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| La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 |
Since La Palina Cigars hit the marketplace, they have been some of the highest rated cigars on Cigar Coop. The La Palina Collection adds a new concept to Founder Bill Paley’s company. The concept behind the La Palina Collection is that it will be a limited annual edition cigar that each year will come out in a different frontmark. Another unique feature will be the cigar will be rolled by a single roller. For the 2012 release, Paley opted to go with a petit lancero and has named the cigar the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2. Once again, La Palina Cigars delivers a home run of a cigar, and proves to this author that a petit lancero can be a true memorable cigar experience.
The Goldie gets its name from Paley’s grandmother. Goldie’s Paley’s image appears on the banding and packaging of La Palina cigars. The Laguito name pays homage to El Laguito Cigar Factory in Havana Cuba and their distinct style for constructing cigars. This is where the La Palina Goldie’s cigar roller, Maria Sierra got her start. Sierra is one of the first women trained to roll cigars in Cuba. From the press release we learn: “Her historic 32 year career at Villa EI Laguito began July 22, 1967- Maria is a 95 rated, category 9 roller trained by Fidel Castro’s personal roller Eduardo Rivera Irizarri, as well as Avelino Lara, the creator of the legendary Cohiba blend.”. Sierra now works at the legendary El Titan de Bronze factory in Miami, Florida, and this marks the first La Palina cigar to come out of that factory.
Let’s analyze what the smoke of the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 brings to the table.
Blend Profile
The blend of the La Palina Goldie consists of Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican tobacco. The blend incorporates the high priming Medio Tiempo leaf, found on only 10% of tobacco plants.
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Vitolas Available
The La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 is only available in a 6 x 38 petit lancero. There have only been 1000 boxes produced and the cigars are packaged ten to a box.
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| La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 – image provided by La Palina Cigars |
Appearance
The La Palina Goldie features a light brown colored wrapper. While a light color, the wrapper is darker than an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper. It has a sandy texture. There are virtually no visible veins, and the wrapper seams are well-hidden. The cigar features a fan cap.
As with all cigars that have been released by La Palina to date, the black and white image of Goldie Paley is front and center on the band. The image is adorned with gold trim. Over the image is the text “LA PALINA” in a thin white font on a gold background. Below the image is the text “EST 1896” in a smaller white font that is also on a gold background.
Preparation for the Cigar Experience
For my experience with the La Palina Goldie, I placed a straight cut into the fan cap. When I started the pre-light draw, I was treated to a combination of sweet dried fruit, floral notes, and some grass. The dry draw did not have very bold notes, but it had a unique flavor with some nice nuances. Overall, I considered this a solid start to the La Palina Goldie. At this time, it was now time to fire up the Goldie and see what the cigar would bring to the table.
Flavor Profile
One reason why La Palina Cigars score very well on Cigar Coop is because they bring a unique and unpredictable flavor model. At the same time, the flavors produced are very good.
The start to the La Palina Goldie featured a mix of sweet floral notes and pepper. The pepper seemed more prominent on the after-draw. The flavors soon gave way to a unique mesquite flavor that joined the sweet floral notes as the primary flavor. Around the 15 percent mark, the tables turned: the pepper kicked in and moved into the forefront while the floral sweetness moved into the background and became more prominent on the after-draw.
At the midway point, I detected some cocoa notes, but these seemed to be more of a subtle flavor and I classified it as a tertiary flavor. The cocoa notes increased and late in the middle third, it became a secondary flavor with the sweet floral notes. As the cigar moved into the final third, the pepper notes took control. The medio tiempo tobacco seemed to be working some magic here. While the pepper was in control, the spice did not overwhelm. Meanwhile the mesquite, floral, and cocoa notes were still present. The cigar never got harsh and maintained its complexity right to the nub. The resulting nub was cool in temperture and the nub was slightly soft when touched.
Burn and Draw
The La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 gets extremely high scores when it comes to its burn. This burn literally was razor sharp from start to finish with minimal touch-ups. The resulting ash was tight and white. The burn rate and burn temperature were ideal.
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| Burn of the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 |
The draw of the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 was flawless. This is one petit lancero that is really enjoyable to puff on.
Strength and Body
On the start of the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2, I actually felt this cigar was mild from a nicotine standpoint. The cigar slowly increased in strength. By the middle of the cigar, it had progressed to mild to medium strength and by the last third, it had graduated to a medium strength cigar.
The body of the cigar also progresses with the strength. The start to the La Palina Goldie had mild to medium-bodied flavors. The depth of the flavors does increase quicker. By the end of the first third, the flavors are medium to full-bodied. The Goldie does come close to reaching full-bodied in the latter parts of the smoke. While I think the body has a slight edge over the strength, the balance of those two attributes is still very good.
Final Thoughts
The La Palina El Diario won our 2011 Cigar of the Year. The La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 is the first new blend to be released since the El Diario. Without a doubt, the La Palina Goldie will be a contender for top honors in 2012. This is truly one of the finest petit lanceros I have ever had. The flavor profile was unique and complex – and the construction was impeccable. Novice enthusiasts will appreciate that this cigar will not overwhelm with strength, while experienced cigar enthusiasts will appreciate the flavor nuances and how the cigar changes in strength and body. In my book, this is a cigar I would not only smoke again, but seek a box out for.
Summary
Burn: Excellent
Draw: Excellent
Complexity:High
Strength: Medium (starts out Mild and progresses by last third)
Body: Medium to Full (starts out Mild to Medium and progresses to Medium to Full by the second third)
Finish: Good
Assessment: Memorable
Score: 94
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased at Delaware Cigars in Newark, Delaware.
I smoked one at a la palina event the other night. Fantastic cigar that i also smoked to the nub. On the cold draw i got hints of banana. Never had that before with a cigar. With only 1000 boxes made i picked one up and look forward to the next one. I agree that the petite lancero is a great size. If u dont try some of the smaller ring gauge cigars u r missing out.