Don Lino Africa Duma Review

[Pac]

First let me apologize for the bad pic in this review, new phone and haven't really learned how to use it yet.. (took several others, but since you hardly could tell what was on it, except for my right foot, it didn't seem like they would anything to the review.. )

A couple of weeks ago I got a nice little package in the mail from Eric, kiokicigars, containing a Don Lina Africa and a CAO America. After some rest it finally came time to try the first, and it happened to be the Africa.

Looks really nice, a bit of tooth to the wrapper, nice dark color and great smell of tobacco. Cap cuts nicely. No real flavors in the pre-light draw.

Toast the foot and light it, lights easily (thanks to a triple torch ) and produces nice smoke. Still not much flavor, except for a peppery taste that sticks to my tongue. Not long after lighting it starts to burn uneven but a quick touch-up fixes that.. ash doesn't hold together at all and flakes like crazy. (that's about what you can tell from the picture...)
At this point I'm wondering if it is shortfiller, it ashes by itself after less than an inch and breaks out in different directions with the flakes.
Still not much taste.. what I can taste is an earthy woodsy and most of all peppery flavor. Could this be the cameroon filler? (I've never really liked cameroon wrappers, but haven't pinpointed why..) Uneven burn throughout, have to help it along every couple of puffs so it doesn't fall to far behind.

Around halfway it goes out on me, probably because I wasn't paying much attention to it.. the constant burn issues took away from the enjoyment, and since I didn't really get a mouthful of the kinds of flavors I do like, I probably leave it for too long between puffs.
Relight and purge, basically the same flavor profile but a little more of everything.. more tobacco taste, more earthy taste, and just a little more pepper/spice. A little more harshness too, as it passes into the last third.


Verdict: Un-impressed. Read another review that said it was full-bodied and very flavorful.. something I never found this stick to be. Had I liked the flavors I would probably give it another try, but there are a lot of other smokes that I'd rather spend my time smoking. Last third was the best, but also the worst..
Burn issues could have been due to moisture or uneven storage, the temperature have risen considerably by daytime here in Sweden the last weeks, and gone down to almost freezing at night, but my humi have been in a closet without walls to the outside so it shouldn't have changed so much.

Big thanks to Eric for the stick, though.. not his fault that it didn't fit my taste! Looking forward to trying the other stick sometime soon!

/Pac

[Nabinger16]

Thanks for the honest review.

[JordanWexler]

yeah, i had one of these a short while myself, experienced the same burn issues. It was very loosely packed if i remember correctly. It was somewhat harsh like you described - and myself, 5/10, worth trying, but probably not again.

[skibumdc]

I posted my same experience last summer.
I had bad burn issues, but at the time my humi was not as rock solid as it is now.
Went out on me 2x before I decided to pitch it and move on to another cigar before I finished my round of golf.
No flavor to me except ash.

Others on this forum like it and I did vow to give it another try. Mine was a Torpedo shape.

[Pac]

Everything (well, almost everything) is worth trying at least once imho.

I'll try it again if I happen to stumble across one, but if I have to pay for it there are others I have never tried that I will try before this one.

And of course I'd write an honest review, it wouldn't do anyone any good if I didn't tell it like I experienced it. Others may think this is the greatest stick ever, but that doesn't change my views.. and I hope that's the way other BOTL's read any review, it's only what the reviewer experienced, with his palate and his circumstances. (of course, if there are construction issues or the like it will affect everyone..)

Later today I think I'll revisit a Nub, now that it has had another week to rest. Or maybe the Camacho maduro I was gifted (he said it was a Camacho SLR Maduro, one of my favorites, with a new design on the band, but it doesn't say "SLR" anywhere on the band... Only "Camacho" and "Maduro" in red and gold.)

All these options and choices..

/Pac

[kalvinchris]

Originally Posted by JordanWexler

yeah, i had one of these a short while myself, experienced the same burn issues. It was very loosely packed if i remember correctly. It was somewhat harsh like you described - and myself, 5/10, worth trying, but probably not again.

I tried one of these the other day and it did seem very harsh. As my girlfriend said "tastes like dirt"

I didn't think it tasted like dirt but it just seemed really harsh.