| Name: | La Gloria Cubana |
| Rating: | ★★★★ |
| Origin: | Dominican Republic |
| Cigar info: | Almost a decade after Senator Ernesto Perez-Carrillo fled Cuba in 1959 he rekindled a bit of his homeland in Miami’s Little Havana in 1968, when he began to make La Gloria Cubana cigars. Needless to say, it seems they were a hit and production of these cigars continues to this very day in both Miami and the Dominican Republic.
La Gloria Cubana contains long filler tobacco from Brazil, the Dominican Republic, Mexico and Nicaragua, which means that this 7 inch Churchill is a bunch of long full leaves all lovingly rolled together and wrapped in a dark Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper – that bad boy, as you will see from our tasting notes, is responsible for much of this cigar’s flavour. The ring gauge is a standard of 50. |
| Draw: | Excellent |
| Burn: | Excellent |
| Construction: | Excellent |
| Strength: | Mild-Medium |
| Flavours: | The dark Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper clings against my lips, coating it with an oily film and a sour taste that is pleasant and offers hues of woodiness. Dark chocolate and unsweetened espresso accompany the oiliness, with notes of mild campfire, charred twigs and a bitter finish of chicory infused within the tobacco smoke. Mid-way the cigar becomes fuller, gaining soapy notes for a few puffs which then recede and are taken over by a consistent woodiness and earthy sourness – that chicory bitterness remains, though the chicory is wilder and reddened with an intensified sourness while a puckering red wine cask finish reminds me of the woody dimension of some Pinot Noir wines. The filler tobacco seemed to balance out the bitterness and sourness of the wrapper, to create an enjoyable and imminently puff-able cigar. This is an elegant cigar that is mostly consistent throughout, though the sourness intensifies towards the end. Excellent. |
| Format: | Churchill |
| Match with: | This cigar pairs nicely with a soft red wine, such as a light Pinot Noir, or a wine cask finish whisky – try it with Glenmorangie Companta or Benromach Sassicaia. |
| Bottom line: |
Buy it, if you are after a balanced cigar with a bitter chicory finish and shades of earthy woodiness that showcase the flavours of a lovely Ecuadorian Sumatran wrapper. These wrappers can sometimes be quite sour or bitter and thus overbearing on the palate, but La Gloria Cubana seem to have selected a wrapper that integrates nicely with the filler tobacco but which holds its own and becomes prominent on the finish. Superb. *Thank you to cigarscity.com for the stick! |
Malt Mileage Whisky & Spirit Reviews 
Loved the review. I clicked on your link you had to the website listed and I could not find the cigar on their site? I went over to Famous-smoke.com and found them – and on sale. I hope my experience is as good as yours was. I am going to take your advice and pair it with a red wine!
Thanks for taking the time to comment. I hope you enjoy the cigars! Glad you got them on sale. I would stick with a soft red wine, nothing too woody or intense. The wrapper on the cigar I smoked was a beauty, lovely stuff. Good luck deciding on a suitable red wine, it took me a fair while!! Cheers from Australia, Angelo