Cigar Review: La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse

Vitola: Toro
Size: 6.5 x 52 ring gauge
Price $16.55
Purchased at Burns Tobacconist

Background

I have to admit to being less “in the loop” the past year than I have been previously when it comes to cigar news. I work part-time in a cigar shop and I read blogs daily, but when it simply comes down to too much to do and not enough time to do it, something has to give and that’s ended up being my desire to be “in the know.” So, I was surprised when the La Aroma de Cuba Noblesse showed up in my tobacconist’s humidor. Something new from Ashton? OK…could be great (I love the La Aroma regular blend and the EE version), could be one that I’d avoid (still don’t care much for the Mi Amor).

Like the other cigars in the La Aroma de Cuba line, this is made by the Garcia family of My Father cigars fame. They took fillers from the family’s farms in three growing regions (Estelí, Jalapa and Namanji), double binders (Habano and Criollo) and a Habano Rosado wrapper leaf. The filler and binders are all Nicaraguan, the wrapper is Ecuadorian.

This is the first time Ashton has commissioned a Limited Edition for the La Aroma de Cuba series, reportedly 3,000 boxes of 24 (72,000 total…so not that limited) and it has the highest price tag of anything in the La Aroma line, breaking through the $10 and $15 price points to land at $16 or so (your price may vary depending on your state tax situation). In the past couple years, I’ve taken to smoking cigars once or twice before doing a review most of the time. I do that because I prefer to review cigars I enjoy. But when the price gets up there…and this one does!…I’ll sometimes revert to my old habit of reviewing the first one I smoke. This is one of those.

Prelight

No matter what else, you cannot fault Ashton on their presentation of the La Aroma de Cuba lines. Everything is beautiful and meant to attract the attention of the discriminating cigar smoker wandering through his favorite B&M’s humidor. The images are lovely, highly detailed and trimmed with gold foil and embossing, the colors are not gaudy and the combination with the matching ribbon around the foot is high-end. The cigar that’s all wrapped around it very nice in appearance as well, sporting a wrapper the color of milk chocolate and silky with oils. I gave it a good sniff and detected mostly hay and earth notes on the wrapper leaf, while the foot had a stronger earthy quality and a bit of pepper spice.

One “off” note…there was a small split in the wrapper near the cap; it looked like it had split while being applied, but I could be wrong. Rubbing my finger across the split, I couldn’t feel a split, so I wondered if some vegetable glue had been added to smooth it out. I couldn’t help but wonder if it would cause problems with the smoking experience, but regardless of if it did or not, I can say it was a disappointment to see on a cigar at this price point. It’s just my opinion, but once you head north of the $10 line, expectations of quality control go up quickly.

The prelight draw was very good and tasted sweet with notes of dried fruit, hay and earth.

Flavor

At the outset, I got a solid cedar flavor up front with slightly lesser notes of earth and semi-sweet chocolate. Despite the Garcia family’s reputation for cigars that start off with an intense pepper blast, this one had very little pepper heat at the beginning. There was a bit of a red pepper in the mix, and it grew in the first five minutes or so, but not that much. What I got most of all, though, was just a clean, rich natural tobacco flavor.

The Noblesse started off in the medium-bodied range, but as I got into the second third, I noticed it starting to build. I was continuing to get lots of natural tobacco along with cedar and earth. The sweetness had tailed off a little bit.

The last third was yet more earth and cedar and natural tobacco.

Construction

The minor wrapper split didn’t cause any problems with smoking, at least through the first third. I saw a very even burn line, an excellent draw and a solid ash.

Value

My list of cigars worth more than $15 a stick is short…and the Noblesse isn’t getting added to it. It’s not a bad cigar but it’s also not worth the price of admission in my book.

Conclusions

While the La Aroma de Cuba definitely meets the criteria as a solidly good smoke, for me it didn’t have enough boldness of flavor or depth of complexity for the price tag. As always, that’s just my opinion and yours may differ, but when I pop for $16+ for a cigar, I expect a more than “a solidly good smoke.” I’d put the La Palina Goldie Laguito Especial or Davidoff Colorado Claro as cigars in the same general price range that fulfill those expectations.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 1.5/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: .5/1
Total: 8/10