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Image courtesy GCC
Vitola: No. 54
- 6” x 54 ring gauge
- MSRP $6.99
- Provided by General Cigar Company
Background
A few years back, General Cigar’s La Gloria Cubana division introduced two new lines along with a new concept. The new lines were the Serie R Esteli and Serie R Black; the concept to go along with them was that they would be similar parallel lines that would each be exclusive to either brick-and-mortar or online/catalog retailers. It’s a pattern they have returned to several times since, notably with the Foundry collections in the same year, the Partagas 1845 Extra Oscuro and Extra Fuerte, and the Toraño Vault lines from earlier this year.
This year the Serie R lines from La Gloria Cubana are getting an expansion in the form of Maduro offerings. I am doing full reviews of both, so I’ll begin today with a look at the brick-and-mortar-exclusive Serie R Esteli Maduro. The first Serie R Esteli was a Top 25 cigar in 2014 for the big lifestyle magazine, which called it “One of the best La Glorias in years.” It features Nicaraguan filler and binder, wrapped with a “rich Connecticut Broadleaf to deliver a cigar that’s medium in strength, deep in sweetness and brimming with leather notes and spice.”
They started shipping the LGC Serie R Esteli Maduro in July. It’s available in 3 vitolas (all considered large ring gauge) and comes in 18-count boxes. I was supplied with review samples by General Cigar; I have smoked about 3 of these before the review sample.
Prelight
The boxes for the LGC Serie R Esteli are ridiculous. They are trapezoid-shaped with the small side being the bottom of the box, which makes them top-heavy and difficult to balance on a shelf. Plus they have a flared-out top that requires you to allow as much room as that top takes. It ends up being wasteful of space, while serving no other purpose than to look interesting. As you can probably tell, I’ve dealt with these in the shop a few times and find them very annoying. I’m not rating the cigar based on the stupidity of the box design, though, so you can just look at this as being a rant…they don’t actually do anything to detract from the marketing of the cigars themselves.
Image courtesy GCC
The band is a bright and chromed version of the La Gloria Cubana band, restricted to just black and red ink, silver foil and the white paper under it all. It’s distinctive to this brand, while hardening back enough to the original design that it’s immediately identifiable. For this Maduro version they add a second red band with silver foil that just says “Maduro.”
The wrapper of the cigar was a dark chocolate brown with plenty of oil to the touch and to the eyes. It had a rough toothiness as well as prominent veins. The aroma from it had notes of leather, earth and anise; the foot of the stick smelled of barnyard and dark roast coffee. The cold draw was very good and tasted of cocoa powder, coffee and earth.
Flavor
While lighting up the Serie R Esteli Maduro, it occurred to me that the aromas from the combusting foot were what I typically associate with cigar shops and the humidor in them: natural tobacco and cedar, mostly. Once lit, I got notes of wet earth, black pepper, espresso bean and dark, dark chocolate. The retrohale had notes of coffee and red pepper. The smoke was plentiful, thick and full-bodied, with loads of oil riding in it, liberally coating my mouth.
I smoked the smallest ring gauge version of a line that is really all large ring gauge. It burned evenly and slowly and took nearly an hour to get to the halfway point, somewhere in the middle of the second third. I can only imagine how long the other, larger ring gauge, formats smoke. I got tons of leather and earth as I worked my way through the second third, though the pepper spice had really toned down to the point of almost nothing by this point.
As I cruised through the last third, I picked up plenty of dark roast coffee flavor and leather, plus a nice sweetness and a hint of anise. Earth and cocoa powder flavors played distant, but distinct, secondary roles.
Construction
I saw a very even burn line, solid ash and very good draw that produced lots of smoke.
Value
The price tag on these is really reasonable.
Conclusions
The La Gloria Cubana Serie R Esteli Maduro was a nice full-bodied cigar with good flavor and a great price tag. It wasn’t the most complex cigar in the General stable of sticks and it didn’t “wow” me at any point, but I didn’t dislike it and didn’t grow disinterested in it. With a nearly two hour burn time, that is kind of amazing all by itself. Definitely a good addition to the LGC lineup and a good choice for Maduro fans on a budget who want a big, long-lasting cigar.
By-The-Numbers
Prelight: 2/2
Construction: 2/2
Flavor: 3.5/5
Value: 1/1
Total: 8.5/10
