La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva Robusto

Once, to experience "The Glory of Cuba," you had to live in or travel to Little Havana where people would line up for hours waiting to taste a cigar that was a phenomenon. Now La Gloria Cubana is a favorite of cigar smokers everywhere. The brand, popularized by Ernesto Perez-Carillo, was actually started by his father while, as a young adult, Ernesto traveled the world making a living as a jazz musician. Ultimately the family business beckoned and he returned home to Miami to embrace his heritage. In 1997, Ernesto teamed up with General Cigar and moved La Gloria Cubana's primary production from the Miami factory to the Dominican Republic. The move nearly quintupled their production capabilities and helped keep up with the swelling demand. (Only a handful of cigars are still produced in the Miami factory and primarily for the local market.)

When it comes to medium-bodied, well-constructed cigars, La Gloria Cubana has a great reputation. Released in 2017 at the IPCPR Convention and Trade Show, the La Gloria Cubana Colección Reserva celebrates 25 years since the brand was first blended and hand-made by the one and only Ernesto Perez-Carrillo, receiving high praise and ratings. This smoke is also the first La Gloria Cubana he has made in 10 years! Using his proprietary tobaccos, this smoke comes dressed in an Ecuador Sumatra wrapper which secures a Nicaraguan Sumatra binder and top-quality Nicaraguan fillers. Medium to full in body, notes of pepper, cedar and apple cider come through that slowly build in strength. Our panel recommended pairing it with Old Fashioned.

Though tobacco is indigenous to Hispaniola, the tobacco industry in the Dominican Republic existed in the shadow of Cuba’s dominance through the 1960s. When the exodus of Cuban cigar makers began in the wake of the revolution, many decided the Dominican Republic would be ideal for the resumption of their livelihoods. Unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s fueled the Dominican cigar industry further. The country now makes more than half of the premium cigars imported into the U.S.

The Cibao Valley and the nearby city of Santiago are the center of cigar production in the Dominican Republic. Three main varieties are grown here: the mild and native Olor Dominicano; the intense Piloto Cubano, brought from the Vuelta Abajo of Cuba; and San Vicente, a milder and more acidic Piloto hybrid. Dominican puros were once unheard of as it was widely thought impossible to grow quality wrapper leaf on the island, but new growing techniques are now allowing some exceptional puros to be produced.