La Perla Habana 1515 Toro – Blind Cigar Review

Cigar Info

The La Perla Habana 1515 is a Cigars International house brand made by AJ Fernandez. The cigar was created in 2015 as a tribute to Cuba to the 500th anniversary of the founding of Havana, Cuba.

The cigar is rolled at AJ’s Nicaraguan factory, Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A. The blend uses a dark Habano Ecuador wrapper, Sumatra Ecuador binder, and a blend of Cuban-seed long-fillers from Esteli, Condega, and Jalapa, Nicaragua. It comes in three sizes: Robusto (5.0″x52), Toro (6.0″x50), and Torpedo (6.2″x52). MSRP ranges from $10.50 – $12.50, but is usually heavily discounted.

Vital Stats:

Vitola: Toro
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Country of Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Ecuadorian Sumatra
Filler: Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacalera AJ Fernandez Cigars de Nicaragua S.A.
Blender: A.J. Fernandez
Number of reviewers: 5 – Chad M. (Chad Tchad) Kevin J. (maninblack77) Bill C.(Bill) Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi) Lauren S. (Lauren S.)
Price: $10.00
Age: 7 Years
Release Date: 2015
Contributed by: Blind Man’s Puff

Initial Impressions

Appearance: 95

“Medium-dark wrapper with oddly light veins. Tight seams and a neat triple cap.” –Bill C. (Bill)

Aroma: 93

“There is a very strong dark chocolate aroma off of the wrapper, which becomes slightly sweeter smelling on the foot.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

First Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“A beautiful chocolate flavor on the draw. The retrohale is a nice pepper note. Nothing overwhelming. There isn’t much complexity here at first so I’m retrohaling pretty regularly to keep the profile interesting. As the third progresses the pepper makes its way into the traditional draw.” –Bill C. (Bill)

“After toasting the foot, there was a bevy of different flavors hitting my palate. One I wasn’t expecting was a char-grilled meat flavor that was kind of odd. This was the dominant flavor for about half an inch and then it mellowed out and transitioned into more of a dark coffee flavor with some black pepper on the retro. Definitely an interesting beginning to the cigar. The burn was very impressive and the ash held on for over an inch before dropping off.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

Second Third

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

“The tunnel ends around the start of the second third allowing for much better draw and smoke production. The flavors are still heavy on the bitter dark chocolate lighting moving into more mocha notes, but some new baking spice hints have started as well as a very heavy black pepper on the retrohale.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

“The smoke production issues have carried over into the start of this third. The flavor profile has stayed dark with the addition of some sugar sweetness. As I reach the midway point, of the cigar, I am struggling to get any smoke. When I do get enough smoke, and retrohale, there are delicate notes of toasted marshmallows and chocolate. Shame that it takes a lot of work to get any smoke because the flavor is very enjoyable. The mouthfeel has become full while the finish has stayed the same, long and flavorful.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

Final Third

Flavor: 89
Strength: Medium-Strong
Body/Complexity: Medium-Full

“Going on the last part of this cigar-rich chicory coffee flavor is the main flavor and dominates the palate. Slight mineral notes but they are very faint. Continues to be a smoke bomb with a lot of smoke output. Retrtohale with allspice and cabinet spice flavor.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)

“Strength greatly picks up in the final third, the pepper has become harsher in the nose and the dark chocolate picked up a bit of smokey background flavor.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

Overall Impressions

Draw: 92

“The opening draw was far too open and lacked smoke due to a central tunnel in the first couple of inches, though after that point it was great with a nice amount of smoke.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

Burn: 95

“The burn on this was so freaking good. Zero touchups.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

Construction: 93

“Good looking cigar, with good performance across the board.” –Bill C. (Bill)

Overall Strength: Medium-Strong
Overall Body/Complexity: Medium-Full
Experience Overall: 89

“This was a strong rich earthy cigar that converted to an earthy coffee flavor to finish with a chicory flavor coffee flavor at the end of the cigar. I like the progression of this flavor as the cigar smoked. Retrohale was strong in the cabinet and allspice flavor.” –Chad M. (Chad Tchad)

“The beginning with the char-grilled meat flavors was a little odd but luckily that went away fairly quickly and what was left were great flavors of rich chocolate, roasted coffee, and leather. The flavors hit my palate right in the sweet spot. I’d love to smoke this again, perhaps in a robusto vitola. Highly recommended.” –Kevin J. (maninblack77)

“All in all a nice smoking experience. The flavors were nice and the performance was good. Complexity was lacking, but doesn’t stop this from being something I’ll pick up again.” –Bill C. (Bill)

“Throughout the smoking experience, I kept coming back to one word, potential. The flavor profile of the cigar was really delightful but as soon as the draw issues got worse it made things difficult. As with any handmade product I will give it another chance. As for now I only have this sample to gauge my experience and I find it hard to recommend to anyone. Next time, and there will be a next time, I hope that I get the true intent of the blender’s idea. I hope my fellow reviewers had a better experience with this cigar.” –Estevan Z. (TheRealBanzi)

“The flavor profile on this blend was great with a solid bitter dark chocolate flavor later mixed with some nice baking spices and smokiness. A sneaky black pepper kick made me want to retrohale often to spice up the blend even more. There was just a slight construction or leaf problem causing a major central tunnel in the first couple of inches that weighed this stick down. I’d want to try it again in hopes of getting the full start-to-finish experience.” –Lauren S. (Lauren S.)

Smoking Time (in minutes): 81

To view the complete scores and notes, click here.

La Perla Habana 1515 Toro – Blind Cigar Review