La Palina El Diario Toro (6 x 50)

 Video review HERE.


This is my first experience with La Palina Cigars. It was actually suggested to me by Scott at The Cigar Box in Columbia, SC. I am excited to give this cigar a try.

Country of Origin: Honduras
Wrapper: Honduran Corojo ’99 Rosado
Binder: Honduran Criollo ’98 (x2)
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98

(from the La Palina website)

Rolled at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras for La Palina Cigar, the El Diario is a perfect complement to our acclaimed original line, the Family Series. The La Palina El Diario is a richly flavored medium bodied cigar. The sweet characteristics of the Honduran rosado wrapper round out the spicy Nicaraguan corojo and criollo filler. The double binders from Honduras refine and complete the blend, creating beautiful balance.

The La Palina El Diario is a straightforward blend with a harmony of sweet and spicy notes that you will find the ideal choice for daily enjoyment. El Diario translates to “The Daily” in English. The El Diario is a La Palina for every day.


The cigar is a medium brown with some small bumps but it has a nice feel in the hand. It is what I term "weighty in the hand". The foot shows a nice density.

The test draw after cutting the cap was a bit firm but workable. The initial flavors at light up were sweet and spicy. The pepper was very good. I rated it at a 6. The flavors were a combination of a juicy, sweet orange and cedar, coffee, and a touch of background leather.

 

At the 3/4 inch point the flavors are pretty much like the initial assessment. The flavors are orange citrus and cedar, which is sweet and it has some richness. There are coffee and leather notes and now I detect white chocolate. The sweetness of the white chocolate give the cigar a nice flavor. The finish is one of a sweet cream which make it almost a straight vanilla and there is a touch of lingering pepper. The cigar is medium bodied at this point.

 

About 1 1/4 inch in the cigar is burning evenly. The orange citrus has decreased and in it's place there are nutmeg notes which combine with the cedar and white chocolate. The leather is more prominent also. The white chocolate has traveled over to the finish also combining with the cream. The lingering pepper on the finish seems to be a little more intensified. The white chocolate really coats the palate.

 

 

At the midpoint the nutmeg is the lead flavor quickly followed by the cedar. It continues to be rich and sweet. The leather and white chocolate notes are a little more subtle. The coffee notes are still there in the background and remain subtle. The pepper has decreased a little and is now a 5. The flavors are quite balanced, actually, but you now get a wisp of cherry on the front end. It does not last long but it's noticeable. The finish is still one of cream and subtle white chocolate with some lingering pepper. The cigar remains medium bodied.

 

At the band the cigar is very balanced. The cherry notes hung around much longer than I thought they would. They just now went away. The individual flavors are easily picked out but they are in equal amounts. The cigar has moved up a tick in body. I would call it medium to full bodied now. The finish and pepper amounts have not changed.

 

 

At the end of the cigar it made a little turn. In the previous segment I told you the cherry notes had gone away but they came back. They took the place of the nutmeg notes. They now combine with the cedar. The richness is still there to a degree but the sweetness is still very good. The other notes of leather, white chocolate, coffee and pepper remained the same. The finish also remained the same. Here at the end the cigar moved up to full bodied. It really intensified in the final quarter. I found this cigar to be very good and somewhat complex as it made numerous changes. I appreciate Scott recommending it to me. I have heard good things about other cigars in the La Palina line and would like to try them also. This is a very good cigar that I can recommend!

Score: 92