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| 2012 Cigar of the Year: La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2 |
Our selection for the 2012 Cigar of the Year is the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2. This is a little cigar won the hearts of many cigar enthusiasts in 2012. It delivered one of the most amazing cigar experiences ever for a petit lancero. It is a cigar truly worthy of being a Cigar of the Year.
The La Palina Goldie gives Bill Paley’s La Palina Cigars our #1 Cigar of the Year for the second consecutive year. Last year, it was the La Palina El Diario that captured our 2011 Cigar of the Year award. It also marks the third consecutive year La Palina has appeared on the countdown – and third consecutive year La Palina has had a top five cigar. Finally, the La Palina Goldie shows the Ecuadorian Habano wrapper might have been the wrapper of the year as this marks the sixth cigar to use this wrapper to place on the countdown.
La Palina president Bill Paley told us part of his strategy was to work with some of the best factories in the world. For the La Palina Goldie, Paley turned to Miami’s El Titan de Bronze factory. The Goldie becomes the second cigar in this year’s countdown (the other being El Primer Mundo Clase Reserva) to be made at that factory. It is also our first cigar of the year that is made in the United States.
The La Palina Goldie is the first release of the intended La Palina Collection. 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. There were only 1000 boxes of 10 produced of the La Palina Goldie.
The Goldie was offered in a petite lancero. As part of the line’s strategy, the cigars are made by a single roller. The roller is Maria Sierra who works at El Titan de Bronze factory. Sierra is a 95 rated, category 9 roller trained by Fidel Castro’s personal roller Eduardo Rivera Izarri as well as Avelino Lara (Cohiba).
The Goldie has impeccable construction and this shows from its appearance and is demonstrated in its burn and draw. The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper has a lighter color than most and does a good job at hiding the wrapper seams and veins. While the blend of the Goldie consists of Ecuadorian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican tobacco, it is the incorporation of the high priming Medio Tiempo leaf (found on only 10% of tobacco plants) that really gives this cigar the edge.
While I’ve had some smokes with more flavor nuances, the combination of pepper, sweet floral, mesquite, and cocoa make mesh together beautifully and give the cigar one of the most unique flavor profiles I’ve had in some time. The flavor notes actually start out mild to medium bodied, but quickly develop into medium to full-bodied notes. The strength also starts out mild, but increases quickly to medium strength. No doubt, the Medio Tiempo is playing a roll here.
As with all cigars that we name a Cigar of the Year, the cigar is designated with a “Historic/Hall of Fame” status and will automatically inducted into the Cigar Coop Hall of Fame in October, 2013.
Click here for our assessment of the La Palina Collection – Goldie Laguito No. 2
Blend Profile
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano
Binder: Ecuadorian
Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican
Vitolas Available
Petit Lancero: 6 x 38
Recommended Vitola: Petit Lancero (Default)
Simply amazing. This cigar was and is nothing less than incredible.