Aaron Loomis

 John McTavish

Pre-light Experience

Aaron: First off, this La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado is huge. The wrapper is dark brown with some lighter marbling in some areas along with some decently raised veins. The seams are smooth and the tapered head and foot are decently finished. There are three bands, with the primary being gold and a couple of shades of red and denoting the brand, and this band sits on top of the secondary band that is white and gold and denotes the line. The third band is below the secondary and has the same white and gold color combination and carries the signature of one of the staff members that worked on this cigar that has at least 15 years of experience, with that explanation on the back. The aroma from the wrapper is a mix of rich earth and bakers chocolate. The foot opening is too small to detect anything unique. The pre-light draw brings some general wood along with a nice mix of dark chocolate and anise.
John: The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado came in cellophane and did not have a UPC sticker. There is a primary La Gloria Cubana band, stacked on top of a QR code, along with a secondary band covering the middle of the cigar with a signature and sentence of text. I weighed the cigar at 35.0 grams and measured the humidity to 60.6% with the HumidiMeter Pro. Aromas from the wrapper included a mild, sweet tobacco, licorice and earth. The area of the foot is barely exposed and I am not able to detect anything distinct.

La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado

First Third

Aaron: The cigar begins with toasted oak, earth and some light black pepper. As the burn reaches the end of the taper, the black pepper has departed and a bit of an oily mouthfeel has begun. The retrohale is toasted oak and earth, with a bit of that oil. At an inch and a quarter, a tootsie roll type chocolate becomes present and a light black pepper returns. At two inches in, the black pepper increases a bit. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak is just ahead of the earth and oiliness, with black pepper a bit behind the middle of the profile and some tootsie roll chocolate in the background. The strength was slightly below medium.
John: The first third gets going with baking spices, sweet tobacco and earth as the earth lingers into the finish. Some light-plus strength pepper joins the post draw as it settles in. That pepper falls to the background as the first third continues. Some time later, light wood joins the center of the profile.

La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado

Second Third

Aaron: As the second third begins, the earth gets a bit closer to the toasted oak up front. At a half inch in, the tootsie roll note is gone and the black pepper is now just a bit behind the earth. The retrohale is now toasted oak, earth and mild black pepper with a bit of oil. At an inch in, some cocoa powder becomes present. At an inch and a quarter, the earth is now even with the toasted oak up front. As the third comes to a close, the toasted oak and earth are even up front with the black pepper and oiliness a bit behind and some cocoa powder in the background. The strength has bumped up to medium.
John: Creamy wood is my initial flavor impression with a mild wood to finish and linger into the post draw. As the second third settles in, creamy, sweet tobacco leads off with wood still following and finishing each puff. Approaching the halfway point, the profile is largely wood forward.

La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado

Final Third

Aaron: As the final third begins, the earth takes a slight lead over the toasted oak as the toast level increases a bit. The retrohale remains toasted oak, earth and mild black pepper with a bit of oil. As the cigar wraps up, the earth is just ahead of the toasted oak, with the black pepper and oiliness a bit further behind and some cocoa powder in the background. The strength snuck up to medium-full.
John: The last third greets me with creamy wood as the wood falls back to light strength on the finish and lingers for some time on the post draw. Mild spices make up the retrohale with mild earth to finish. Approaching the halfway point, some light-plus bitterness joins the end of the draw. That bitterness intensifies to just over the medium strength mark as some sourness joins the post draw.

La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado

Burn

Aaron: The burn was a bit wavy throughout and the cigar went out once in the final third requiring a re-light. The ash held on in near three inch increments.
John: The burn was uneven in the first third, eventually requiring a touch-up. It became uneven leading into the second third, forming a canoe, requiring another touch-up. There was some waviness for the remainder of the review.

La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado

Draw

Aaron: The draw was fairly snug and smoke production was an issue at times, requiring multiple draws.
John: The draw was initially quite resistant, roughly 3-1/2 to 4 notches into the resistant spectrum. As I find often the case with Figurado cigars, the draw opened to 2-1/2 to 3 notches as the burn reached the shoulder.

Overall

Aaron: The cigar began with toasted oak, earth and some light black pepper. The black pepper departed a bit later an an oily mouthfeel appeared. A tootsie roll chocolate note joined in and then the pepper reappeared. The second third saw the tootsie roll note depart and the pepper increased. Some cocoa powder then joined in. The final third saw the earth take a slight lead in the profile. The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado had an average flavor profile throughout, focused around the toasted oak, earth and black pepper. The variations of chocolate were a nice touch, but didn’t do enough to elevate the profile. The strength was a bit sneaky, but it’s to be expected with a cigar of this size and blend. Overall, not a cigar I’d see myself coming back to, but you do get an immense smoking time, so there is some value there.
John: The La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado was pleasant for most of the review, if primarily uncomplicated in the flavor combinations. I found it to be unbalanced in the last third with the combination of intensifying bitterness and sourness. The draw had some resistance to it, and the burn required two touch-ups to correct. Given the size of the cigar, the price point is attractive, but this isn’t something I would see myself coming back to. Total smoking time was 2 hours and 46 minutes.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.25

Cost/Point

$2.86

Scoring System

John McTavish

SCORE

4.90

Cost/Point

$3.06

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: La Gloria Cubana Gran Legado