I recently ordered the cigar sampler, and can agree that this is excellent stuff. The Dominican Seco is a medium-dark brown, and provides large volumes of rich smoke. One or two added strips of the darker Dominican Ligero will enhance the flavor, and crank up the strength.
As it comes, the case of the leaf is perfect for rolling a solid (chair rung solid) cigar that draws perfectly (but only if you use a sturdy binder to compress it--the other half of the wrapper leaf will work well as a binder when flipped over). I always love the Besuki wrapper, which is part of this package. With this sampler, you should be able to make cigars that are consistently equal to or better than most of the "premium" cigars you may have smoked.
I had the joy of also sampling Nicaraguan Habano Seco and Nicaraguan Habano Viso, along with Ecuador grown CT Shade. YEOWZA!
I made a puro of the viso, wrapped in Besuki. While the flavor and aroma were out of this world, the nicotine nearly sent me to the next. Its ideal use is a single strip within a blend, in which role it expands the flavor, aroma and strength to match the finest Honduran and Nicaraguan cigars. The Nicaraguan Habano Seco is my favorite of the lot. Its aroma and flavor (like fertile soil) are distinctly different from the Dominican Seco, so blending the two (plus a strip of the viso or Dominican Ligero) makes a cigar better than any factory cigar you can buy. Better than any factory cigar you can buy!
So, back to the cigar sampler, it's an outstanding buy, and costs considerably less than a single box of typical premium cigars. My only suggestion would be that the sampler contain seco:ligero in a ratio of 2:1, rather than 1:1, though I'm sure that there is an occasional cigar smoker who will want cigars heavy on the ligero.
The Nicaraguan Habano Viso and Seco are not yet listed in the WLT store, nor is the Ecuador CT Shade. When they are, I would recommend planning on filler of half Dominican Seco, half Nicaraguan Habano Seco, plus a strip of either Nicaraguan Habano Viso or Dominican Ligero. (I like to also add a strip or two of my own Machu Picchu or Comstock Spanish to create a rounder, more chocolaty flavor profile.) If you prefer a lighter wrapper, select the Ecuador CT Shade. For wrappers a bit darker, though still fairly light, go with the Besuki.
Regardless of the wrapper, you'll want both a seco, for the bulk of the filler, as well as a ligero (or viso) as a blending component. If you make a cigar with only Dominican Seco, it will give you a cigar similar to the mild factory "Dominican premium" cigars.
Bob
