I managed to smoke a couple of the new La Palina Blue Label TAA Exclusive Toros this week, and thought I’d share my thoughts, but first, I mixed last year’s TAA Bronze Label in just to compare. These follow the Black and Red Label releases, which were made at the PDR factory in the Dominican Republic, with the Bronze and now the Blue coming from the Placencia’s El Paraiso factory in Honduras. The Bronze Label went into regular release after it spent a year as the TAA exclusive. I smoked this last May and I think the few months in the humidor did it some good, because it had noticeable sweet flavors that I failed to note originally, and I probably would have made mention of that. I selected it because the size was right for the time I had, and the 5½” x 50 size was good for a nice hour and a half or so smoking time. I’d be very interested in smoking other sizes of this blend, I found it to be quite enjoyable!
New this year is the La Palina Blue Label. The Blue Label is exclusive to TAA stores and is made at El Paraiso in Honduras, which is owned by Placencia. The wrapper is Habano, the binder is Honduran, and the fillers are Nicaraguan and Honduran. This is available in a 6½ x 52 Toro, which is a size I like in a cigar I like, and I like this cigar. When I can get another fifteen or twenty minutes smoking time out of a cigar that’s very good, I’m a happy dude. I smoked two of these over the course of a few days, which I rarely do. The first example I smoked left me with some questions, I found it slightly more earthy and leathery than I prefer, however, I had some distractions, and tonight I smoked the second example without any distractions and found more of the sweetness along with that earthiness that I had found with the Bronze Label, although the sweetness was far more in the background and subdued. The burn and draw were exceptional. While this cigar is ready to go, I think age will be kind to this cigar. Fortunately, I have a chain of TAA stores close by, so I should be able to get my hands on more of these, I’ll have to see if they have them.
That’s all for today, until next time,
CigarCraig
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