LFD Air Bender Matatan

Today's review is of the new La Flor Dominicana Air Bender Matatan. (5X50 Robusto) The Air Bender is Litto Gomez's newest creation. This cigar has an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper that can also be found on the LFD Salamon, and has a Dominican binder and filler. The wrapper is amazing to look at and to touch. It is silky and oily with minimal veins. One thing that's worth noting is how solid this cigar feels. It is hard as a rock! I have heard other people mention this about the Air Bender, and if I hadn't heard that before, I would have been a little worried about an overfilled cigar.

The draw seems perfect and doesn't show any signs of being overfilled. The predraw flavors are of leather, cocoa and definitely an earthy profile. This cigar starts out with plenty of earthy spice, as well as some cedar and a toasty characteristic. Like most of Litto's cigars, this one is VERY full flavored right from the start, but seems to be very balanced so far. The burn on this cigar is very slow, probably one of the slowest burning cigars that I can recall. The room aroma on this cigar reminds me of the very distinct (and quite pleasant) smell that the Opus X gives off. The burn has been very even so far, with the ash falling off at just over an inch.

At the halfway point, this cigar seems to have settled down a bit. The flavors have stayed pretty consistent with a chewy leather flavor showing up to the party, and are very balanced. One thing I have experienced with some of LFDs cigars is that they are all power and no balance. That is definitely not the case with the Air Bender at this point. This is a solid medium/full bodied cigar at the halfway point, but I have a feeling that this will end up being a solid full bodied smoke by the end.

The LFD Air Bender is a solid cigar. Very full flavored, and I was right about the strength amping up at the end. This is such a smooth cigar, that the strength really sneaks up on you! The strength never overshadows the flavors though, there is a nice balance to this cigar. The construction and burn on this stick is perfect, and the smoke is so thick its almost chewy. This size sells for about $6.50, and I would gladly pay that price again. This cigar is great if you want a full bodied cigar that really delivers on flavor. I definitely recommend eating a full meal before smoking this one, not a light lunch like I did...