La Gloria Cubana Serie N
Saturday, December 18th, 2010While browsing a local cigar shop, the cigar up for review today caught my eye. I guess the glued on N is what made me wonder what the deal was. Turns out the N stands for Nicaragua. I’m a fan of Nicaraguan tobacco, so lets see what I thought of the La Gloria Cubana Serie N.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: Generoso 5 3/4 x 49
Price: $5.45
Pre-Smoke & Construction:
The oily wrapper was bumpy and rugged looking, with no major flaws. The odor coming off of the wrapper was almost barn-yardish, while the foot had a dark syrupy smell to it. This cigar was packed evenly and was rock solid. This led to a draw that was a just a little too tight for my liking. The pre-light draw had that dark syrupy taste I mentioned before.
The ash held for a little over one inch, and I had to do several burn corrections.
Flavor:
The first third began with simple natural tobacco and earthiness. After about an inch. there was a dry woody flavor. There was black pepper when passing smoke through the nose. It had a little punch, but nothing that would melt your face off.
The second third kept those dominant woody and earthy flavors. The pepper didn’t go anywhere, and maybe even went down a notch in terms of strength. There was something lurking in the background that I can only describe as fruity. It was so subtle that I may be way off on that one.
Unidentified sweet notes came about in the last third. They weren’t consistent and I can’t compare it to anything. The dominant flavor was wood, and earthiness followed behind it. The pepper became more of a smooth spice as opposed to black pepper.
Conclusion:
This was an good medium to full bodied cigar. The flavors were good, and I never got any harshness or bad flavors. For whatever reason, I was expecting something more out of it. The flavor profile was pretty simple and one dimensional. I also found myself becoming parched from the dry smoke feel. In the end, I’m on the fence with this cigar. While it wasn’t bad at all, it definitely didn’t WOW me. I suggest you draw your own conclusion on this one.