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| La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra |
The La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra is one of three 2012 regional releases by the La Gloria Cubana. These three regional releases have been targeted to be longer, larger ring gauge cigars. The Piramide Supra was a release that was targeted for the northeastern U.S. market. The cigar comes in the form of a giant-sized piramide vitola measuring 7 1/4 x 62. Recently I had a chance to smoke the Piramide Supra. Overall, this large torpedo produced not only a good cigar experience, but a cigar that was fun to smoke. It also is a cigar that should appeal to long-time fans of La Gloria Cubana – especially those that enjoy big ring gauge cigars.
Since the departure of La Gloria Cubana founder Ernesto Perez-Carrillo from General Cigar, the company has focused La Gloria Cubana around innovation and to some extent experimentation. This has been seen with cigars such as Artesanos de Tabaqueros, Artesanos de Obelisco, Retro Especiale, the Trunk Show Twenty Twelve LR-1 and YG-23 releases. It seems this latest experimentation has been around developing some very big ring gauge cigars. The Piramide Supra delivers a monstrous torpedo.
The other two regional releases from La Gloria Cubana in 2012 were the La Gloria Cubana Sanson (Southeast) and the La Gloria Cubana Gorda Gorda (West). Recently, large regional cigars have also been released with the CAO brand of General Cigar with the CAO Left Coast (West) and CAO Right Coast (Southeast).
Without further adieu, let’s break down the La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra and see what this cigar brings to the table.
Blend Profile
Our good friends at A Cigar Smoker’s Journal had information in relates to the blend:
Wrapper: Ecuadorian
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican
Vitolas Available
The La Gloria Piramide Supra is available in one size – the 7 1/4 x 64 torpedo. A Cigar Smoker’s Journal mentions that 777 boxes of ten were produced.
Appearance
The wrapper to the La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra has a vintage La Gloria Cubana natural look to it. It has a similar to look the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Natural. The wrapper is a medium brown/dark caramel color. There are also some darker spots on the wrapper. The complexion to the wrapper is oily. There are some visible veins and wrapper seams on the surface of the wrapper. The cigar itself felt quiet heavy and the torpedo tip also seemed well packed.
For my experience of the La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra, I went with a straight cut into the tip of a torpedo. I then moved on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw provided some nice flavor as it delivered notes of caramel, natural tobacco sweetness, and some light pepper notes. Overall, it had a very classic “La Gloria Cubana” pre-light draw that was satisfying. At this point, it was time to light the Piramide Supra and see what the cigar experience would have in store.
Flavor Profile
The start to the Piramide Supra yielded some natural tobacco flavors, pepper spice, and caramel notes. The flavor profile took shape early with the pepper notes going primary, the natural tobacco flavors secondary, and the caramel notes tertiary. These flavors would hold throughout the first third of the cigar experience. Like the pre-light experience, this cigar had a very classic La Gloria Cubana profile.
In the second third, the spice became more of a combination of pepper and baker’s spice. The natural tobacco notes remained secondary, and the caramel notes seemed to dissipate. The Piramide Supra still had the classic La Gloria Cubana flavor profile.
As the Piramide Supra moved into the last third, the spice notes actually receded a bit. I was also surprised to see some of the caramel notes return into the background. There was actually a nice mix of flavors at the end. While there was no harshness at the end, the resulting nub was not quite ideal. The nub was on the warmer and softer side. Overall, a classic La Gloria Cubana smoke from start to finish.
Burn and Draw
With torpedos, many know I tend not to make this a vitola of choice because I tend not to get burn or draw as good as a parejo. With the burn of the Piramide Supra it did perform rather well – especially for such a large cigar. The burn line remained relatively straight from start to finish. The resulting ash was a salt and pepper color. There was some flaking of the ash along the way, but it wasn’t a nuisance. The burn rate was ideal. The burn temperature was ideal until it approached the nub. In this case I found the burn got pretty warm at the end. While the warm burn did not create harshness at the end, it still made the end of the cigar less enjoyable because the cigar was warm and soft.
The draw was outstanding. I think this goes back to the point that the torpedo tip was well constructed and firm. Throughout this 2+ hour smoking experience, I never felt as though as I was smoking a torpedo.
Strength and Body
From a strength perspective, the La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra starts out with medium strength. In the first third, the strength does kick up a notch to medium to full. It stays like that for the remainder of the cigar experience. As for the flavors, there are some nice depth to them. I assessed the Piramide Supra as being a full-bodied cigar from start to finish. Overall, I felt the body had an edge over the strength throughout the smoking experience. I do think this is a case where if the body were amp’d down slightly, it would have made for a better balanced smoke with the strength.
Final Thoughts
I mentioned at the start of the cigar experience that the La Gloria Cubana Piramide Supra as a fun smoke. Despite the warm finish, the construction held up quite well – especially for a cigar of this size. The flavor profile wasn’t the most complex, but it did produce some nice flavors. I think its fun once in a while to light up a huge cigar like this – especially if you can just sit back and relax. Overall, this probably is a cigar I’d gear more toward the experienced cigar enthusiast. I do feel that La Gloria Cubana Serie R Natural fans will really enjoy this smoke – particularly if they do like a big ring gauge. While it wouldn’t be a regular rotation smoke, the Piramide Supra is a cigar I would smoke from time to time.
Summary
Burn: Good
Draw: Excellent
Complexity: Low
Strength: Medium to Full (Medium to start)
Body: Full
Finish: Fair
Assessment: Nice to Have
Score: 88
Source: The cigars for this assessment were purchased from City Cigar Company in Charlotte, North Carolina. This (non-Northeast) retailer did have a box of this particular regional release.
