Stogie Reviews: La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami Artesanitos

With Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s recent announcement that he plans to start a new business with his family, the Artesano de Miami blend may be his last creation as an employee of the General Cigar Co. We’re sure the famed cigar maker and longtime head of La Gloria Cubana will be missed—especially since his latest concoction is one of his best.

Before it was introduced at the IPCPR Trade Show last July, it allegedly took six years and 50 different blends to complete Artesanos de Miami. Perez-Carrillo then personally selected ten Cuban expatriates to roll the cigar in the El Credito factory in Little Havana, Miami.

His persistence seems to have paid off; for what it’s worth, the blend was honored with the 9th slot in Cigar Aficionado’s Best Cigars of the Year. That ranking, along with a limited production of only 250,000 cigars, is why several retailers are out of stock of the Elegante vitola, CA’s favorite size.

There are four other vitolas in the Artesanos de Miami catalogue, each of which has never been offered by La Gloria Cubana before. With its rustic habano-seed Nicaraguan wrapper and compact format, we were particularly intrigued by the 5 inch by 46 ring gauge Artesanitos.

This blend of an Ecuadorian Sumatra binder and Dominican and Nicaraguan longfillers starts with a powerful woodsy spice. After a quarter inch, several of the Artesanitos we sampled followed with a burst of intense bitterness that prevails for two to three minutes. This slight irregularity leads us to believe the cigar has aging potential. Either way, once the bitterness is gone the taste is more balanced with notes of cedar, nut, and spice.

That classic Nicaraguan flavor mellows at the halfway point. It was about here that we agreed the Artesanos de Miami blend is a cigar smoker’s cigar—plenty of nuance and character.

Between the two of us, we burned through almost half a box of Artesanitos for this review. We’re happy to say the combustion qualities are superb and consistent.

At $180 for a box of 25 or $8 for a single, this little darling is no cheap date. As we’ve explained, however, the return on your investment will be substantial—especially in light of Ernesto Perez-Carrillo’s imminent departure from General. We give the La Gloria Cubana Artesanos de Miami Artesanitos four stogies out of five.

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–Patrick A & Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys