La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1

The La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1 was one of two cigars released by General Cigar’s La Gloria Cubana brand at the 2012 IPCPR Trade Show.   These two new cigars continue the tradition of innovation established by the La Gloria Cubana blend.  For the two Trunk Show Twenty Twelve cigars, each features a smokeable band.   We were one of the first media outlets to tell the story of these two cigars.  In a recent review, we broke down the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga YG-23.  Now we take a look at the other cigar, the Liga LR-1.  The LR-1 is a completely different cigar than the YG-23, but it has no loss of innovation.  Overall I have found the two cigars of the Trunk Show Twenty Twelve series to be excellent, but I have to give a nod to the LR-1.  

Both cigars in the Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Series come from the creative minds of Team La Gloria Cubana’s Michael Giannini and Yuri Guillen.  While this isn’t the first smokeable band on a cigar, Giannini and Guillen take the smokeable band to another level with the Trunk Show Twenty Twelve series.  For the LR-1, the smokeable band is an intricate die-cut band made from tobacco leaves in the shape of the La Gloria Cubana logo.

Die-cut smokeable band of the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1

As mentioned the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1 is a different cigar than the YG-23. Not only does it feature an entirely different blend, but it also features a completely different smokeable band.  The YG-23 gives the appearance of an actual “printed” band label.  It uses a homogenized tobacco leaf as the physical label, and its printing is done with a non-toxic vegetable dye. For the LR-1 and YG-23 blends only 500 boxes of each cigar were produced.  The reason for this limited release is due to the availability of the tobaccos for the blend.  The word is that once the cigars are gone – they are gone.

La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga YG-23

Let’s break down the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1 and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1 features a Habano Connecticut Fino wrapper.   The remainder of the blend consists of Nicaraguan tobaccos.

Wrapper: Habano Connecticut Fino
Binder: Nicaraguan (Proprietary – Double Binder)
Filler: Nicaraguan 

Vitolas Available

The La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1 will be offered in a single vitola –  a 7 x 52 (a slightly thicker) Churchill size.   The cigars are packaged 26 to a box. With 500 boxes being made, there are a total of 13,000 cigars being produced.

Appearance

The LR-1’s Habano Connecticut Fino wrapper resembles a classic Connecticut Shade wrapper as it is light brown in color.  The wrapper definitely does not have an oily complexion to it.  The wrapper has both visible veins and visible wrapper seams.  For this particular cigar I smoked, the wrapper also had a toothy appearance toward the footer.  As mentioned the band is a die-cut of the La Gloria Cubana logo.  It almost resembles a maduro shade of tobacco as it is darker in color.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

For my smoking experience of the LR-1, I went with my usual straight cut into the cap of the cigar.  I then proceeded to begin the pre-light draw.  The dry draw notes were definitely reminiscent of a Connecticut Shade dry draw.  The flavors were a combination of wood and cream.  Overall, I did not consider this a very dynamic pre-light draw.  Given that the pre-light experience is not factored into the overall rating or score, there was no loss of points here.  At this point, it was time to toast the foot of the LR-1 and see what the smoking experience had in store.

Flavor Profile

The start to the LR-1 also had some characteristics of a Connecticut Shade.  It provided a combination of cream and wood to start.  There is also some background pepper present at the beginning.  Early on the flavors switched up a bit as the pepper spice moved to the forefront creating a creamy spice.  At the same time, the wood notes moved to the background.

Toward the end of the first third the creamy spice flavor still held in the forefront with the wood in the background.  It is also around this time where an interesting herbal component surfaced.  This is where the LR-1 really started to develop its own unique flavor profile.

As the LR-1 moved into the second half, the flavor profile changed to more of a wood/pepper combination in the forefront. The cream moved to the background with the herbal component.  I also now was able to detect a sweet component that resembled raw sugar cane in the background.  The sweetness would increase and eventually join the wood/pepper combination in the forefront.   Meanwhile the herbal notes remained in the background.  For the most part, this is the way the flavor profile would hold until the close of the cigar experience.  At the very end, I also detected some nut notes that could be considered primary.  Overall, the close to the cigar was quite smooth.  The resulting nub was ideal – cool in temperature and firm to the touch.

One interesting note is that on the YG-23 the smokeable band did have some impact on the flavor profile.  I did not find that the LR-1’s smokeable band had any impact on the flavor profile.  This is a smaller band and the burn is not reached until the final stages of the cigar experience, so this did not surprise me that it didn’t impact the flavor profile.

Smoking through the band of the La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Liga LR-1

Burn and Draw

The burn to the LR-1 was a little jagged in the first part of the smoking experience.  It did require some more frequent touch-ups than I would have preferred.  The resulting ash was firm.  It had a white color with a few black spots.  The burn rate and burn temperature were both ideal.  As for the draw, it was outstanding.  This made the LR-1 a very enjoyable cigar to puff on.

Strength and Body

When I smoked the YG-23 I found that to be a powerful smoke from a nicotine perspective.  The LR-1 is going to be more dialed back in terms of strength.  The LR-1 starts out as a medium strength cigar.  By the end of the second third, the strength does progress to the lower end of medium to full.   From a depth of flavor standpoint, I actually thought the LR-1 had more body than the YG-23.  The LR-1 starts out as a medium to full-bodied smoke.  By the end of the second third, it progressed to a full-bodied smoke.

The YG-23’s strength had an advantage over the body.  With the LR-1, I found the converse to be true.  This cigar’s body is going to have an edge over the strength.

Final Thoughts

The La Gloria Cubana Trunk Show Twenty Twelve Series is going to be highlighted by its smokeable bands.  With the YG-23, I mentioned that the smokeable band plays a role in its flavor profile while the LR-1’s smokeable band does not.  I did admire the artisan work that went into developing the die-cut band of the LR-1.  At the same time, the LR-1’s blend comes together very well – creating a terrific smoking experience. In other words, this is an excellent smoke with or without a smokeable band.   It is the kind of cigar that could be recommended to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast.  As for myself, I would definitely smoke this again.

Summary

Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: High
Strength: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last Third)
Body: Medium to Full (1st 2/3), Full (Last Third)
Finish: Excellent
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 92

Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from Outland Cigars in Charlotte, North Carolina.