Cigar Review: La Galera 1936 Box-Pressed by Indianhead Cigars

• Vitola: Chaveta (Robusto)
• 5” x 50 ring gauge
• ~$7
• Provided by Manufacturer

Background

Tabacalera Palma, the Dominican factory owned and operated by Jochy Blanco, acquired the Indianhead Cigar brand late last year, almost immediately launching the La Galera line under that banner. While Indianhead has traditionally been known for bargain-priced cigars, La Galera was positioned slightly higher as a “reasonably priced premium” brand. I have had experience with a few of the initial offerings and found them quite tasty. Recently I was given a 1936 Box Press, which a new line in the company.

“1936” commemorates the 80th anniversary of Tabacalera Palma and it is the culmination of 7 years of work for Jochy Blanco, who put aside several types of tobacco to ferment and age…ostensibly long before he even thought about purchasing La Galera. The filler and binder of the cigar is all Dominican leaf from Blanco’s farms in La Canela (including Criollo 98 and Piloto Cubano), while the wrapper is a dark Ecuadorian Habano.

Six sizes were produced, all of them box-pressed, and the prices are still very reasonable, topping out at around $9 or $9.50 per stick for the largest sizes. This review sample is my first experience with the blend. Once again, thank you to Will Cooper for doing such a fine job of reporting cigar news; you can get more details in his story HERE.

Prelight

The primary band is the same, or at least very similar, to the other La Galera releases. It is 4-color process printed with gold foil and some embossing, looking very rich…for some reason it reminds me in some ways of the Ashton ESG band, though I kind of like this one better. The secondary band matches just with the gold foil and emboss pattern around the edges. Other than that, it’s a simple black with gold type on it declaring “1936 Box Pressed.”

The wrapper leaf was a dark chocolate brown with some darker coloration mixed in. There was a nice oiliness under my fingertips, while the aroma from the wrapper was richly earthy and manure-y (is that a word? I just used it, so it must be!). The foot of the stick had more earth and some wood notes emanating from it.

The cold draw was great and had flavors of dried fruit, cinnamon and anise.

Flavor

Initial firing of the 1936 Box Pressed produced flavors of earth and dark fruit up front on the palate, with anise following on behind that. The finish had dry cocoa powder and red pepper flake. The retrohale produced an even hotter peppery note, riding on top of cedar. This cigar started off medium-to-full in body from the very first puff, something which is somewhat unusual with Dominican-heavy blends. As I got further into the first third, the body didn’t abate, but the overall flavor profile mellowed a bit, with the peppery edges rounding out a bit.

The second third continued with heavy earthiness balance by a slight fruit sweetness. The anise notes faded a bit while some coffee rose up in its place. Pepper was a low-level burn.

The final third burned dark and heavy, with the body graduating to full body and the flavors of earth and espresso holding sway. Anise and pepper notes hung around in the background.

Construction

I had a great draw, fairly even burn line with just a need of a few touch-ups, and a solid ash.

Value

This was a very good smoke for a very good price.

Conclusions

I found the La Galera 1936 Box Press to be a very good, full-bodied Dominican cigar that does a great job of showing off what leaf from the island can do. It was as earthy and satisfying as any full-bodied Nicaraguan cigar, though with a totally different flavor profile. The notes of dark fruit and anise really added to the complexity and interest throughout.

By-The-Numbers

Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9/10