Archive for the ‘cubana’ Category

La Gloria Cubana Serie N

Saturday, December 18th, 2010

While 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.

1_La Gloria Cubana Serie N

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.

2_La Gloria Cubana Serie N

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.

3_La Gloria Cubana Serie N

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.

4_La Gloria Cubana Serie N

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.

La Gloria Cubana Artesanos De Tabaqueros

Tuesday, August 17th, 2010

Once again the gracious people at the General Cigar Company sent me some samples of the cigar up for review today. I should mention that the last company I expected to want me to review their cigars was the General Cigar Company. To my surprise, they have been very generous to the bloggers out there, including myself. There is always a risk of a bad review, but they know that’s a risk worth taking.

You probably noticed something strange about the wrapper. The first third is wrapped with a Connecticut shade leaf, while the rest is covered in an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. As many of you know, I’m not big on the back-stories about cigars. My focus is – Did it taste good? How did it burn? What about the draw? How much money? Where can I get it? At the end of the day that is all I am concerned with. I’ll catch the back stories sooner or later, but honestly I don’t care. So without further ado, I filled up a glass of water and here is my review.

2La Gloria Cubana_ 

Wrapper: Connecticut Shade & Ecuador Sumatra

Binder/Filler: ???

Size: Toro 6 x 50

Price: $8.00

 

Pre-Smoke & Construction:

Both wrappers had a toothy appearance. The Sumatra wrapper had larger veins but overall everything looked decent. Each wrapper had a slightly different odor – The Sumatra portion had an earthy smell with a slight spice. The Connecticut wrapper had a mellower earthy smell. I couldn’t detect any aroma from the foot. The pre-light draw was a ever so slightly snug, but not to the point of being a problem. Overall the cigar was firmly packed, with a soft spot here and there. The pre-smoke draw had a dark natural tobacco taste.

The burn required a couple corrections in the first third, but evened itself out. The ash held for just under an inch.

1La Gloria Cubana_ 

Flavor:

The first third is the Connecticut wrapper portion of this cigar. It had a nice mellow spice accompanied by earthy notes. After about an inch into this third, the smoke feel became thicker and had a creamy sensation. To round things up, a nice nutty component came about and completed the first third. I’d say the body was in the medium range, and wasn’t bad at all.

3La Gloria Cubana_ 

The second third is where I got into the Sumatra wrapped portion of the cigar. A dual wrapped cigar like this can help you realize how much the wrapper can effect the flavor. As soon as I hit this third, nice sweet coffee flavors entered the picture. When exhaling through the nose there was a smooth pepper with a tinge of sweetness. The smoke feel was a little creamy. As progressed to the end of this third, I picked up some cocoa flavors. To round things out were pleasant earthy notes. The body remained in the medium range.

4La Gloria Cubana_ 

The last third went into the upper medium to lower full bodied range. The smoke feel became very smooth can creamy. The pepper really mellowed out but kept some of it’s zing. At times the dominant flavor was cocoa, and other times a spicy cinnamon-ish flavor would take over. All the while fairly strong black coffee flavors were present. Faint earthy and nutty notes were in the background as well.

5La Gloria Cubana_ 

Conclusion:

This was a good medium to full bodied cigar. I liked how it steadily ramped up in flavors and body. The flavors changed enough to hold my interest, and nothing was unpleasant. I think this is worth trying for yourself. I imagine they are available at some local shops, as well as online. I’d be curious of your experience differs from mine.

La Gloria Cubana Serie R (Natural)

Monday, June 14th, 2010

The General Cigar Company asked if I’d like a couple cigars to try, and I replied “Sure!” What came in the mail shortly after were a couple La Gloria Cubana Serie R cigars. As always, I didn’t find too much information on this smoke, but it is all available at the General Cigar Company’s website. I do know that these come in a Maduro wrapped version. Up for review today is the Natural. Thanks to The General Cigar Company for sending these to me. As always, I smoked these cigars with water.

 

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Sumatra (Natural)

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Size: “Number 3” 4.5 x 56

Price: Around $6.00

 

Pre-smoke & Inspection:

The wrapper had a somewhat rugged look, with small to medium veins. It had a mild odor of cedar, and the foot shared the same mild smell. The cigar was somewhat spongy and bounced back when squeezed. The pre-light draw was free, and had a sweet taste of cedar.

I only did one small burn correction, and the ash held for about one inch.

1LaGloriaCubanaSerieRNat

 

Flavor:

In the first third there were milder earthy and woody notes. A teeny tiny bit of spice was detected when exhaling through the nose.

2LaGloriaCubanaSerieRNat

The second third opened up a little. The woody flavor was there, but a nice coffee basically overtook it. The earthiness fell way back as well. The mild spice was still there as well. The smoke feel became a little creamy and coated the inside of the mouth.

3LaGloriaCubanaSerieRNat

For the last third, coffee was the dominant flavor. Up next was that familiar woody taste, and the earthy notes were very hard to detect. The spice increased a bit in strength but was not strong at all. There was a slight bitter sweetness that wasn’t bad. Once again, the smoke feel was a bit creamy.

4LaGloriaCubanaSerieRNat

Conclusion:

This was a good medium bodied cigar that I could smoke at any time of the day. It didn’t really bring anything new or exciting to the table, but based on it’s own merit, I can’t say anything bad about it. As I often do, I can only suggest you try it for yourself. It wasn’t bad at all!

La Gloria Cubana Maduro

Thursday, March 25th, 2010

While browsing the humidor over at The Cigar Loft, I ran across the cigar up for review today. I smoked one at the shop, and took another home to review now. Staying with my usual routine, I filled my glass with water and started smoking.

 

Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf Maduro

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan

Size: Double Corona 7.75 x 49

Price: Around $6.00

 

Pre-smoke & Construction:

The dark maduro wrapper looked great, with small to medium veins and minimal flaws. The wrapper had virtually no smell at all, while the foot had a sweet natural tobacco odor. Overall the cigar was firmly packed and pretty hard. The pre-light draw had some resistance with a simple earthy flavor.

The ash held for under an inch. The first third required some major burn corrections, but after that all went well.

1LaGloriaCubanaMaduro

Flavor:

The first third started off with an interesting note that reminded me of pipe tobacco that wasn’t strong. If anything, it was easy to miss. That flavor didn’t last long, and I started to notice a more peppery, spicy flavor. Other then that, I could only pick up on a familiar earthy taste.

2LaGloriaCubanaMaduro

The second third began with the addition of nutty flavors combined with a very slight dry sweetness. The peppery spice remained, as did the earthiness.

3LaGloriaCubanaMaduro

The last third had a slight uptick in sweetness. The spicy pepper remained strong and smooth. The nuttiness lessened and allowed the earthy flavor to come though a little more.

4LaGloriaCubanaMaduro

Conclusion:

This was an OK medium to full bodied cigar. When I smoked it at the shop, I enjoyed it more. I think this was due to the hanging out factor. Once I was alone and could completely focus on the flavors, I found myself getting a little bored. Is this cigar worth trying? Yea I think so, but don’t expect a wow cigar.

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