Well, after lurking about for quite a while, and reading all the great reviews on this site, I figured it was finally time to give my impressions of an interesting smoke I had last night. I only let this one rest in the Humi for four days; I just couldn’t wait any longer to give this one a try. I have smoked a number of the “normal” La Gloria Cabañas in the past, and found them too mild for my tastes. Good cigars, but a bit boring IMHO. I had heard that the Serie R were a bit more interesting. This is the first one of them I tried. Since this is my first review, I won’t give any ratings, just my impressions.
APPEARANCE AND CONSTRUCTION: If you don’t like large RG smokes, stay away from this puppy. Though rated at a 58 RG, This was a measured 7/8 inch! Great construction, perfectly cylindrical, no lumps or soft spots. A beautiful black/chocolate wrapper with a very light silky sheen with very fine veining and lots of fine tooth, somewhat like a nice Padron Maddie, but darker. I was surprised at how firm it was; almost no give at all when squeezed. Very well constructed, double wrap at top with a perfectly formed cap. The smell was mouthwatering, every time I opened the Humi, I had to run it under my nose, and I finally gave in.
FLAVOR: Nice clean clip, draw was much better than I expected from such a firmly packed cigar. Unlit flavors of cedar/leather. After toasting the foot (this takes a while with a foot this big), first draw was a nice soft vanilla flavor. I was surprised that though the draw was just about perfect, there wasn’t the amount of smoke generated as I expected, and it never produced the volumes of smoke that a cigar of this size normally does. It didn’t really matter; the flavors generated by this monster really got my attention. The first half was primarily nice creamy vanilla/caramel/nuts, varying with almost every draw. I have never had the privilege of smoking a “Real” Cuban to compare it to, but from what I have heard, this is one of the characteristics of an original Cuban puro. Right at the half-way point, the character changed to more of a light coffee, with cedar and nutty undertones, and just a hint of spice started tickling my nostrils, with coffee changing to very strong espresso and caramel as the cigar burned down – flavors continued to change on almost every draw, intensified as it burned down – especially the spicy / espresso flavors, but never got harsh. At about one and a half inches, I got a hit of ammonia, which really shocked me, but the next draw was spicy espresso again. This happened a few more times as I continued to smoke this one to the nub. I almost put it down at the last inch, because of the ammonia tastes at times (happend about four times - very strange). The last three quarter inch or so was predominately leather and lip-tingling spice with strong coffee undertones. Smoked it untill I couldn't hold it any longer and wanted more.
SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS: Burned perfectly, no relights, only started to go a bit uneven three times, but corrected itself, and required no adjustment. Ash held for 1 ¾ -2 inches. I only knocked it off three times in the entire smoke. Ash was flinty salt-and-pepper, very firm; you could pick it up and stand it in the ashtray in one piece. Whoever rolled this baby knew what they were doing. It left me with my head spinning, with that “full belly” satisfied feeling with leather and cedar/spice as a nice aftertaste that lingered for quite a while.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS: If it weren’t for the strange ammonia flavors near the end, I would have rated this as probably one of the top five smoking experiences I’ve ever had (in thirty + years off and on). This is a cigar that probably needs at least a few months in the Humi to reach its full potential, but it’s not something I can afford to stock up on. My single was $11.00!! If you can afford this price level, you can go with a real CC. On my budget, I can’t stock up on these, but I will probably buy a couple anyway to put away to save for special occasions. Overall, a cigar that was more of an experience than a smoke. If you can commit to at least two hours of your time, and like a full-bodied cigar that will keep your interest, give this one a try. I was very impressed.
This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbihari,
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation." ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
These are widely available online for 5-6 bucks each. These smokes fresh from the factory are a nothing compared with what they will be after 6 months in the box.
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_APPEARANCE AND CONSTRUCTION:_ If you don’t like large RG smokes, stay away from this puppy. Though rated at a 58 RG, This was a measured 7/8 inch!
Ring gauge numbers are the numerator in a fraction where the denominator is always 64, for 64ths of an inch. So a 58 gauge cigar is 58/64's or a little more than 7/8ths.
Now if you like big cigars, go grab a Casa Blanca Jeroboam or better still, a Cuban Parejo Galaxia.
I stand corrected...I was actually using a plastic caliper to measure the diameter at one point while I was smoking it... I later discovered I was reading it incorrectly (the zero mark was in a different place than I thought it was)...anyway, the cigar in question was actually about 9/10 or almost 1 inch in diameter.
I have this problem with mechanical devices...
This message has been edited. Last edited by: rbihari,
"Stupidity cannot be cured with money, or through education, or by legislation." ~ Robert A. Heinlein (1907 - 1988)
