro Dominicano up there was a red pepper burn on the retrohale and lips. The flavor was bold for sure. Besides the pepper there were early notes of toast. The smoke was full and filled the palate on each puff. The ash was tight with a salt and pepper coloring along with a bit of tooth to it.
Swag Puro Dominicano
We were listening to some David Bowie on the turntable and the song “Changes” started to play which was apropos as the Swag Puro Dominicano delivered a sweet Almond note deep into the 1st third. That was a pleasant surprise. The wrapper continued to oil up as it burned. The burn has been excellent as the ash held onto a good part of the beginning third until it fell.
Progressing into the 2nd third the Pepper settled down and a Cocoa Butter flavor entered the profile that balanced well with the earlier Almond note. The smoke is rich and creamy at this point. The foot is letting off an earthy aroma that fills the Stogie Press lounge. The ash picked up from where it fell and held tight down to the band. There was a slight wave that started near the start of the last third but we felt it did not need to be touched up as continued to puff away.. The strength of the ligero is starting to show itself and we both agree that we are getting a bit light headed. This rarely happens to me, but hey – it is a full ligero stogie.
We removed the bands and smoked it a little more, the sweet cocoa butter flavor continued and a touch of pepper showed itself again. We smoked it as far we could but decided we had enough as the strength was full scale at this point as it slowly ratcheted up during the burn.
The Swag Puro Dominicano is one of the best Dominican Puros on the market, I do not recommend this to a newbie and would suggest eating something before indulging in it. This cigar would pair well with a peaty Islay single malt after a big steak dinner.
Swag Puro Dominicano
-Boston Jimmie