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by CigarCraig | October 3, 2018 · 8:42 pm

La Palina Blue Label TAA 2018 Cigar

I managed to smoke a couple of the new La Palina Blue Label TAA Exclusive Toros this week, and thought I’d share my thoughts, but first, I mixed last year’s TAA Bronze Label in just to compare. These follow the Black and Red Label releases, which were made at the PDR factory in the Dominican Republic, with the Bronze and now the Blue coming from the Placencia’s El Paraiso factory in Honduras. The Bronze Label went into regular release after it spent a year as the TAA exclusive. I smoked this last May and I think the few months in the humidor did it some good, because it had noticeable sweet flavors that I failed to note originally, and I probably would have made mention of that. I selected it because the size was right for the time I had, and the 5½” x 50 size was good for a nice hour and a half or so smoking time. I’d be very interested in smoking other sizes of this blend, I found it to be quite enjoyable!

New this year is the La Palina Blue Label. The Blue Label is exclusive to TAA stores and is made at El Paraiso in Honduras, which is owned by Placencia. The wrapper is Habano, the binder is Honduran, and the fillers are Nicaraguan and Honduran. This is available in a 6½ x 52 Toro, which is a size I like in a cigar I like, and I like this cigar. When I can get another fifteen or twenty minutes smoking time out of a cigar that’s very good, I’m a happy dude. I smoked two of these over the course of a few days, which I rarely do. The first example I smoked left me with some questions, I found it slightly more earthy and leathery than I prefer, however, I had some distractions, and tonight I smoked the second example without any distractions and found more of the sweetness along with that earthiness that I had found with the Bronze Label, although the sweetness was far more in the background and subdued. The burn and draw were exceptional. While this cigar is ready to go, I think age will be kind to this cigar. Fortunately, I have a chain of TAA stores close by, so I should be able to get my hands on more of these, I’ll have to see if they have them.

That’s all for today, until next time,

CigarCraig

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Tagged as Blue Label, Bronze Label, cigar, cigars, La Palina, TAA

by CigarCraig | May 3, 2018 · 12:05 pm

La Palina Bronze Label Cigar

Monday my wife and I spent another day on the set of Creed II, being a volunteer extra, and it was shot at Temple University’s arena, and it got me thinking that the library at Temple is named after Samuel Paley. Samuel Paley founded the La Palina cigar brand, and is the grandfather of the current brand owner, Bill Paley. Some people may not know that Bill Paley’s father, and Samuel Paley’s son, was William Paley, who founded the Columbia Broadcast System, initially to advertise the family cigar business on the radio waves. Bill Paley re-launched the La Palina brand in 2010 with the launch of the Family series made in the Bahamas. this series eventually moved to El titan de Bronze in Miami, and other lines were launched being made in various factories, including PDR, General Cigar Co. among others.

The La Palina Bronze Label was released as a TAA exclusive last year and went into full production this year. This line is available in a 6½” x 52 Toro, a 6″ x 60 Gordo and the Robusto, which I smoked, at 5½ x 50. the wrapper is a Honduran Habano, binder is Honduran and the fillers are Honduran and Nicaraguan. These are rolled in conjunction with Rocky Patel at the Placencia’s factory in Honduras. I smoked two samples at different times of the day, one on my usual evening walk, and one this morning with a cup of black coffee. Oddly, I enjoyed the one today more than the one smoked in the evening, both were he first cigars of the day, and I don’t recall what I had for dinner last time, but it may have had an effect. The cigar has an earthiness, not uncommon in heavily Honduran blends in my experience. With coffee, the coffee and cocoa notes come out more, and it was very tasty. The construction was exceptional, with a firm ash. As I’ve been doing lately, I used the Colibri V-cut with great success. Side note on the cutter, it is possible to pinch the inside of a finger if not careful, but it continues to provide an excellent cut. La Palina has a broad range of cigars in their portfolio, I’m partial to some more than others, and now this one falls into the one’s I’m happy smoking. Thank you to Nick at La Palina for sending samples, and to all my friends there for their continued support.