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Striking La Flor Dominicana

David Savona
Posted: December 30, 2009

Cigarmaker Litto Gomez has turned to his love of Kung Fu movies to name his latest creation. The La Flor Dominicana Air Bender, a strong cigar named for martial artists with super powers, will hit store shelves in about one month.

"I think when we smoke we're bending the air," said Gomez this afternoon. "That's what I think when I'm smoking. The names are all related to warriors and epic characters."

The cigars are made from a blend of Gomez's homegrown Dominican filler and binder tobaccos, including some piloto Cubano, Sumatra seed and Corojo. The wrapper is a leaf of Habano seed grown in Ecuador.

With a name like Air Bender, and the image of crossed mythic swords on the box, the expectations are for something with guts. "With all this around it the cigar has to be powerful," said Gomez with a chuckle. "It cannot be a sissy cigar."

For more on the Air Bender, see the next Cigar Insider.