Cigar Review: La Palina Black Label

Vitola: Robusto
Size: 5” x 52 ring gauge
MSRP $12.50
Review samples provided by La Palina

Background

The Black Label is the newest addition to the La Palina catalog. It was introduced at the IPCPR show in July 2014 and is rolled in the Dominican Republic. I received a care package from Courtney at La Palina a few weeks ago, including two sample of the Robusto vitola for review (Thank you!). I haven’t seen the cigars in my local shop yet, and there wasn’t any indication in the press release that the were already shipping; I guess it’s safe to say they either have started shipping or will in the very near future.

The Black Label is available in 4 vitolas, all packaged in boxes of 20 and prices range from $11 per stick to $13.50. The filler utilizes Dominican and Nicaraguan leaf and there are two binders, one each from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua, while the wrapper is a Brazilian-grown Bahiano leaf. I was sent two samples; this review is based on my smoking of the second one.

Prelight

The first thing I noticed about the Black Label is the seriousness with which the company took the “black” appellation. The band is the normal cameo-inspired image of Goldie, and the background of the cameo image itself is still white, but almost everywhere else that is normally white on these bands is black this time. The result is that the gold foil and embossing stand out even better than normal. It’s a sharp look. The secondary band proclaims “Black Label” in black and gold and both bands are wrapped around a cigar that isn’t quite black, but is definitely the darkest leaf I have seen on any La Palina release. The wrapper leaf was the color of dark chocolate and had a very visible vein pattern, although most of the veins weren’t that big. There wasn’t much oily sheen to the eye, but i could feel the natural oils under my fingertips. The aroma from the wrapper was rich and earthy, with hints of cocoa powder and leather; the foot had earthiness and a bit of woodiness. Once clipped the cold draw was very good and I picked up flavors of dried fruit, coffee and a touch of cocoa powder.

Flavor

Despite the breezy conditions, the La Palina Black Label lit up evenly and quickly, then started producing a healthy, medium-to-full bodied smoke with flavors of leather, earth and oak up front, along with more a more subtle sweetness of dark chocolate and a dash of black pepper. The pepper came through more strongly on the nose. Within a few puffs, it was apparent that this blend would be quite complex. Midway through the first third I noticed that anise notes were becoming very prevalent. The flavor had been there since the start, really, but so much was going on then, it didn’t cut through quite as much.

As the second third started, I noted that the cigar had a slightly harsh—maybe call it “fierce”—quality to it. Some fire from pepper spice and a body that had gone into the full range by this point really highlighted it. I still got some semi-sweet chocolate notes and plenty of anise. The woodiness was still around, too.

The last third had more oak and earthiness, with a decrease in the pepper and anise components. There was still a good amount of sweetness hanging around, so the balance was pretty good.

Construction

Not sure if this is a “maduro” wrapper, but it burned like one…which is to say, it needed some touch-ups. Not a big deal as it never canoed or anything like that. The ash was mostly solid and the draw was pretty much perfect. As I got down into the last third, though, I had some problems keeping the cigar lit. It just about went out on me a couple times and I got some uneven burn with the filler burning much faster than the wrapper, making it a chore to finish up.

Value

While this is a good smoke, I didn’t feel like it was good enough—or that the construction performed good enough—to justify the price, which starts north of the $10 mark. Call it a psychology price-break-point, but when a stick costs more than that, I expect it to be pretty much flawless in terms of construction.

Conclusions

I rate the La Palina Black Label as good smoke, but falling well short of “great” for my tastes. I liked the flavor but never loved it. You, of course, may have a different experience in that area. That being said, it is a unique entry into the La Palina lines and isn’t that similar to anything else I can remember off the top of my head from other companies. If not for the price point and nagging construction problems I encountered, I would probably call it “very good” overall.

By-The-Numbers

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