Cigar Review: La Palina Black Label Robusto

La Palina has accomplished a lot in the four and a half years since the brand was launched, or technically re-launched. (The original La Palina was introduced in 1896, and later developed by the vision of William S. Paley, who went on to found CBS.)

I attended the La Palina launch event in 2010 when the company introduced its first cigar, made at Graycliff in the Bahamas. If you had told me then where this brand would be now, I would have been both impressed and surprised.

Since 2010, La Palina has introduced a steady stream of new cigars, with nearly two per year. The latest offering is La Palina Black, the second La Palina cigar (after the Classic) to be made at Abe Flores’ Pinar del Rio factory in the Dominican Republic.

The line comes in four sizes—Gordo (6 x 60), Toro (6 x 50), Robusto (5 x 52), and Petit Lancero (6 x 40)—with prices ranging from $9 to $11.50 per cigar. La Palina has always had a classic look, but the black accents in the primary band combined with the black and gold secondary label make this an especially sharp presentation.

For this review, I smoked two Robustos provided as samples by La Palina. Each features a deep brown Brazilian Bahiano wrapper. Underneath are dual binders from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua around filler tobaccos from the same two countries.

The cigar has notable dried fruit flavors on the pre-light draw. Once lit, I found medium-full bodied roasted flavors of coffee, leather, and oak. There’s a slight hint of licorice too, and perhaps an echo of sweetness.

As it progresses, a chalky element adds into the mix, but mostly the flavors are consistent from start to finish. The aroma is very pleasant with dense oak and pepper. Construction is flawless, including a light gray ash that holds for an inch and a half before falling off.

This latest La Palina has many of the qualities that make the brand unlikely to disappoint. It’s well-made and features pleasant flavors, even if it doesn’t have much of a wow factor. That earns the La Palina Black Robusto a rating of four stogies out of five.

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–Patrick S

photo credit: Stogie Guys