Vitola: Toro- 6.125” x 50 ring gauge
- MSRP $7.49
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
One of the early additions to the Forged Cigar Company catalog was a new blend from La Gloria Cubana, announced in mid-April and shipped in early May. Medio Tiempo followed tight on the heels of Spirit of the Lady, a La Gloria limited edition that debuted in March, but Medio Tiempo is intended to be a regular, full-time release.
As the name implies, the blend was created to highlight the rare “medio tiempo” tobacco leaves, something that only happens when two additional leaves sprout above what is normally the highest priming of a tobacco plant. These extra leaves capture “the lion’s share of sunlight, nutrients and taste characteristics…peppering the blend with deep, rich complexity.” In the La Gloria Cubana Medio Tiempo blend, the referenced leaf is Connecticut-grown Habano in the filler. The rest of the blend consists of Honduran, Nicaraguan, and Dominican fillers, a Connecticut Broadleaf binder, and an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper.
They are made in the El Credito factory in the Dominican Republic. There are 3 sizes of LGC Medio Tiempo, each available in 25-count boxes.
I bought my samples of the LGC Medio Tiempo at Burns Tobacconist in Chattanooga, TN. This review is based on the second time I smoked the blend. If your local shop doesn’t carry La Gloria, you can get them at our sponsor, Small Batch Cigar.
Prelight
For many years, the folks at General (or now Forged) have tweaked and played with the famous “La Gloria Lady” on the band, trying to make her more modern or more artistic or more…whatever. Sometimes it worked and sometimes it didn’t…but it’s just kind of nice to see them not mess with the original design this time. The band is traditional in shape, although with the “faux secondary band” that has the name of the blend on it. It’s comfortable, familiar, and classic. I’ll go on record as saying that I don’t mind modernizing a classic logo…but I also find it somehow comforting when a brand returns to their origins.
The wrapper leaf was fairly easy to pick out as Sumatra with the medium-brown background, highlighted by almost tan lines around the leaf’s veins. It’s another thing that is somewhat comforting about this cigar as this leaf and its appearance harkens back to the older LGC blends when Ernesto Perez-Carrillo was running the brand. The aroma from the wrapper was natural tobacco, hay, and a whiff of copper, while the foot had earth, bread, and notes of coffee.
Once clipped, the LGC Medio Tiempo had a good cold draw that featured flavors of earth, natural tobacco, copper, and milk chocolate.
Flavor
I fired up the Medio Tiempo and was a bit surprised to see it get burning evenly fairly quickly and without a bunch of extra flame. The cigar started off with flavors of chocolate, earth, and leather, backed up with black pepper and a slight mineral twang that I usually get from Sumatra leaf. the retrohale had notes of hay, roasted nuts, and red pepper flake. As the first third burned along I continued to get chocolate and bready notes right up front. Leather was right behind, while the earth receded to the background with the black pepper and the coppery note faded to almost nothing.
During the second third the sweet chocolate notes found a better balance with the earth and leather notes, while some espresso bean came into the picture, as well. The pepper spice had all but disappeared by the end of the third.
For the first two third, the La Gloria Cubana Medio Tiempo was comfortably in the medium-plus-bodied range, but in the final third the body ramped up to full and flavors of leather and earth were dominant, accented slightly by the sweeter chocolate notes along with a resurgence of pepper spice on palate and nose.
Construction
I had a great draw, even enough burn line with just a couple touch ups, and a solid ash.
Value
Very good cigar for an excellent price point in today’s market, so very good value.
Conclusions
La Gloria Cubana Medio Tiempo was true to its mission as a full-flavored, complex, and rich blend. It kept my interest from end to end and might just be the best thing to come from the brand in the last decade…I’d say definitely in the last five years or so. I have to admit to having diminished expectations after the last few releases, but this blend is really just great, especially for the price point…and especially since it is slated to be a permanent part of the catalog.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 4.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 9.5/10
