I was very fortunate to have come into possession of several samples of the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros 650s a few weeks ago, and it seemed appropriate to wrap up my General Cigar week with one of these.
Here’s a blurb from the official information about these:
Created by Team La Gloria Cubana to showcase the artistry of La Gloria Cubana “tabaqueros” (artisan cigar makers), Artesanos de Tabaqueros cigars are a stunning embodiment of the time-honored craft of cigar making. So exacting is the skill required to handcraft cigars of this complexity that Benji Menendez personally selected an elite group of just 18 master cigar makers, representing the cream of the crop from El Credito Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic.
Meticulously crafted to combine two different wrappers and two distinct tastes in one eye-catching cigar, Artesanos de Tabaqueros is a world-class smoke that opens to a rich and intriguing spice and ultimately reveals a depth of flavor that can only be achieved through a precise balance of unique and rare tobaccos. Hand selected from General Cigar’s extensive library of Dominican and Honduran tobaccos, the cigars are dressed in both a supple Connecticut Shade and hearty Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. The blend is made solely of proprietary tobaccos, each aged five years or more.
Presented with two different wood treatments to promote the unique tastes promised in each cigar, Artesanos de Tabaqueros cigars are protected in boxes of 25. The collection will debut in early April with three frontmarks, each named to according to its dimensions: 650 (6” x 50, SRP per cigar is $8.00), 652 Belicoso (6” x 52, SRP per cigar is $9.50) and 750 (7” x 50, SRP per cigar is $9.00).
Double Wrapper Examples
It’s a beautiful cigar, no doubt about that. The “dos capas” presentation is unique, and the way it’s rolled makes more sense to me than the Joya de Nicaraqua Cabinetta, where the last third of the cigar is the darker wrapper. I expect in the case of the Joya De Nicaragua, by the time you hit the wrapper change it’s very late in the smoke. I have one floating around someplace which I will smoke very soon so I can compare (and it will tie in nicely with my next contest!) The La Gloria is rolled in such a way that the first third is the Connecticut Shade and then it transitions to the Ecuador Sumatra. I have to admit, I was expecting a more dramatic transition, but the change was very subtle. It is definitely a great tasting cigar and it burned well, although not as evenly as I would have liked for a “special” cigar. I smoked this down to about an inch and a half before I put it down.
These are pretty neat cigars which are visually appealing and, as opposed to “barber pole” style dos capos cigars, actually have a chance at providing a noticeable flavor change. Many thanks to Victoria McKee Jaworski at General Cigars for giving me the opportunity to sample these. I’ve loved the La Gloria Cubana line since first smoking them back in the ’90s when everyone was talking about whether the best ones were rolled in Miami or the Dominican Republic. I distinctly recall a Corona Gorda that was SO good, but left me on the couch with my head spinning! As a matter of fact, the first good cigar my wife smoked was a La Gloria.
That’s about all I got for now, until the next cigar,
CigarCraig
Go Flyers!
