Quick Review – First Impressions of the La Palina 1896
By Allen on Jul 19, 2010 in Cigar Reviews
Yesterday afternoon while attending CAO Cigars Lady Liberty event I had the pleasure of meeting fellow blogger Jerry Cruz (aka. Don “Cruz”ado) from Stogie Review. I mentioned to Jerry how much I enjoyed his video (and the commentary) on the La Palina Launch Event at W. Curtis Draper in Washington, DC. We discussed the cigar for a few more moments along with some of the recent happenings in the blog world until Jerry had to break away and do some more filming.
Jerry responded to our conversation by meeting me outside and gifting me a La Palina 1896. I asked him if I should smoke it then or if I should let it rest for a while, to which he responded, “smoke it now and see how it goes.” The cigar has a nice oily wrapper that sports some veins and rough texture. The pre-light aroma consisted nice sweet tobacco, a little spice, and cocoa. The pre-light draw was a little loose and offered up notes of sweet tobacco followed by a lite cocoa note. At this point I obliged Jerry’s kind gesture and sparked this beauty with my trusty Lamborghini Forza.
When I actually got into the cigar things only got better. The cigar produced loads of creamy smoke that coated the palate with a wonderful sweetness. I actually made the comment to several people that the first few draws reminded me of dessert. I picked up lots of caramel notes, so much so that it reminded me of a bread pudding I ate once in Louisiana. As the cigar progressed I started to pick up some of the cocoa that was present pre-light and a little black coffee. The flavors were incredible and progressed nicely from start to finish. I did have a few burn issues with my only sample, but I tend to place the blame on the terrible Tennessee heat and humidity that plagued us on Saturday. This little issue is why I smoke multiple cigars for a full review, but in this case I’m excited because I’ll have to smoke a few more samples of a cigar I thoroughly enjoyed to produce a true review.
I’m not sure when I’ll be able to pick a few more of these up, but as soon as I do you can count on a full review to be posted. The La Palina 1896 was really enjoyable and I loved the flavors that it produced. If I had to give a bad mark at all it would be the price (MSRP of $19.00). This one happened to be a gift courtesy of a kind BOTL so I can’t complain, but they are a little pricey. But at the end of the day we all have different budgets so I would not hesitate to recommend this cigar, but for me it would be a special occasion purchase. Stay tuned for a full review and thanks again to Jerry for sharing this beauty.
Allen,
I just smoked mine today and I had multiple burn issues (it almost went out on me 2 or 3 times and the burn line was never even) and the flavor just didn’t impress me much at all, I’m sorry to say. I am happy to have been able to try it (and “Thanks again, Jerry” if you see this), but I can’t see spending that kind of coin on this cigar. Even without the draw and burn problems I had, the flavor just did not do enough for me to justify that price tag.
dmjones1009 | Jul 19, 2010 | Reply
This review made me salivate! Thanks for posting, I’ll definitely need to get my hands on a couple of the La Palinas.
Jason at Broadway | Jul 23, 2010 | Reply
I smoked my first La Palina last week. I bought it at Georgetown Tobacco. I did not have burn issues; well maybe a bit, but that was such a minor thing compared to the 1896 that I hardly noticed. I don’t have the words to describe the experience as does our host here, but I certainly agree with his overall experience. “Loads of creamy smoke,” is a great description. I know $19.00 is a bit steep, and like the man said it may be a special occasion cigar for me, too, but I too do not hesitate to recommend it. The only real question that waits to be answered is how frequently special occasions will arise? (I live outside Austin, TX. So, I may have to stock up on my trips to DC.
david | Aug 3, 2010 | Reply