Cigar Aficionado

My Father Cigars has begun shipping its new Flor de las Antillas Maduro, a darker version of the company's original Flor de las Antillas, which debuted in 2012 and was named Cigar Aficionado's Cigar of the Year after scoring an impressive 96 points.

Some cigar enthusiasts may have already seen Flor de las Antillas Maduro. The smoke had previously been rolled as a one-size offering for the anniversary celebration of Federal Cigars, a brick-and-mortar shop in New Hampshire. According to José Ortega, vice president of sales for My Father Cigars, the Maduro version received a heap of praise from customers, and so My Father Cigars decided to add a few sizes and make it a regular-production brand. The cigar debuted at this year's International Cigar & Pipe Retailers trade show.

Ortega said that the blend for Flor de las Antillas Maduro is similar to its predecessor, save for a few tweaks. The Maduro version shares the same Nicaraguan double binder and filler as the original, but the Garcia family slightly altered the blend to accommodate the darker, Ecuadoran Habano wrapper.

"We had to tweak [the cigar] in order to get the blend stronger than the regular Flor de las Antillas and in order to get the right balance with the Maduro wrapper," said Ortega.

Flor de las Antillas Maduro is shipping in five sizes, each box pressed: Toro Gordo, measuring 6 1/2 inches by 56 ring gauge; Toro 6 by 52; Corona 5 5/8 by 46; Petit Robusto 4 1/2 by 50; and Torpedo 6 1/8 by 52. The cigars come packed in boxes of 20 and range from $8.00 to $11.50 per stick.

The Flor de las Antillas Maduro is adorned in the same attractive band as the original and includes a secondary band that says "Maduro" to differentiate between the two versions. The Garcia's created the original Flor de las Antillas as an homage to Cuba, the largest of the Greater Antilles islands, which are called Antillas in Spanish.

Like all My Father cigars, Flor de las Antillas Maduro is made at My Father Cigars S.A., the Garcia family's factory in Nicaragua.