Video review HERE.
(Description taken from Cigar-Coop.com website)
Once again, La Gloria Cubana goes to Central America. At the 2018 IPCPR Trade Show, the La Gloria Cubana Estelí had its debut. According to General Cigar, it’s a blend that represents the best of Central American tobaccos and deepens the profile of the brand’s original ‘white box’ blend.
“We named this collection in honor of the artisans of our factory in Estelí who did a fantastic job creating the blend and bringing a deeper taste profile to the La Gloria portfolio. We’re confident that fans of La Gloria Cubana will enjoy the modern flavor of ‘Estelí’ and recognize the spirit of Nicaragua in this exciting new collection,” commented Steve Abbot, senior brand manager for La Gloria Cubana, in a press release.
The cigar features a dark wrapper from the Jalapa Valley of Nicaragua, a binder from the Jamastran region of Honduras, and fillers from both La Estrada and Jamastra. The cigar is available in three sizes. The Estelí name comes from the fact that this cigar is made at General’s STG Estelí factory in the city with the same name.
The La Gloria Cubana Estelí should not be confused with the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Estelí, which is a different line that is available in Natural and Maduro options.
Blend Profile
Wrapper: Nicaragua: Jalapa
Binder: Honduras: Jamastran
Filler: Honduras: Jamastran, La Entada
Country of Origin: Nicaragua (STG Estelí)
Vitolas Available
The Robusto and Toro sizes are available in 20-count boxes while the Gigante is packaged in 20-count boxes.
Robusto: 4 1/2 x 52 (SRP $4.99) REVIEWED TODAY
Toro: 5 1/2 x 54 (SRP $5.99)
Gigante: 6 1/4 x 60 (SRP $6.99)
The cigar is short and dark. The band is metallic and brightly colored. Here is a shot of the cigar foot.
This review is coming to you from Ocho Rios, Jamaica and the Couples Sans Souci Resort. I chose this robusto because it's quite hot in Ocho Rios and since we're filming the review in the sun I didn't want to spend the time for a toro or longer.
I had some help from my friends Mark, Larry, and Russ. I urge you to watch the Youtube video review. It's a little longer than normal but there are some good comments from the guys.
The test draw after cutting the cap was good. The initial flavors were a tangerine citrus, quite a bit of leather, earthy black coffee, and mixed in all those flavors are hints of raw almond. The pepper is a black pepper which I rated at a 7.
About 3/4 inch in the flavors are settling down nicely. The tangerine flavor is now more of a cedar with brown sugar. The leather and earthy black coffee are still prominent. I don't have the raw almonds on the front end any longer but I do get them on the finish. I also got cream on the finish to go along with the raw almond with a modest amount of lingering black pepper.
The first third (20 minutes) had the same basic flavors as the last segment except the main sweeter flavor is now a citrus/cedar combination. There is still nice brown sugar. The leather is not intrusive. There is still an earthy black coffee. The flavors are mixing very well. The cigar is full bodied. The finish is unchanged. I rated the first third at an 89.
At the second third (40 minutes) the flavors are balanced. The cigar is the best it's been so far. The citrus/cedar flavor is very nice with a slight emphasis on the citrus. The leather is creamy. I'm not sure if that is due to some nutmeg influence but I don't taste nutmeg in this cigar. There are still nice brown sugar notes. The black coffee is not as earthy now. The finish is pretty much unchanged but I got hints of citrus also. The cigar is still full bodied. I enjoyed the second third more than the first so I bumped the score to a 90.
The cigar lasted about one hour. In the final third I lost a lot of the leather notes. I also saw a decrease in the citrus/cedar and brown sugar notes. The black coffee was about the same. The cigar is no longer in balance. It is still full bodied, however. The finish has the citrus flavor, a leathery cream, and more lingering black pepper. That's the one area where the cigar improved. With the loss of sweetness and leather on the front end I lowered the score to an 88. If you would like to purchase these cigars you can go HERE.
Overall Score: 89
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