Here is another new cigar straight out of IPCPR. I think this cigar should hit the shelves very soon (October).

Size: 5.5X54
Wrapper: Capa Oscura. This cigar is black as dirt! Deep dark Black!
Filler: Nicaraguan "proprietary". They won't tell where from even when we asked!
Binder: Nicaraguan "proprietary". Once again, not too much info on it.
Country: Dominican Republic
Factory: El Credito Cigar Factory in the Dominican Republic
Time: 8:15pm
Finish time: 9:50pm
Drink: Cold water

First looks, this cigar is probly the darkest maduro I have ever smoked or possibly seen! Its dirt, oil, tar,midnight BLACK. The band is your typical LGC band, except the Serie N and the big "N" behind the woman on the band; if you look too fast you will miss it.

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They come in hexagonal boxes of 24 and they are trying or did patent the box design.
The cigar is sturdy wirth a few viens and is solid until the foot where its a little spongy. Nothing to be worried about though.
Smelling the foot there is a strong sense of hay or straw; very prevalant. The cap on this cigar must be a quadruple cap or it may be the wrapper is of thick leaves. It took some serious pusshing to get my punch through it. When I did manage to punch it, i noticed a hole in the binder.... not sure what that was about, but you can see it and how thick the cap is here.

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I toasted the foot and as soon as it took off, boy did it ever! With tons of thick white smoke! The first thing I tasted that came to mind was apricots or dried raisins. the draw on tihs cigar is dead on with very good even burn. I did not have to touch it up till towards the middle.
3/4" into it, the taste got a little creamy, but still the same flavors as before. A medium-full bodied smoke with a nice tight ass with close rings and a white to off white ash.

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Working into the 2nd third i started tasting a new flavor that I cou;nd't put my finger or tongue onto... then it hit me! Neslte's Nesquik chocolate milk powder mix! Tastes chocolaty and chalky in a good way. The ash is still holding on tight and not wanting to tap it. Doesn't look to want to fall yet so i'll let it go. Into the 2nd third some more, i get the taste of chocolate cover carmel candy bar similar to a Carmello candy bar. And I LOVE these candy bars!! Now the humidity is catching up with it and it needs a touch up after I tapped the ash off. It rained today and is still hot and humid out even at 8:45. Almost throught the 2nd third wet straw and sweet cocoa is baking a slight appreance to the tastebuds. Finally took a sip of the water.

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Working my way into the last third a slight tangyness is approching, maybe puffing to fast. The semi-sweet cocoa is becoming more prevalant. I left the cigar for about 2-3 minutes to help the family and came back thinking I was going to have to relight it, but it was still going on. A low maintence cigar. The cocoa is staying in into the last part of the cigar. Dark deep choclate nuances towards the end. The humidity took its toll and caught up with me and the cigar, I was in the phone and left it unattended and it went out. Clean the ash, relight and purge.
Bitter chocolate startedin, maybe due to relight... Then nuances of wet hay. Let it rest with about an 1" left.

I am not much of a maduro fan, but this cigar being as dark as i is really suprised me alot! The burn, tastes, body was all great! Im sure you maduro lovers will love this alot. I have a friend who smoked it (and loves maduro)and he raved about it.

I would deffinately buy this cigar again and trust me, its worth a try or three on it!

If I was to give it a grade, I would say a good 92+ overall.

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Press Release: LA GLORIA CUBANA SERIE N
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Richmond, VA—Team La Gloria Cubana is proud to unveil La Gloria Cubana Serie N®, a wholly new collection custom made for the initiated.

A sister brand to the critically-acclaimed La Gloria Cubana Serie R® collection, La Gloria Cubana Serie N debuts into a lofty position. This new, four-cigar collection delivers in spades by marrying proprietary Nicaraguan tobacco with the brand’s signature Ecuadoran Sumatra wrapper. Through artisanal blending and by employing specific frontmarks to maximize the unique flavor, this stimulating, full-bodied offering is punctuated by spicy notes and balanced to reveal a refined smoke.

La Gloria Cubana Serie N is the brainchild of Yuri Guillen (General Cigar Dominicana’s production manager of manufacturing) who developed this new collection in concert with Benji Menendez, Michael Giannini and Rick Rodriguez, collectively known as Team La Gloria Cubana.

According to Debo Mukherjee, vice president of cigars for General Cigar, parent company of La Gloria Cubana, “In creating La Gloria Cubana Serie N, our intent was to provide tenured smokers with a flavorful powerhouse of a cigar, one worthy of its pedigree, and I believe we have delivered that in spades. We are confident that consumers will respond to the new taste dimension brought forth by the proprietary Nicaraguan tobacco.”

La Gloria Cubana Serie N is sure to capture the attention of tenured smokers, for its fire-engine red, hexagonal wooden box, replete with a gold Serie N logo opens to reveal an eye-catching angular configuration of 24 of the handcrafted cigars.

This striking new collection will debut in October with four exciting new frontmarks. The JSB (5 ½” x 54) will be available for a suggested retail price of $6.35 per cigar, while the Rojo frontmark (6 ½” x 46) will sell for $6.20 per cigar. Generoso (5 ¾” x 49) will carry an SRP of $5.95 per cigar, and Glorioso (6 ½” x 5 will sell for $7.00 per cigar.

La Gloria Cubana cigars are produced by General Cigar Co. Inc., which manufactures and markets handcrafted cigars for the premium market. Committed to delivering cigars of the finest quality, General Cigar also produces Macanudo, Cohiba®, Partagas® Hoyo de Monterrey®, Excalibur®, La Gloria Cubana® and several other leading premium brands. In addition, the company grows its own premium Connecticut Shade wrapper tobacco, as well as natural and candela wrapper in the Dominican Republic. General Cigar also operates Club Macanudo®, a cigar bar in New York City. Based in Richmond, VA, General Cigar sells through tobacconists nationwide. For more information, please visit Best Cigars - Premium Dominican Cigars and Fine Cigars from CigarWorld.com.

® La Gloria Cubana Serie N, Serie R, Macanudo, Cohiba, Partagas, Hoyo de Monterrey, Excalibur and Club Macanudo are registered trademarks of General Cigar Co. Inc.
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Thanks for the review! These sound wonderful. I can't wait until they come out!
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Thanks for the review. Got bombed a box. Had one from a trade a little while back. Pretty dark but very good.
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Great review Shawn...thanks for sharing. :-)
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I am going to have to get some of these.
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Great review thank for sharing, I haven't seen them yet, but l'll be looking to try them.
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"Nice tight ass" heh heh. He said ass. Heh heh.
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Thanks for the great review! I just smoked one about an hour ago, and DAMN. That was one potent stick. I'm a maduro smoker, and always looking for new ones that are reasonably priced and quality, satisfying smokes to boot. This was no exception.

An exceptional maduro (or oscuro?), and great for those occasions when you want a no nonsense, dark and richly flavored, deep smoke. I couldn't really detect a whole lot of sweet, brightly pungent aromatics from this one. It smelled as it looked, dark and assertive. As thebayratt stated, there were notes of hay as well, but moist hay that has been sitting in the sun in the middle of the summer. As a whole, all of the aromas were dark, blending well with each other, and molasses-like for any of the sweetness that came through. I don't mean any of this in a negative way whatsoever, as I LOVED this stick. About an inch and three quarters left, the smoke became richly creamy with lots of roasted coffee, molasses and leather undertones. I ended it with about an inch left. Definitely a quality smoke, but it is not for someone looking for a casual, medium bodied smoke. The La Gloria Cubana Serie N means business.
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Just out of curiosity is the wrapper dyed? I smoked one a month or two ago (Serie N) and noted that it appeared dyed in my journal. Can anyone confirm one way or another on this?

Nice review by the way!
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I don't believe the wrapper is dyed. Its an Capa Oscuro wrapper.
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Thanks. :-)
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Thanks for the review.
I think I'll check my B&M for these.
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I can confirm it's not dyed.

The extra time in fermentation that creates that Oscuro wrapper can tend to leave behind some color on your fingers, etc. It's just a side effect of creating that super duper dark leaf.
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"They're real. And they're wonderful!" (That's what she said!) I like these a lot. I smoked a few when I first got them and they were a little too potent, but still yummy. Now that they have had a few months or so to age, they are delicious. They still pack the same punch, but most any remaining bitterness in the final third has dissipated. The LGC Series N is a nice treat! Thank you Jeremy for introducing me to them up close and personal!
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Nice review, can't wait til they hit the market.
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Howard,

You can find these in your B&M's right now actually. These were launched at IPCPR 2010.

They also launched another LGC that's a little more on the obscure side called Artesanos de Obelisco. It's available now too.

Cheers,

Jeremy
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Torched one tonight...expected a lot more from this stick. Was a bit of a let down actually. :-)
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I hope that the whole wrapper dye mess is in the past. I remember some nasty reviews many years back about cigars like Dark Shark that left your lips and fingers black. Not good.
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