Cigar Info
Towards the end of last year, Forged Cigar Company announced a new line for the La Gloria Cubana brand, Criollo de Oro. This is a limited edition cigar that gets its name from a type of tobacco for the wrapper of this blend which is a hybrid of Criollo ’98 and Cuban seed Pelo de Oro.
This cigar was reviewed blind (no bands) by a panel of at least 4 reviewers. They did not know what they were smoking beforehand. The scores are an average of all the reviewers' scores with outliers removed. All of our cigars reviewed are shipped to the panelists with Boveda packs to ensure optimal smoking experience.
La Gloria Cubana Criollo de Oro is produced at the El Credito Cigar Factory in Santiago, D.R. Only 3,100 boxes were made. La Gloria Cubana Criollo De Oro uses the the proprietary Criollo de Oro tobacco as the wrapper in the blend. It is grown in the humid microclimate of Mao, Dominican Republic in the Cibao Valley. The fest of the blend uses a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and a blend of Nicaraguan and Honduran filler tobaccos.
The box artwork for Criollo de Oro takes queues from art deco and features the brand’s Lady La Gloria marque. The boxes use a dark toned wood. The cigar comes in two vitolas: Toro (5.75” x 54) $10.49 MSRP, and Churchill (7” x 48) $10.99 MSRP.
Vital Stats:
Vitola: Toro
Length: 5 3/4″
Ring Gauge: 54
Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
Wrapper: Dominican Republic (Criollo de Oro)
Binder: Connecticut Broadleaf (U.S.A)
Filler: Nicaragua, Honduras
Factory: El Credito Cigar Factory
Blender: Jhonys Diaz
Number of reviewers: 5 – Kevin J. (maninblack77) Lauren S. (Lauren S.) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Isaac M. (The Nothing) Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
Price: $10.49
Age: 10 Months
Release Date: October 2021
Contributed by: General Cigar
Initial Impressions – La Gloria Cubana Criollo de Oro Toro
Appearance: 89
“This fat cigar sports a dull light brown wrapper that appears to be very thin. There are areas of mottling throughout. The wrapper is rolled tightly and has many thin veins. It is finished with a crudely applied triple cap.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
Aroma: 89
“Leather and almonds dominate the wrapper, while the foot offers up a bit of caramel nougat.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
First Third
Flavor: 89
Strength: Mild-Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“The cigar opens with a load of herbal tea notes on both the palate and retrohale. As I get to the inch mark there is a charred pumpkin seed note sneaking onto the palate to compliment the tea notes. Continuing on, there is more complexity added with baking chocolate beginning to creep in. The smoke is thin but flavorful making the body medium and the finish is medium in length.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“The opening begins very mild and light with a soft sweet cedar flavor and tinges of a floral background.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Second Third
Flavor: 90
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
“Cinnamon starts hitting in tandem with the peanuts and nougat now, leaving little to the imagination. Strength and body pick up as well, and hit just above medium.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
“Wood flavors and kitchen spices came with the transition to the second third. There’s an underlying bit of leather that I can pick up from time to time. Wood is variable with oak, cedar, and maple coming and going.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
Final Third
Flavor: 87
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium
“More of the same in the final third. Bread and hay notes with very little else to speak of. These milder cigars just don’t cut it with me. The draw was decent and the burn was also but I need more flavors to keep my interest. Disappointed all around.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“Final shift on things. No more sweet nougat and no more peanuts. All I’m left with is baking spices and cedar.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
Overall Impressions – La Gloria Cubana Criollo de Oro Toro
Draw: 88
“With the v-cut, the draw was a bit on the snug side of things, but I let it play out.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
Burn: 91
“I had to touch up and re-light this blend multiple times. Between the flaking and running the burn was a bit of a mess.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Construction: 86
“The construction was a mixed bag. The bunching has been very well done but the wrapper had issues from the jump. Even with all of this cigar was enjoyable to smoke.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
Overall Strength: Medium
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium
Experience Overall: 89
“From beginning to end this cigar was far too mild and one-dimensional. The flavors of dry grass and hay with the bread notes just didn’t do it for me. Overpacked in my opinion with subpar tobacco. I need some bold flavors to keep my interest. This lacks that.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)
“I feel like this is a great stick if it wasn’t for the construction problems. The opening light cedar and floral notes seemed to be leading into some nice buttery leather and nuttiness. Sadly, I only got hints of what could have been. The fact I kept having to put fire to this cigar lead to some strong pepper and smokiness and a super dried-out palate. I would certainly revisit this blend in hopes of a better result.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
“I have to open with that this cigar was a mixed bag. The wrapper cracked from the moment I lit it. I fought it from the jump but was able to recover to have a decent smoking experience. I’m not sure if it was dry or just what the wrapper is. I will definitely smoke it again to find out if that was the issue. Till then I can not endorse this cigar.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)
“This was a delightful cigar. It put out some great clean flavors, outstanding transitions, and more. The burn was great from start to finish and in general, I had nothing bad to say about this cigar. I’ll be more than happy to give it another go and toss plenty more in the humidor.” –Isaac M. (The Nothing)
“When you can smoke a cigar and pull some comparisons to candy bars, I call that a win in my book. Were the flavor profiles heavy doses? Not quite, but they were definitely there enough for me to pick up on and take notice of. I will be curious what this is and will be looking to try it again and you should look for it too.” –Doug S. (Unpossible_1)
Smoking Time (in minutes): 98
| Reviewer | Appear. | Aroma | 1/3 | 2/3 | 3/3 | Draw | Burn | Constr. | Overall Experience |
| Kevin J. | 88 | 85 | 88 | 85 | 85 | 88 | 92 | 83 | 83 |
| Lauren S. | 88 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 85 | 95 | 83 | 83 | 88 |
| Estevan Z. | 92 | 92 | 90 | 92 | 92 | 92 | 90 | 90 | 90 |
| Isaac M. | 92 | 88 | 88 | 88 | 87 | 88 | 95 | 90 | 90 |
| Doug S. | 85 | 88 | 90 | 90 | 90 | 85 | 88 | 85 | 90 |
To view the complete scores and notes, click here.