Pre-light Experience

The wrapper is a very uniform dark brown. There are a couple of veins present but along with the seams are pretty well hidden. There appear to be two caps on the head. The foot is a bit interesting as it is round for about 85% of the circumference and then has a bump that is about a quarter inch tall that runs about a half inch into the cigar. There are two bands with the primary being black, silver and red and a secondary band that is red and silver and denotes it being the Maduro offering. The aroma from the wrapper is a damp barnyard while the foot gives a clean, sweet tobacco aroma. The pre-light draw is that same clean and sweet tobacco finish I got from the foot aroma.

Pre-light Experience

The La Gloria Cubana Serie R Esteli Maduro No. Fifty-Four has a gritty dark brown wrapper with traces of tooth. The bunch and roll is fairly well done providing a uniformed firm give throughout. Veins are well pressed and seams are tight. The slightly tapered head is finished off with a thick triple cap. Nosing the wrapper gives mainly cedar and faint black pepper. Nosing the foot tells black pepper, cedar and rock-like earthiness. Cold draw gives white pepper on the tip of the tongue, an interesting old basement note and campfire.

First Third

Initial draws bring a mix of wood and chocolate. At a quarter inch in, the chocolate fades back and the wood takes over the profile. At a half inch in, a very slight char joins with the wood, very reminiscent of the aroma from wood in a smoker. At an inch in, a slight metallic note has joined in which causes the char to leave the wood. After a few draws, the metallic note decreases which lets the wood note come to the front again. The retrohale is an airy wood. As the third comes to a close, the metallic note increases again while the wood note remains in the profile. The strength in this third was right at medium.

First Third

First third’s profile shows quite a bit of staleness. There is an underlying musk and dryness to the profile. Specifically, flavors of stale bread, stale dry wood, fresh ground spicy black pepper spice and a subtle campfire like effect. Retrohaling brings forth dry wood, black pepper and subtle dry roasted nuts. The finish gives a mixture of soft black pepper spice and campfire lingering on for minutes. Strength and body is medium throughout the entire first third.

Second Third

As this third begins, the wood and metallic notes continue, with the same profile on the retrohale as well. At a half inch in, the mix of wood and metallic notes continue without much change. At an inch in, the metallic notes decreases some so that the wood takes on the primary note. At an inch and a half, I performed a purge which got rid of the metallic note completely. Afterwards, a stale wood note was present. As the third comes to a close, the wood loses the stale note and gains a faint baking spice in the background. The strength in this third was right at medium.

Second Third

Second third has decreased staleness, which allows both the campfire and spicy black pepper notes to shine that much more. The retrohale picks up a much needed deepness in spicy cedar, in addition to a creamed mixed nuts. The finish is still the same lingering soft black pepper, but dry stale wood replaces the first third’s campfire note. Strength and body remains medium.

Final Third

As the final third begins, the baking spice has left and the wood continues with the addition of some cream. At a quarter inch in, the wood gains a toast note while the cream is in the background. At three quarters of an inch in, the toast is replaced by a slight char while the cream remains in the background. At an inch and a quarter, a creamy coffee note joins the profile with the slightly charred wood. As the cigar comes to a close, the charred wood is up front while the creamy coffee note is in the background. The strength in this third was slightly above medium.

Final Third

Final third starts off with the bread note returning into the mix, playing off nicely with the freshly ground spicy black pepper and dry wood. Halfway through the final third, the profile becomes noticeably bitter, caking onto my palate. The retrohale is the most pleasing part with dry wood, black pepper and subtle dry roasted nuts. The finish is still long and lingering with soft black pepper spice and stale dry wood. Strength and body finishes at the medium marks.

Burn

The burn line was just slightly wavy, but always kept up with itself. The ashes held on in inch and a quarter increments.

Burn

Solid burn throughout the entire smoking time. Cool and slow burning cigar with solid ash marks averaging 1.5 inch increments. The only factor not allowing the burn to be perfect is the slight waviness of the burn line.

Draw

The draw was just slightly tighter than I prefer, but didn’t cause any issues with the smoking experience.

Overall

This cigar had a pretty standard woody profile throughout. It was a shame that a metallic note was pretty prevalent in the second third, but a purge mostly rectified that and things got back on track in the final third. Strength was right around medium the entire time. I look for a better flavor profile in a cigar, but if wood is what you like, this cigar provides plenty of it. I probably wouldn’t go looking for this cigar as many others provide a similar profile. It’s worth giving a try to see if you like it, but that would be the extent of my recommendation.

Draw

The perfect balance between being too loose or too tight to draw in all the flavors the cigar had to offer.

Overall

It’s been a while since I’ve had a cigar with so much staleness. It’s not a pleasant note and in my opinion, it does not belong in a cigar. Luckily, by the second third, the cigar became less stale and provided a better tasting profile. But the overall profile, although better, was still average. The upside is, the cigar is very approachable, not being dominant in strength, so especially newer cigar smokers will be able to get through 1.5 hours or so without feeling the need to reach for something to eat. Not a bad cigar by any means, but another key example of an average offering from General Cigar.

Aaron Loomis

SCORE

5.33

Cost/Point

$1.31

Scoring System

Jiunn Liu

SCORE

5.87

Cost/Point

$1.19

Scoring System

Team Cigar Review: La Gloria Cubana Serie R Esteli Maduro No. Fifty-Four