La Gloria Cubana (La Romana) Artesanos de Obelisco

AHH, there it is again, a non-cuban cigar gets cut, lit and smoked.  These things happen, this was a box of cigars "listing" for $300 a box, found at a "discount" for $250, deeper discount for $200.  And then one day there it is for $124.  That is not supposed to affect me in any way, but it DID.  And I have no idea why.  I like non-cuban LGC cigars, I always have, especially the regular lines.  But I am not going to smoke 25 of these things.  So why??  Well, troop support for one thing, gifts to other people for sure, and I would smoke a few.  And I sold 5 this morning to another LGC fan.

So I cut it and took a little extra time in lighting the large 54 ring gauge end.  I could have let the cigar hang out in the humidor for another week to make sure it would be better, but 2 days in the house would have to do.  The cigar drew perfectly on the tiniest cut off the pointed head.  The cigar is designed to emulate the Heroes de Restoracion monument in the La Republica Dominicana.  The monument is a huge stone obelisk which looks just like the cigar, without the band.  The cigar is pointed and somewhat round at the head, and box pressed along the body and square at the end. 

The cigar is richly blessed with coffee and hints of chocolate.  There is a hint of cinammon that I can't decide if I am imagining.  The stick just burns perfectly and the draw is just about as good as it gets.  Other than the initial flavors, there is not a lot going on, but to me that's pretty much what's going on in normal Non-Cuban cigars today.  I do not dabble in the arguably better products being created by the craftsmen du jour, the Pete Johnsons and Pepin Garcias of the world.  But I am content in Havana.  As the cigar gets down to the halfway mark, the flavor gets "cool" and minty with a delicious leathery finish that sticks around for awhile after every puff.  I am pleased by the cigar, and with no more rest than it got, I think it can get a lot better than this.  Reviews available online BEG the reader to keep from smoking it too fast, but this smoke doesn't seem to be capable of over-heating.  This is a high quality product from Altadis, and I have to say that the price was definitely right at 5 bucks.  There are people who have said they paid ten dollars and felt it was fair.  People who have paid Brick and Mortar rates have lamented that extra 3-5 dollars spent over ten bucks.  So there is a line, and in fact, I would have trouble mustering the courage to pay more than 8 for it.  But I didn't HAVE to, haha.  Man, the end of this cigar gets more and more revelatory.  Nuance is the name of the game in the end.  The body was medium all the way through, but the flavor has ramped up steadily, and that is fantastic.  The DRAW wants to tighten up a bit and that is troubling, but I only cut a tiny bit off of it and I can cut more at any time.  But this is a test, isn't it.  The power is really picking up, now, and it affects the flavor somewhat.  That's no problem for the power lovers, but I am much more in the medium body club.  It's not unreasonable.  But I am not into the nub it for the money scene, so down she goes.

This is hard.  I can't rate it too high, because the quality was fantastic but the flavor, while refreshing in it's segment of products, it's well below a really good havana.  But it WAS great, so I am going to be fair, as fair as I can, jaded as I am.  I give it an 89