My wife and I both have head colds which means no sense of taste. I thought this a good opportunity to remind you of great every day, reasonably priced cigars.
I reviewed this cigar in June 2019. A solid everyday smoke with interesting leaf stats. Only $7.00 with promo code.
This is my last re-post. Tomorrow, I’m coming back. You’ve been warned. Expect a lot of whining on my part that the cigar will be too strong after a week off.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Jalapa
Binder: Mexican San Andrés
Filler: Brazilian Mata Fina, Dominican Olor & Piloto Cubano, Nicaraguan Jalapa
Size: 5.5 x 52 Robusto
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $8.00
SMELL THE GLOVE:
Very sweet smelling…caramel, fruitiness, honey, gingerbread, and brown sugar. Plus, elements of milk chocolate, malt, cedar, barnyard, coffee, a little bit of peat, fungi, and white pepper.
The cold draw presents flavors of milk chocolate, barnyard, coffee, caramel, malt, peat, and some undefined sweet factors in play.
FIRST THIRD:
I took my allergy meds and a hit of Afrin to dispel what the Indian cooking has done to my sinuses and I’m ready to light up. And I have Kleenex in one hand as I need to constantly wipe my weeping eyes…just like a genteel woman of the 19th century.
The Eagles. That figures. Duderino…
The draw is perfect. I put my PerfecDraw draw adjustment tool away. I’m sure I will need it later this day.
Big blast of black pepper. The Afrin hasn’t kicked in yet. Strength seems powerful…which is odd because I smoked one yesterday and it started off much milder.
Nice flavors emerge immediately: Espresso, malt, creaminess, dark cocoa, cedar, and dried fruit.
Because of all the wet weather, I still like to dry box my cigars naked for a couple of days before smoking them.
Strength is a potent medium.
I’m not an LGC fan. They are OK. Basically, an inexpensive catalog brand. A long way from its Cuban beginnings. But the La Gloria Cubana Spanish Press begins its journey with some real panache. It is extremely pleasing to the palate.
The cigar is jam packed but evenly distributed. Hence, a slow haul.
And then half an inch in, surprise, surprise…complexity rears its head. Nice.
I am truly amazed at how good this cigar is. The complex nature is beginning to do the May pole dance. Transitions are finding their way. The finish, though, is mostly that pepper bomb. I assume with more humi time, the pepper will fade a bit and find its place in the universe.
Savory and sweet are balanced nicely now.
Lovely cigar. Strength was medium yesterday. Today? It’s medium/full. Smoking on an empty stomach and without any cigars preceding it makes a big difference for your palate.
The spiciness calms down; allowing for the complexity to shine a bit. Transitions are more in play now. The finish isn’t head locked by the black pepper now and finds itself spewing elements of dried fruit, malt, chocolate, espresso, and earth, wind, and leather.
I’m telling you, this is a great, inexpensive go-to stick for you snobs out there. It has the personality of a much more expensive boutique blend. I wasn’t expecting this. On top of that, I am smoking the cigar with only two weeks of humi time. Whoa, Nelly.
SECOND THIRD:
Complexity makes the quantum leap.
If big cigar companies want to make good cigars, they have all the tools and materials at their disposal. It just seems rare that they get it right…which is why a lot of us choose the more exciting boutique blends. LGC got it right with this little baby. I’m not suggesting this is as good as some recently reviewed sticks, but at this price, it doesn’t become a guilt-ridden venture when you may have to quit the stick unexpectedly.
The onslaught of black pepper has ceased and desisted. It meshes perfectly with the blend now. Still spicy, but I like spicy.
Very smooth. The balance is on point. Definitely medium/full which tells me it will stay here (I doubt it) but I expect, by the last third, I will be seeing haunting images of thousands of Indian women cooking curry for their men.
So many inexpensive cigars are lightweight. They feel like toothpicks in your hand. Others are so jammed pack that without a PerfecDraw poker, you’re dead in the water. The La Gloria Cubana Spanish Press is packed solid making this a probable two-hour smoke.
Flavors: Espresso, malt, chocolate covered raisins, cedar, black pepper, cumin, gingerbread, definitely marzipan, and a nice swath of creaminess. Very complex.
And…we hit full tilt. Yikes. I’m not even halfway through. Say Kaddish for me.
The burn needs some minor touch ups but then I am cursed when it comes to box pressed cigars. Karma is a bitch.
I’m telling ya…this baby could pass as a $12 boutique stick. If the Gigante (6 x 60) is packed as solid, we are talking about a 3-hour smoke.
I’m at the halfway point and need to put the cigar down. I’ve turned into a royal pussy. I walk off the nicotine and wait til I can see again in my left eye. This baby ain’t fucking around.
The strength has calmed down and heart palpitations have ceased.
LAST THIRD:
The blend finds its soul in the last third. Everything escalates. The complex nature digs deep now. Flavors explode like a 14-year-old on his first date. Now we’re talking.
With a few more months of humi time, this is going to be an impressive cigar.
Extremely savory now. The sweet elements fall by the wayside making the blend lopsided. Once again, the strength is a mother fucker. The screen is blurry.
I’m sitting here with a slack jaw just staring at the laptop with no brain activity.
The cigar finishes on a very pleasant note. Just way stronger than I expected. Give it some time before digging in.
You can snag these cigars from sponsor Small Batch Cigar (10% off with promo code ‘katman’).
RATING: 90
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Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS
