Blind Cigar Review: La Gloria Cubana

Cigar Info

La Gloria Cubana | Serie RF is a Famous Smoke exclusive cigar. Serie RF is said to speak to La Gloria Cubana‘s best tobaccos. This LGC is a medium-bodied blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan long fillers, rich in sweet n’ zesty tastes that take it up a level with a heavy dosage of ligeros from both nations.

A Connecticut Havano binder and Ecuadorian Habano wrapper complete the cigar. It is just asking to be paired with a sophisticated scotch or bouron.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Toro
Length: 5.5″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Connecticut Havano
Filler: Dominican Republic and Nicaragua
Factory: El Credito
Blender: Michael Giannini
Number of reviewers: 4 – Steve (ThaGreatWazoo) Jeff (ExpendableYouth) Derek (StogieNinja) Wes (SosaCub4Life)
Price: $8.00
Age: 1 year 4 Months
Release Date: July 2015
Contributed by: Famous Smoke Shop

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 94

“Dark chocolate brown wrapper. Rustic looking cigar, its not super smooth, there are visible veins, but its a nice rustic looking cigar. Appears to have a triple cap.” –Wes (SosaCub4Life)

Aroma: 94

“In the aroma there was a lot of chocolate sweetness along with some very rich tobacco notes. Smelled wonderful.” –Wes (SosaCub4Life)

First Third

Flavor: 93
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“This cigar starts out very strong and powerful. Great smoke and start. The initial flavors are spicy pepper and wood. The cigar begins to change halfway through the first third. A strong coffee note comes forward and pairs with salt. Interesting transition.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)

“A very nice mix of spices and leather at the start. Hints of vanilla and white pepper. It reminds me of a well balanced scotch, actually, with the balance of dry sweetness, richness, and smokey spice. The smoke is thick and rich, and there’s a red pepper spice on the tongue. I’m enjoying this one from the start!” –Derek (StogieNinja)

Blind Cigar Review: La Gloria Cubana | Serie RF No. 13

Second Third

Flavor: 91
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“The second-third continues to be a bit of a pepper bomb and is in the medium-full bordering on full category. I pick up wood, earthiness, and copious amounts of pepper. The draw is still a bit tight and the smoke output is suffering because of that.” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)

“No major changes, which is a good thing. The draw has grown a little tight, but a few runs through with my draw tool and it opens up wonderfully. The smoke is thick and coats the palate. There’s dry wood, baking spices, nuts, hunts of vanilla and toasted marshmallow, and a little pepper to round it out. It’s a really great mix of flavor, without every getting syrupy.” –Derek (StogieNinja)

Final Third

Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“Baking spices ramp up in the final third, there’s cinnamon and nutmeg. Toasted marshmallow sweetness gives the spices and pepper a nice balance. It’s a dry sweetness, never syrupy on the palate, which makes all the difference.” –Derek (StogieNinja)

“The cigar continues to pump out tons of smoke. During this final 3rd the spice has picked back up but the cigar has not lost the overall sweetness. There is almost a molasses type sweetness to it and it is still a very thick smoke. The burn has been great since the touchup.” –Wes (SosaCub4Life)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 86

“A plug in the beginning of the second third affects this score; a draw tool fixed the issue, so it’s likely a fluke and not an overall construction issue.” –Derek (StogieNinja)

Burn: 88

“The burn line was pretty good throughout the smoke, but it kept trying to go out.” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)

Construction: 93

“I probably would have marked this as perfect had it not been for the plugged draw at the beginning of the middle third. Once that was cleared, the cigar smoked excellently, the combustion was even, the burn line was excellent, the ash hung on for an inch or two at a time.” –Derek (StogieNinja)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 95

“Overall, I thought this cigar was really good and worth a revisit. The flavor profile was tremendous as well as complex and kept me wanting to explore more of the cigar. The downside was the burn issue and hopefully it is not a common issue with these cigars. Please do yourself a favor and pick some of these up. You will not be disappointed with how good they are and can be with age.” –Steve (ThaGreatWazoo)

“I had a lot of smoking issues, poor draw, and bitterness due to the overall construction of the cigar. I wouldn’t recommend this cigar if my compatriots had the same issues as me, but wouldn’t completely discount it either depending on their experiences.” –Jeff (ExpendableYouth)

“One draw issue aside, this was an excellent smoke, one I really, really hope in on the bargain side of things so I can stock up, but I’m guessing it’s likely a premium. Overall it was well constructed, burned great, had excellent thick smoke output, and really well balanced flavor. One I will definitely seek out again, regardless of price! Highly recommended.” –Derek (StogieNinja)

“I really enjoyed this cigar. It was thick and that let the flavors linger for a long time. There was a very good mix of spice and sweetness to it. The spice would fade but then come back. Overall it kept a great balance between sweet and spicy. Lots of good flavors.” –Wes (SosaCub4Life)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 88

Reviewer	Appearance	Aroma	1/3	2/3	3/3	Draw	Burn	Constr.	Overall Experience
Steve	95	95	90	90	90	90	85	95	95
Jeff	90	90	90	85	88	83	87	83	83
Derek	93	93	95	97	97	85	97	93	97
Wes	95	97	97	92	92	97	90	93	93

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.