La Gloria Cubana Serie N JSB

Released in October 2010 by General Cigar, the La Gloria Cubana Serie N is the sister brand to the already popular La Gloria Cubana Serie R line. Wanting a richer and bolder cigar to add to the lineup, General Cigar’s production manager of manufacturing, Yuri Guillen, created this beauty with the help of Michael Giannini and Rick Rodriguez – collectively known as Team La Gloria Cubana. Starting with a pitch-black Capa Oscura wrapper, it is then bound and filled with a Nicaraguan proprietary blend. All this is topped off with an ‘N’ inlay halfway up the stick. This rich combination unleashes flavors of earth, cocoa, coffee, and a pepper finish. It also will feature a slow and razor sharp burn and lots of airy creamy smoke. We love this cigar; our tasting panel gave it a score of 92. We enjoyed our Serie N with a rich porter after dinner.

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.