Today we will be taking a look at a special LCDH only release, the 2010 La Gloria Cubana Inmensos. Just about every year Habanos releases one or two LCDH exclusive cigars. In 2009 it was the H.Upmann Noellas Ceramic Jar and this year (2011) H.Upmann will again have a LCDH release called the Royal Robusto an Edmundo-sized cigar that will come in 10-count boxes and be limited to 5,000 boxes.

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For those of you that are a little unfamiliar with La Gloria Cubana here is some info…

La Gloria Cubana is pre-revolution brand established in 1865, it’s currently a local brand giving it a minor share in the Habanos market. Typically La Gloria Cubana cigars are medium in body and the tobacco used in their cigars comes from the Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba. The La Gloria Cubana line is littered with discontinued cigars. Just recently in 2010 two cigars were erased from the La Gloria Cubana profile, the Medaille d’or No.1 and the Medaille d’or No.2. It’s sad but currently there are only three current production vitolas available in the brand.

  • Medaille d’or No.2 — 6.7 x 43 Lonsdale
  • Medaille d’or No.4 — 6 x 32 Slim Panatela
  • Taínos — 7 x 47 Churchill

In 1999 there was a humidor released called the La Gloria Cubana Siglo XXI Millennium Humidor which reinstated two discontinued cigars the Cetros and the Glorias just for that release alone. Other than that a lot of the older La Gloria Cubana Vitolas are just not around anymore. You have to wonder if the brand itself will survive.

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  • Cigar Reviewed: La Gloria Cubana Inmensos (La Casa del Habano 2010)
  • Country of Origin: Cuba
  • Factory: Fernando Perez German
  • Wrapper: Cuba
  • Binder: Cuba
  • Filler: Cuba
  • Length: 6 1/2 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 54
  • Vitola: Sublimes
  • Est. Price: $15 (Box of 10, $150)
  • Release Date: 2010
  • Number of Cigars Released: 5,000 Boxes of 10 Cigars (50,000 Total Cigars)
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Right away the first thing you notice is how big this cigar is, it’s a far bigger ring gauge than anything La Gloria Cubana has ever put out. It has a really nice medium chocolate wrapper Colorado Maduro in shade. It has very few veins, a seamless wrap and a sort of tacky feel to it. One negative I noticed with the whole box was the amount of pectin (vegetable glue) on the actual wrapper around the bands. Whoever put the bands on this box was very sloppy and managed to get a ton of glue on the outside of the wrapper which looks terrible.

The Pre light aroma of this cigar is heavenly it reeks of barnyard with lots of old wood, hay and a really nice tobacco sweetness. The wrapper itself gives off lots of aroma and the foot is giving off a ton of cedar. The pre-light draw is quite mild with a touch of tobacco and cedar as well as a bit of hay.

Starting off in the First Third the cigar is very mild! La Gloria Cubana is not known for its strength or full-bodied flavors but this is way milder than I expected. There isn’t a lot of flavor going on either, just some hints of tobacco, hay and a touch of coffee on the finish. There is also a slight bitterness that is not helping matters.

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Coming into the second third the cigar improves a ton that harsh character from the beginning completely disappears. The flavors open up and I start to get some nice cedar, coffee, and chocolate flavors. The cigar is a solid medium body and the finish is nice and long with a touch of creaminess. The burn gets a little uneven at times but it doesn’t affect the flavors that much.

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Finishing up in the Final Third the flavors change up and really give way to the best third of the whole cigar. The profile in general gets very creamy not just in mouthfeel but flavor as well. The cedar ramps up and the coffee flavor turns into a mix between roasted tobacco and roasted coffee, just an overall toasty flavor that is very complex and flavorful. There is a wonderful nutty cashew flavor on the finish that has a real nice sweetness to it. The finish also has a nice hint of pepper adding a nice balance to all the sweetness. I am able to nub this cigar with ease…

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Final Notes

  • This cigar is far from ready to smoke but it’s on its way. When I first received these, I wasn’t that impressed with them but after letting them sit in my humidor for only a month I noticed a huge difference. The first third of this cigar is the only letdown, it starts off very mild and flavorless but once I got past the first third the cigar offered a completely different profile and much more enjoyable experience. I have a feeling a little more time will do this cigar a huge justice.
  • Only 5000 boxes of these were produced so if you have any urge to pick some up I would get on it soon as they are getting harder and harder to find. I would guess by this summer you won’t be able to find any, not at MSRP anyways.
  • Final Smoking time was one hour 40 minutes.
83 Overall Score

This is a good cigar with loads of potential. It’s one of those cigars that you could purchase and very well smoke and enjoy right now but it still has a long way to go before it’s going to reach its sweet spot. I would say that after a year you will see a huge difference and it will just get better from there. The flavors were present but there was bitterness and some rough edges to it that still need to settle down. The second and final 3rd offered some really nice complex flavors that you just don’t find all that often with young Cubans and that’s always a great starting point. I prefer a more full-bodied smoke but what this lacks in body it makes up for in flavor.

Steve Valle

Steve Valle wrote for Smoking Stogie, a precursor to halfwheel, from 2010-2011.