La Gloria Cubana Gorda Gorda

With so many new cigars coming out in super-sized ring gauges, it shouldn’t be a surprise that we see this new one coming from the General Cigar camp. While many cigar smokers I’ve talked to have expressed their love for smaller ring gauges and have said they think large ring gauge cigars are getting borderline ridiculous, the fact remains that larger ring gauge cigars remain popular among the majority of smokers and still easily outsell their smaller ring gauge brethren.

General Cigar’s latest foray into the large ring gauge market is from the La Gloria Cubana brand in the form of the Gorda Gorda. On June 20th Michael Giannini announced they were releasing a new cigar size called the Gorda Gorda.

Patrick covered the details in a news story:

On Wednesday morning, Michael Giannini of La Gloria Cubana tweeted news of a new offering from the brand, a 6 1/2 x 64 Gorda Gorda that is limited to just 500 boxes and is only being made available in the western United States.

The cigars appear to be packed in 10-count slide top boxes, which would bring the total production to 5,000 cigars. No specifics were shared about the blend or availability, other than that they are being made available only in the western United States.

Giannini followed up the tweet with a reply to a Florida based retailer saying that La Gloria Cubana is working on “other special things.”

More information about this new release will be added to this story as it becomes available.

UPDATE: Michael Giannini says that the cigar will cost around $8 per stick and do come in 10-count boxes. He added that he and Yuri Guillen, production manager for General Cigar Dominicana, had been playing around and having fun with various sizes and this was the result of those experiments. Giannini says that they should know soon which retail tobacconists will have these available.

With the insinuation of the last sentence and the also recently announced Artesanos de Tabaqueros Innovation 538, it seems that Team LGC has some interesting stuff in store for the brand. It is nice to see that these cigars are at either end of the ring gauge spectrum and not fully concentrated on the 56+ RG market.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Gloria Cubana Gorda Gorda
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: General Cigar Dominicana
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Sumatra)
• Binder: Dominican Republic
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 6 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 64
• Vitola: Gordo Extra
• MSRP: $10.49 (Boxes of 10, $104.90)
• Release Date: June 20, 2012
• Number of Cigars Released: 500 Boxes of 10 Cigars (5,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 2

As I’ve stated with the previous large ring gauge cigars I’ve reviewed, the first and foremost thing you will notice is how huge this cigar is. The wrapper is soft, oily and a very nice looking light brown. There are some visible veins and bumps under the wrapper but it’s not enough to detract from the overall look of the cigar. The Gorda Gorda has a little bit of give to it without being soft or spongy. The pre-draw has some nice sweet and creamy tobacco notes and the aroma off of the foot is straight barnyard and fresh hay.

The Gorda Gorda starts out the first third with a smooth and mild profile. The main note I’m picking up is a creamy vanilla note that stands out at the forefront. The draw is good on a cigar this size, not too loose at all and it’s easy to get it to start billowing smoke with just one or two draws. Alongside the vanilla has developed a nice hazelnut note that with the overall sweet and creamy profile is making this a pretty enjoyable cigar so far.

A caramelized sugar, vanilla, and fruity profile develops in the second third. The cigar still has a very overall mild profile, however it is a delicate and enjoyable mildness, not a boring and uninteresting mildness. The burn of the Gorda Gorda has been very good only requiring some minor touch ups along the way.

The final third has developed a few harsh notes, but after a purge it took care of most of the harshness. The cigar is still fairly sweet and has some nice creamy smoke, but it has developed in strength as could be expected with this much tobacco. I would still classify it as a mild to medium bodied cigar however. The grayish white ash has easily held to an inch throughout the cigar, speaking well of the construction. With a little over an inch left to the cigar it has started to burn hot so I’m going to let it go out with dignity.

Final Notes

• Despite the large ring gauge, this cigar was blended very well to fit the size. It seems that many times a manufacturer will just take an existing line and expand the ring gauge without re-blending it. The end results are mismatched ratios of filler/binder/wrapper and the cigar falls flat. I’m very pleased to say that’s not the fact with the Gorda Gorda.
• The large ring gauge trend is continuing with a number of 64 RG cigars, including the recently released E.P. Carrillo INCH No. 64 and the Casa Magna Colorado Gigantores.
• This is one of two recent limited releases La Gloria Cubana has done recently that is quite outside of their normal sizes. The other is the Artesanos de Tabaqueros Innovation 538.
• The Gorda Gorda was only available to Western B&M’s, while the Innovation 538 is not limited regionally.
• This is the largest cigar in the La Gloria Cubana line.
• Final smoking time was two and a half hours.