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FILLER: Brazil
BINDER: Brazil
WRAPPER: Brazil: Connecticut Shade/ Mata Fina (maduro)
ORIGIN: Bahia, Brazil
Dona Flor cigars are the creation of Felix Menendez, son of one of the most famous cigar manufacturers of all time, Alonso Menendez. Alonso Menendez gained eternal fame as the creator of the Montecristo brand and majority owner of the H Upmann factory in Cuba in the days before the Castro revolution. After the new governments seizure of the factories in 1960, the Menendez family, mistakenly thinking the revolution to be temporary, fled Cuba to Miami. It was soon apparent that they had lost their Cuban business forever, so they tried to rebuild it in Spain, rolling cigars using the Montecristo mold. For a short time, they succeeded in creating cigars, some of which president J.F. Kennedy was reportedly fond of.
As wages declined in Spain after Francos demise, Felix Menendez settled in Brazil in the early 1970s. Choosing to locate near the fertile land of Recanavo (Bahia region) he founded a cigar making company with Brazilian partner Mario Amerino. Dona Flor and its sister brand Gabriela (named for characters created by the Brazilian novelist Jorge Amado) were created and are now the leading brands in Brazil.
Flavouring of the Connecticut shade cigars is mild with complex spices, while the Mata Fina is much more full bodied with moderate spicy undertones. Each burns smoothly with a more aromatic character than many cigars two factors which have made it popular in European countries such as Germany.
These Brazilian puros (one of the only on the market) feature pure aged Mata Fina tobacco and are available in a sun-grown Maduro wrapper to yield a delectably smooth yet robust taste, or a Connecticut shade-grown wrapper for a more subtle, yielding flavour.