La Gloria Series R Esteli
This is certainly an exciting time of the year. We have so many new products enroute to our humidors. Although our warehouse manager would not agree, I really wish they would all come in at once. It’s like having opened only one Christmas present a day starting on December 25 and finishing sometime in March. Yes, you spread out the joy, but I don’t always exhibit the most patience in these matters. I hate to sound like Veruca Salt from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but sometimes you want your Oompa Lumpa NOW!
One of these very cigars that I have been patiently waiting for, the La Gloria Series R Estelà arrived in the mail last week. Along with a few other goodies from my friends at General Cigar, the late week delivery is hopefully a sign that these wonderful cigars should be on our store shelves in the very near future.
For those of you who are big fans of the La Gloria R Series, you will have to give this new blend a try. You may have seen these on the internet advertised as Series Black, but that is a cigar specifically made for the E-Commerce sites. The Estelà is a cigar that you will only find in the Brick and Mortar locations.
The Series R Estelà is a venture into uncharted waters for La Gloria. This cigar is a Nicaraguan puro, which is quite the departure from the previous blends. There aren’t a lot of specifics out there concerning the make-up of this cigar. The folks at General have been fairly vague stating only that “A top priming Jalapa Sol wrapper, rounded out by a combination of visos and ligeros.” When I asked my friend Yuri Guillen, one of the masters behind the La Gloria brand, he answered with “It’s a Nicaraguan puro.”
I can tell you from smoking it that the tobacco used for this are definitely on the full-flavored side. The Sun grown Wrapper from Jalapa may be the mildest thing in this stick. The cigar bears the name Estelà because that is the location of the factory where it is produced, but I get the feeling that there is some Estelà ligero in this blend. This is definitely a cigar that should be enjoyed over an extended period of time. If you try to finish this off during your 30 minute lunch break, I promise that you won’t have a very productive afternoon at work.
Don’t take this the wrong way; I don’t want to scare anyone. For whatever punches the Estelà packs in strength, it equally matches in flavor. Also at no time did the cigar ever become bitter. It was a nice creamy smoke which provided plenty of rich coffee, cocoa, and tobacco flavors that I come to expect in a quality oscuro cigar. There is a nice bit of pepper spice in the cigar as well.
This cigar is due to be released in early September so check with your local ABC. The distribution on these cigars is not limited to just a few stores. If your neighborhood store carries the Series R Natural and Maduro now, then they should have the Estelà as well.
Rejoice all La Gloria fans, for you have a new cigar to enjoy. And as long as our friends at La Gloria keep churning out new ones, we will be stocking them on our shelves.
Long Ashes,
Chris Gwaltney, ABC Fine Wine & Spirits North Florida Regional Manager and Certified Tobacconist and Cicerone Beer Server. Follow me on Twitter @abccigarchris.
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