Tag Archives: La Gloria Cubana

Rocky Patel Sixty, La Gloria Cubana Serie S, Wooden Indian’s Pig Roast and Crux Cigars

It was a busy week, I celebrated a birthday and my daughter took us all out to a Brazilian Steakhouse for dinner. That was a lot of fun, it was a tremendous parade of meat, and I dined on plenty of steer and swine.  I think Evan Darnell of Red Meat Lover’s Club would have been proud.  I had a lot of great cigar choices available to celebrate, but my son got me a couple of Rocky Patel Sixty Toros, which was an absolutely appropriate choice to celebrate this particular birthday.  This cigar came out two years ago to celebrate Rocky’s 60th, it has a San Andrés wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and fillers, and is made in Rocky’s Nicaraguan factory. I’m fortunate that Rocky made a cigar for his birthday that exactly aligns with my palate, where a lot of Rocky Patel cigars really don’t. This is a luscious, dark, rich, cigar with heavy espresso and earthiness in the second half.  This was a great gift, my son has been to Nicaragua and an IPCPR show with me, so he’s no stranger to the leaf, he did well, although this one was a no-brainer.  Recommended regardless of your age (within reason, you know what I mean!).

 

I smoked a few of the new  Maduro cigars over the last couple of weeks, with some trepidation.  I was so tremendously underwhelmed with the “natural” version of the Serie S, it just made me wonder how it actually got past the decision makers, I’ll give it another try in the future, maybe it needs age, but I remain dubious.  Regular readers will know I’m a big La Gloria fan, it hurts my heart when I don’t like a release.  I was hoping the Maduro version would offer some redemption. This was the Robusto Gordo size, 5½” x 56, which is a perfectly acceptable size.  It has a San Andrés Maduro wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers, made in the El Credito sub-factory within STG’s Santiago factory. This reminds me a little of the Serie N in strength and earthiness. It’s better than it’s natural counterpart, however I don’t know that, for me, it competes favorably with the like of the Serie R Esteli Maduro. Additional samples will be put to rest for later evaluation in the LGC humidor. 

 

Yesterday I stopped by the Wooden Indian Tobacconist in Havertown, PA where they were having their annual Drew Estate Charity Pig Roast. I may have missed dropping by one or two of these over the last decade or so, but I try to stop in, it’s always an amazing event.  Dave Mayer and his staff put on a great spread, Pedro Gomez has replaced Marvin Samel as the face of Drew Estate, Matty Rock, and of course several levels of sales staff were on hand.  I don’t remember it being on Labor Day weekend in the past, but I could be wrong, but the usual gang of DE loyal weren’t there, although some people came from Maryland and New York to attend. There was a good crowd for the few hours I was there (long enough to enjoy a Blackened M81 Toro, about 2 hours or so), and I enjoyed fellowship with some old and new friends. I assume a significant sum was raised for Operation: Cigars for Warriors.  Wooden Indian is amongst the best shops around and they are one of two Liga Privada lounges, and, therefore, one of the only stores that has an exclusive Laga Privada, the Pancetta.  

 

I happened to come by some Crux Epicure Habano cigars this week, in Toro and Robusto, and couldn’t wait to light one up.  It’s been years since I had Crux cigar, maybe the only ones I’ve smoked are the Ninfamaniacs going back maybe a decade. They just don’t seem to be present on the shelves around here, or I don’t notice them. The line has somehow avoided my notice one way or the other.  This one has a Nicaraguan Habano seco wrapper, over Nicaraguan binder and fillers made at the Plasencia factory in Nicaragua.  This is a really nice, well balanced smoke, there’s a sweet spice that makes it a little brighter than the darker cigars I like, making it a pleasant change of pace.  I’m actually smoking the Robusto as I type and it’s very nice with coffee, and my wife just set a plate of home fries in front of me…be right back…shit, they are hot, I’ll get back to them.  Now I have a problem, because I want to try the Maduro in this blend, going to have to hunt around.  

 

Enjoy the long weekend, if you are so lucky to have one. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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Romeo y Julieta, La Gloria Cubana and Diesel Cigars

Summer is whizzing by way too fast for my liking.  I’ve been enjoying a lot more cigars, three of which were just yesterday, which I plan to tell you about! I started the day with a Romeo y Julieta Reserva Real Twisted Love Story.  This came to me in a sampler of barber pole style cigars I bought from Fox Cigars, I had set this small cigar aside for an appropriate time, and that time came yesterday morning.  It was a toss up between this and a Rojas Breakfast Taco Maduro, but I kinda remember the Sumatra Breakfast Taco being a bit of a powerhouse, and I wasn’t feeling like a strong cigar yesterday morning. I wondered in a previous post how Altadis got away with making a cigar this shape with the name “story” attached to it, because it’s very close to the same size as the Hemingway Short Story, although it’s a few ring gauges slimmer at 4″ x 46 as opposed to 49.  The Romeo has Ecuadorian Connecticut & Habano wrappers, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers.  It’s a very pretty little perfecto.  It started off with some bitterness for me, until it burned past the “nipple”, then it smoothed out and had some nice butter and spice.  It was pretty good, but I liked the toro presentation better.  I think it smoked for nearly an hour, which is pretty good for a little cigar.  

 

I had a couple other cigars lined up that I was going to write about, but then I was out running errands and stopped in my nearest cigar store and picked up a few cigars I hadn’t smoked before.  This store honestly didn’t have much in the way of new stuff, but they are a TAA store, so I picked up the La Gloria Cubana 2023 TAA Exclusive, a 7½” x 54 double corona.  If the size sounds familiar, it’s the same size as the Hoya de Monterrey Excalibur No.1 (and the SakaKahn).  You might be saying ” but CigarCraig, La Glorias are made in the DR, and Excaliburs are made in Honduras, what the heck?”, but it seems that this La Gloria was made in the STG Danli factory back in 2019 and have been aging there.  Weird, huh?  This cigar has a Ecuador Sumatra wrapper with a Honduran Habano binder and Fillers from Honduras and the DR.  The wrapper is very dark, verging on maduro.  While I didn’t find this cigar very La Gloria like (and with all the various iterations of the brand, I don’t know what that means any more), I really like the cigar, and feel compelled to pick a few more up to add to the La Gloria humidor for later consumption.  It had dark dried fruit and espresso tones, bittersweet chocolate, and wasn’t without some strength.  It was amongst the better La Glorias I’ve had in recent years.  

 

Another cigar I picked up was another TAA cigar from the Forged portfolio, the Diesel Disciple 2021 TAA Lancero.  Considering it wasn’t long ago that Diesel was a catalog brand, it’s interesting that the top of the top (in their eyes, i imagine) retailers are getting a Diesel exclusive. In keeping with the Diesel line, this was pretty fairly priced at $8.99, and is a 7″ x 38 panatela, no pigtail cap.  The cigar has a San Andrés wrapper, Ecuador Sumatra binder and Nicaraguan Habano fillers and is made at Tabacalera AJ Fernandez. I’ll state my opinion like I do every time I smoke a Lancero, this wrapper/filler ratio thing is a myth, the reason Lanceros have a sharper, stronger flavor is because the burn hotter due to the smaller ring gauge.  Smoke a Lancero slowly, sip the smoke, it’s a very elegant presentation.  If it’s drawn upon at the same pressure as one would draw on a rubusto or toro it’s going to burn hot and the flavor is going to seem sharper.  I’ve learned this by sitting at the feet of masters.  Anyway, I smoked this while watching one of my favorite shows (the Grand Tour on Amazon Prime) on the porch and it was delicious.  Dark, strong espresso with some sweet earthiness.  The burn and draw was perfect and it was quite enjoyable.  I don’t know how many of these are still out in the wild, I know there are still at least nine of them at the store near me, but if you come across them, and you like Diesels and Lanceros, give one a try.

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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Nomad, Cert Maith Bruscar, La Gloria Cubana and Macanudo Cigars

This week was challenging.  I had a tooth pulled on Monday, and I’m not altogether sure that one or more of the medications I’m taking isn’t affecting my palate.  Let’s start out with my pre-procedure cigar, a Nomad SA-17 Shorty, which is 4″ x 56.  I’m unsure of the provenance of these cigars, they were a generous gift from a friend, and I want to say that they are pre-Ezra Zion because they have Fred’s twitter name on the band, but anecdotal evidence would suggest that they were recently purchased.  If I recall, these were made at A.J. Fernandez’ factory, and has a San Andrés wrapper over Nicaraguan guts. Perhaps it’s a bit uncool to smoke a cigar right before going to the oral surgeon, like eating Oreos before going in for a cleaning, but it is what it is.  I knew I was going to be taking a few days off from cigars, nobody wants dry socket!  This is a great cigar, loads of earthy, coffee and cocoa flavors.  Burn was perfect, and this little cigar lasts almost an hour.  Many thanks to Phil for sharing these with me! 

 

On to some new stuff!  Like I said, after a couple days off cigars, and between an antibiotic and a rinse, my palate may be off, or maybe not!  I tested this theory by smoking a cigar from Kevin at Trash Panda Cigars, the Cert Maith Bruscar.  I hope Kevin made sure this name wasn’t already trademarked before using it!  Cert Maith Bruscar is Gaelic for “Real Good Trash”, in keeping with the Trash Panda theme, and is an homage to Kevin’s probably 8th or 9th great grandfather, who came to the US in 1679 from Ireland, around the same time my ancestor came from The Netherlands.  This is a Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper cigar that has a Cameroon binder and fillers from Nicaragua, Dominican Republic and US.  I typically like the combination of Broadleaf and Cameroon, this is an interesting blend. The first time I smoked this my wife commented on the aroma, which she characterized as fruity.  This is consistent with what I perceived as the dominant flavor, which I called citrus.  I struggled to gut much else around the citric tang, it was a good cigar, performed well, and certainly was unique. I smoked a couple of these (before and after dental work) and had the same experience.  On paper I’d expect this to be a cigar for me, in practice, while it was a good cigar, I’m just not sure about the dominant citrus flavor. This just might be me, as Kevin said he didn’t get that from this cigar.

 

New from Forged Cigars is the La Gloria Cubana Corojo de Oro.   Last year they had the Criollo de Oro, with a hybrid of Criollo and Pelo de Oro tobaccos. This has a hybrid of Corojo and Pelo de Oro (I think that means “golden hair”, it’s a narrow leaf if I remember correctly from my visit to the Garcia’s farm in 2011).  I’m much more a fan of Corojo than Criollo, and I liked the Corojo de Oro much more than the Criollo de Oro.  This was a 6″ x 50 toro, with a Ecuador Habano wrapper, the hybrid tobacco as the binder, and Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Piloto and Nicaraguan Ometepe in the filler blend. I found this to be a well balanced cigar, with some sweet earth, and some spice.  I’m not sure how many La Gloria Cubana marques there are now, I like a lot of them (the Serie S was a miss for me, and I love San Andrés), but it just seems like I don’t see many of them in stores. 

 

Finally, I tried a new Macanudo Inspirado, the Tercio-aged.  Tercio refers to the practice of wrapping the bales in palm bark to age as opposed to burlap.  In this case, the Dominican Piloto Cubano filler component is aged in Tercio, while (because they mention that specifically and omit the rest), the San Andrés wrapper, Indonesian binder and Columbian fillers are aged in burlap bales. For me, this cigar was a great representation of the concept of body vs. strength. The flavors were very interesting, some baking spice, sweet earth (again) and some pepper spice.  The smoke was very thin, not a lot of body, but the flavor was there.  It was a little strange, and I’ll have to revisit this again. Maybe it was just me.  I liked the cigar overall, might me my 4th favorite Inspirado (another line with a lot of extensions!). 

 

That’s more than enough for me today. Next Sunday may be tricky, as we are taking a weekend road trip. Until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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Protocol, La Gloria Cubana and Oz Family Cigars

I attempted to do something interesting for today’s post, but that didn’t work out, more on that later.  My first cigar today is the Tenure by Protocol Cigars.  This was made for the Cigar Dojo‘s tenth anniversary last year.  Please note that in September of this year CigarCraig.com will celebrate it’s 14th year.  There are a couple of independent blog sites that have been around longer, but not many.  Anyway, Dojo has built a community, and has sold a bunch of exclusive cigar brands, and Protocol has been one of their partners on several of them.  This sample was generously gifted to me by me Secret Santa, Mitch, who was overly generous and sent all cigar I wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity to try.  Remember this when Secret Santa comes around next year, it’s a good time!  The Tenure is a 6″ x 52 box pressed toro, it has a Mexican San Andrés wrapper, Nicaraguan Corojo binder, and Nicaraguan fillers from Estelí and Condega. This was a neat tasting cigar.  It had some earth and coffee notes like you’d imagine, along with some tanic sort of flavor.  It was quite a good cigar, I liked it, besides yesterday’s Fratello Pennsylvanian, it was the highlight of the week.

 

I’ve been sampling some new La Gloria Cubana cigars and have made mention of my disappointment with the Serie S, but the La Gloria Cubana Society Cigar was pretty good. This, like the Punch “The People’s Champ” was made with input from the La Gloria Cubana Society, of which I’m a member (no. 631 on my card). I don’t recall being asked for my input, but that’s OK, I admit that I don’t participate in the club.  Apparently 2000 members gave input on the cigar, which is a 6¼” x 54 box pressed toro.  These are made in the El Credito factory (within the General Cigars factory) in Santiago, DR.  Oddly, it’s Honduran puro, with the Olancho San Augustine wrapper, a Jamastran binder and fillers from Jamastran and La Entrada. General must get really good yields on this OSA leaf, because it comes up everywhere. The fist time I saw it was on their first CAO release, the OSA Sol, which was a good cigar (especially in the little torpedo they had), but was a commercial flop, although it was no CAO Concert!  I seem to recall seeing the OSA leaf on Partagas, Cohiba and other La Gloria cigars. I find it generally neutral in flavor, but that’s just me.  This La Gloria Cubana Society Cigar had some hard candy sweetness, some coffee and nuts, and was quite enjoyable to smoke. It was far superior to the Serie S, which might be the least San Andrés tasting San Andrés wrapped cigar I’ve ever smoked. 

 

Yesterday I tried to go to Tobaccology in Manassas, VA for the launch event for Fratello‘s Vice Versa cigar.  I sampled this cigar last May, or should I say, “these” cigars, because one has to try the cigar both ways to understand it.  Kevin from Cigar Prop somehow convinced Omar to make this cigar, and Omar spent the better part of two years working with the La Aurora factory to bring this to fruition.  Anyway, I left in plenty of time to make the 2½ hour drive, but less than an hour in I hit traffic on I-95 just into Maryland. It turns out a tractor-trailer overturned and blocked all three lanes, and both shoulders, closing the highway (story here). After about 2+ hours I finally got turned around and aborted my mission. I was disappointed, because I wanted to be among the first to buy some of these, and hanging out with Omar is always a good time. I’ll buy some when they become available, I know TrashPandaCigars.com will have them. I “wasted” a good hour of that time smoking a delicious Fratello Pennsylvanian.

 

I had come across the Oz Family Cigars Pi Synesthesia in a local shop a few weeks ago and picked one up.  This one was a 6″ x 52 toro with an Ecuador Connecticut Shade wrapper, an Ecuadorian Habano binder and Nicaraguan fillers, made at the Pichardo factory. I have a few questions. The UPC sticker on the cigar has the Crowned Heads logo on it. I know they have a partnership, but I thought Oz Family cigars was its own thing and not a subsidiary, although Tim Ozgener’s financial involvement in CH has recently been confirmed. The other wildcard here, and one that makes anything I have to say about this particular example moot, is CH’s split from Pichardo. Unless this particular Pi Synesthesia is a one-and-done limited, it will have to find a new factory in which to be made. Whatever, it’s a $15 cigar, but, to me, there wasn’t anything to distinguish it from so many other Ecuador shade wrapped cigars. There are plenty available for less money that are just as good, or better.  It was a good smoke, just not too much different or special to me, not that I have a great palate. Standard bread, some nuts, and creamy.  I have smoke a lot worse!

 

That’s all for today, until the next time, 

 

CigarCraig

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News: La Gloria Cubana Releasing Eighth Street

We all know I’ve been a long time fan of La Gloria Cubana, the first ones I smoked were made at the El Credito factory on Calle Ocho in the ’90s.  This is an exciting release, as far as I’m concerned. Couple this with the fact that I really enjoy a lot of cigars from El Titan de Bronze. I like the size too!  Read on: 

 

La Gloria Cubana is set to release a cigar developed in collaboration with the family-owned El Titán de Bronze Cigar Factory.

 

Created to honor La Gloria’s roots in Miami’s Little Havana district, the limited-edition release called “Eighth Street” was developed in collaboration with Justin Andrews and blended by the team at El Titán de Bronze.

 

Justin Andrews said, “La Gloria Cubana Eighth Street is proudly made in the USA and honors the roots of this legendary brand. For this special project, we blended to a classic La Gloria profile which means the cigar has a lot of personality, is well-balanced through its many transitions and delivers a rich, long finish. This is an elegant and complex cigar that every fan of La Gloria Cubana will want to experience.”

 

Sandy Cobas, owner of El Titán de Bronze said, “La Gloria Cubana is one of Calle Ocho’s biggest success stories and it’s a brand my team and I have long admired. When we were approached about collaborating on this special project, we jumped at the chance. ‘Eighth Street’ is our way of paying tribute not only to La Gloria Cubana, but also to the Cuban expatriate cigar rollers who continue to practice their craft in Miami, keeping the traditions of their homeland alive.”

 

The full-bodied smoke is made with a blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan tobaccos and a Nicaraguan binder that are enrobed in a rich, Ecuadorian Habano Oscuro wrapper. The cigar delivers a robust smoking experience, with notes of espresso, leather and spice.

 

La Gloria Cubana Eighth Street is crafted at the El Titan de Bronze factory on Calle Ocho (Eighth Street) in Miami’s Little Havana district. The cigars are presented in 10-count, wooden boxes and only 5,000 boxes have been made. This special release will ship to retailers on October 3 rd and will be distributed by Forged Cigar Company.

 

La Gloria Cubana Eighth Street Toro (6” x 50); SRP per cigar $21.99

 

About The Forged Cigar Company 

Developed to deepen support for the brick and mortar channel, The Forged Cigar Company launched in 2021 as an independent national cigar distribution network. Bolstered by independent marketing and customized programming, The Forged Cigar Company’s portfolio includes a curated mix of established and cult brands such as Partagas, La Gloria Cubana, Bolivar Cofradia, Diesel and Chillin’ Moose. The Forged Cigar Company’s mission includes leveraging relationships with its proprietary network of cigar factories to deliver product innovations uniquely timed to meet retailer and consumer needs.

 

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