Cigar Review: La Hoja Clasica

• Vitola: No. 1 (Robusto)
• 5.25” x 52 ring gauge 
• MSRP $11
• Sample supplied by La Hoja Cigars

Background

Late last year my inbox was hit with a flurry of press releases about La Hoja cigars. We are a review site, not a “news” site, so I didn’t post them, but there was also an invitation in the emails to try out the new blends. I did respond to that and got from the company a sampler featuring one each of their 3 new blends. I figured it best to walk you through them slowly…and feature as much of the original press releases as possible…so you can get the full picture of what this company is all about.

La Hoja called itself “a new boutique with an old soul.” That “old soul” would probably be a reference to Mr. Carlos Flores, who fled the dictatorship of Fidel Castro in 1962, settling in Miami, Florida. He founded Flor de Flores Cigar Company, which became a staple of cigar smokers, especially during the boom of the ‘90s. La Hoja is a revival of the Flor de Flores brand and blends (along with some tweaks).

Today, La Hoja Cigar Company is proud to announce a new blend that is steeped in Carlos’s passion for quality, flavor, and exacting craftsmanship: the La Hoja Edicion Classica 1962.

Created from the same blueprint of La Hoja’s best selling Autentico Maduro, the Edicion Classica both mimics and transcends the experience of the Autentico Maduro. Edicion Classica features an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper and San Victor Dominican filler. The heart of the cigar, however, is the Piloto Cubano filler: one of the rarest and most expensive tobaccos currently in production.

To round off the blend, master blenders added a small amount of carefully selected Nicaraguan leaf to add dimension and strength to the cigar.

J Carlos Gomez, Executive VP at La Hoja Cigars remarked, “With the Classica, we have taken our highest selling cigar and added a level of depth and complexity that we know every cigar smoker will recognize as truly unique.”

…

William Flores, son of Carlos Flores and President of La Hoja Cigars, said, “La Hoja is a company full a tradition, passion, and excellence. The Classica exemplifies our motto: ‘tobacco is the conversation!’”

Breaking that down a bit, it sounds like mostly Dominican fillers (including Piloto Cubano and San Victor), a little Nicaraguan in the filler, an undisclosed binder (although others from them use Dominican), and an Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper. There are 4 sizes, ranging from $11 to $13.50. Just in case you were wondering, “Hoja” is Spanish for “leaf” (and Spanish for Leaf Enthusiast is “hoja entusiasta”…at least according to Google Translate). Thank you to La Hoja Cigars for sending samples for me to try.

Prelight

La Hoja definitely has the “classic cigar” look down, with a band consisting of lots of metallic gold ink, some gold foil, and red and black inks, along with some embossing…the black ribbon around the foot is a “classic” touch, as well. The cigar itself was almost box-pressed. It was actually such a subtle pressing that I wondering if it was supposed to be box-pressed or just accidentally got that way. The wrapper leaf was a brown between the colors of milk and dark chocolate, with a bit of mottling and a touch of red under the right light. It had a light aroma of earth and cedar. The foot had some earth and some pepper, but also a little bit of a grainy aroma that I can’t remember having gotten on a cigar. Yes, something like wheat or barley or something…not quite, but that’s where it made my mind go.

I had a good draw after my traditional straight cut. The cold flavor was a mix of chili pepper, graham cracker, and cedar.

Flavor

I lit up La Hoja Clasica 1962 and was surprised by the level of complexity right off the bat. Right away I was getting Dominican bread and hay notes, right alongside Nicaraguan earth and pepper spice and a lesser cedar note that I guessed was coming from the Ecuadorian Corojo wrapper. The smoke was in the medium to full range—mouth-coating and oily, but with a surprisingly short finish, as well. It’s always interesting coming into a new cigar and not knowing the company or blender or what to expect at all…so far, I was really enjoying this stick.

As the first third eased into the second, I noted that the earth and hay notes had backed off a bit and the flavor of cedar was coming through more prominently. The pepper was a little muted, but there was still a definite constant burn at the back of my tongue.

When I got into the last third, cedar was right up front and the earthy notes had come back in a strong way. There was still some sweet graham cracker underneath and a decent amount of pepper hanging around as well.

Construction

The burn line was mostly even, just needing a couple little touch-ups. The ash was solid enough not to flake off in my lap. The draw was just about perfect.

Value

Although the price starts north of the $10 mark, La Hoya Classic was a very enjoyable smoking experience and I thought it represented good value.

Conclusions

La Hoya is an example of what I like to call the “new breed of Dominican cigars.” While it uses Dominican leaf as a foundation, the blenders leveraged characteristics of other countries’ tobacco to bump the body, strength, and flavor profile to create a complex and pleasing cigar that is definitely worth the $11 starting price. I haven’t seen these on store shelves yet, but they do seem to be making their way out there, so be on the lookout for them.

By-The-Numbers

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