Innovative Cigar From La Gloria Cubana
I spent quite a bit of time the other day with Michael Giannini, director of marketing for General Cigar Co. and La Gloria Cubana. Mike came by the Cigar Aficionado office with Victoria McKee from General to give us an exclusive look at a new La Gloria Cubana that’s been in the works for a year and a half.
The cigar is called the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros, and there are a couple of things that make it new for the company. The cigar is made with two tobaccos that are a first for a La Gloria: Connecticut-shade wrapper and Honduran filler. And then there’s the little fact that the cigar has more than one wrapper.
The first time you look at a La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Tabaqueros, you might think you have the cigar upside down. That’s because the band is located about one third of the way from the foot of the cigar, rather than near the head. The band is placed so low because that spot is the place on the cigar where the light-hued Connecticut-shade wrapper meets the darker Ecuadoran Sumatra leaf. Mike, who was a chef before joining the cigar business 27 years ago, makes a food analogy when explaining the reasons behind the two wrappers.
“This is the appetizer,” he said, pointing to the shade part of the cigar, “and this is the big entrée. This is the Porterhouse,” he said, pointing to the upper two thirds. “It’s two wrappers, with two countries and two distinct flavors.”
The cigar was very cool to look at, a pleasure to smoke, and truly something different. Here’s a video Mike describing it, and a good view of the cigar and the box.
The cigar comes in three sizes. For a lot more detail on the new smoke, see the March 23 Cigar Insider.
