What was described by Michael Giannini as “other special things” that he and Yuri Guillen were working on has resulted in a second limited run of La Gloria Cubana cigars, this time for the northeastern portion of the United States, a region that includes Pennsylvania, New York, Maryland and Delaware among other states.

The La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra is a 7 1/4 x 62 cigar, a longer and slightly less girthy release than the 6 1/2 x 64 Gorda Gorda that was released for the western U.S. in late June. Production is being limited to 777 boxes of 10 cigars, for a total production of 7,770 cigars, notably more than the 500 boxes of 10 that were produced for the Gorda Gorda, which was reviewed here. The cigars were rolled in 2009 for another project that Giannini had been working on but never made their way out of the escaparte.

The Piramide Supra comes in a pyramid shaped box to deepen the connection between the packaging and the cigars. It features a sliding lid and red and white pinstripe design that is a bit of a departure from the company’s standard packaging. While the connection to the red pinstripes on the side of the La Gloria Cubana brand is fairly obvious, Giannini says there’s an additional purpose. “It was a shout out to the Phillies,” the Philadelphia native said.

(Image via General Cigar Co.)

The blend between the two limited batches is different, as the Piramide Supra is based off the La Gloria Cubana “white box” blend with an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over Dominican broadleaf binder and filler but with the addition of a different type of ligero. Giannini and Team La Gloria were experimenting with different versions of the company’s existing blends in 2009, with this being one of the results.

For comparison, the Gorda Gorda uses an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper over a Nicaraguan binder and filler from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua.

“To be able to go down to the factory and work on projects like this is incredibly fun,” Giannini said. “You’re going to see some really fun things come out — including a cigar for the Southeastern region around the first of December.”

Price for the Piramide Supra is $8.00 per cigar before taxes, which is comparable to the Gorda Gorda’s price.

La Gloria Cubana also released the Innovation 538 in late June, a limited run of their Artesanos de Tabaqueros line that came in a 5 x 38 vitola and was limited to 5,000 cigars.

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Patrick Lagreid

I strive to capture the essence of a cigar and the people behind them in my work – every cigar you light up is the culmination of the work of countless people and often represents generations of struggle and stories. For me, it’s about so much more than the cigar – it’s about the story behind it, the experience of enjoying the work of artisans and the way that a good cigar can bring people together. In addition to my work with halfwheel, I’m the public address announcer for the Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks during spring training, as well as for the Salt River Rafters of the Arizona Fall League, the WNBA's Phoenix Mercury and previously the Arizona Rattlers of the Indoor Football League. I also work in a number of roles for MLB.com, plus I'm a voice over artist. Prior to joining halfwheel, I covered the Phoenix and national cigar scene for Examiner.com, and was an editor for Cigar Snob magazine.