A few months ago I visited Florida, including Miami and I walked into the La Gloria Cubana lounge on Calle Ocho. Now I heard about their Artesanos de Tabaqueros cigars but this was the first time I ever saw them so I had to try them. So I sat down, lit the cigar and then the guy who worked at the shop said "I'll introduce you to Rick Rodriguez, he created these cigars" so I had the opportunity to get more info. Rick got the idea to make this cigar with the dual wrapper as the found some cigars boring after a third, so with the change of wrapper the cigar remains interesting. They tested a lot of blends and wrappers, and ways to create the cigar but the best way was to really have a small piece of Connecticut at the bottom and habano at the top an Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper. To top the day, I got introduced to Benji Menendez too.
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The cigar looks fantastic, the Ecuadorian Sumatra wrapper is nice and dark with some thin veins while the Connecticut shade is a bit more shiny. The construction feels good. The Ecuadorian Sumatra smells like chocolate and pepper while the Connecticut doesn't have a real smell. The predraw is fine and I taste raisin. The size is 6x52.
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I taste a peppery coffee with that Connecticut dullness. The flavors burn a little in the back of my throat. Soon the flavor changes to wood, oak to be precise, and the coffee disappears. I also get some white pepper with the oak and the dullness and some puffs later even some milky chocolate.
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As soon as the cigar reaches the Ecuadorian Sumatra I taste chocolate and wood, the Connecticut dullness disappears. The chocolate disappears too and I taste wood with a herbal aftertaste. Halfway I taste more herbs and after two thirds I also taste some pepper again, but not overpowering.
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This cigar lasted me for two hours. The draw is great, just like the burn. The light colored ash is firm. I got a lot of thick white smoke. This cigar is full flavored and medium bodied.
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Would I buy this cigar again? Maybe, when I visit Miami again and decide to light a cigar in the La Gloria Cubana lounge on Calle Ocho.
Appearance: 9 / 10
Construction: 8 / 10
Draw: 8 / 10
Burn: 8 / 10
Smoke & ash: 8 / 10
Aroma first part: 7 / 10
Aroma second part: 7 / 10
Aroma third part: 8 / 10
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