Cigar Round Table

Maker: La Palina
Blend: El Diario
Size: 5 x 52 Robusto
Wrapper: Honduran Corojo ’99 Rosado
Binder: Honduran Criollo ’98 (x2)
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98

La Palina was started in 1896 as a cigar company. The company was sold in 1924 and then resurrected about a year ago. Their main line of cigars over the past year were made by Graycliff in the Bahamas. They were very good and priced around the $20 mark. Now Bill has come up with a new blend called El Diario (the daily cigar). It’s made in the Riaces Cubana factory in Danli, Honduras. There are a lot of great cigars that come out of this factory and I was really looking forward to giving this one a try.

The first five minutes
The cigar has to be one of the best looking cigars I’ve ever seen. It’s constructed very well, beautiful wrapper tobacco leaf and has a beautiful color. I would be very proud to have my name on that particular cigar. The beginning of the smoke is very pleasant. It doesn’t knock you over when you first light it. It has a bit of sweetness and some bright flavors. Kind of the opposite of a Tatuaje Black label or Brown label. I like those a lot, but this is just a different set of flavors.

The body of the cigar
I must tell you I really like this cigar. Once again, it is beautiful. It now has a bit more sweetness and no harshness. It’s not too spicy either. Just a fullness of flavor. A great flavor at that. There’s a little more chocolate coming out and fruit. I tend to think of things in wine terms because I used to have a wine shop. In my rhetoric, I would describe this as a new world wine with plenty of fruit and 24 months on French Oak. It’s obvious it starts with good tobacco. You can’t make good wine with bad fruit. It’s like polishing a turd. It’s still a turd. Starting with good tobacco just makes everything a bit easier to end up with a great cigar. It’s fine tuned and I would imagine it will only get better with age. It’s a bold flavor, but not harsh and not heavy in the strength category.

Conclusion
I would recommend this cigar to a novice and a season veteran as well. The veteran would appreciate this by tasting all the flavors and nuances and a novice would like it because it’s not harsh and has plenty of sweetness and body. Plus it’s just a gorgeous cigar.

Score 97

Review written by Monty, Monty@cigarroundtable.com