La GLoria Cubana Serie R Limitada 2005 Maduro

La GLoria Cubana Serie R Limitada 2005 Maduro
Size: 7.75 x 62
Filler: Dominican Republic
Binder: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Ct. Broadleaf

Well, it was a beautiful Mother's Day in NY, and I had a lot of work to do. After two hours of sleep from my night job, I went out to my parent's house to help my dad get dinner ready. This was going to be a L O N G project, so I figured I'd bring the biggest cigar I had in my humidor. This one pretty much fit the bill.



A beautiful specimen of a cigar, gifted to me by a fine jazz loving BOTL. I decided a few weeks back that this was going to be the day I set fire to this beaut. What was going to take so long, you ask? Well, here's the project of the day:



Yup, pig roast. After everything that could possibly go wrong with the roast went wrong (pig wouldn't stay secured to the bar, motor burned out, bar slipped out of the bracket a couple times) we finally seemed to get a handle on the situation, and it was time to enjoy the weather.

I used my Xikar Xi3 to get a nice, clean cut, and the pre-light draw was slightly loose (not a bad thing with a cigar this size) and spicy. I began the cigar with some homemade plum brandy my dad just brought back from his trip to Croatia. I took the cedar sleeve to the coals, and lit the cigar. A lot of smoke, nice and smooth, but no hint of the spiciness I tasted pre-light. There was a woody taste. Not cedar, but I could not figure out what it was exactly.

The burn was uneven in some spots, but for the most part, corrected itself quickly. Probably just as much a result of the decent amount of wind we had in the yard, as much as the cigar itself. I only had to correct it once, and that was down towards the end, probably with about 2" left.



About 1/3 of the way in, the woody taste changed over to a taste of cedar. It was a pretty dramatic and quick changeover. At this point, the brandy was done, and we were working close to the fire trying to fix the problems with he spit. So, I switched over to Beck's. It went well with the sweet taste of the cedar, and the big clouds of smoke I was getting.



At this point, everything finally starting going well with the pig. And just in time, too, because getting down to the final third, the cigar really opened up. The cedar taste was starting to fade a little, and the spiciness I tasted pre-light finally arrived. And, I thought I was getting a lot of smoke before, but that was nothing compared to what was coming now. The Beck's was no match for this, so I had to move on to Jameson. I sat back, enjoyed the rest of the cigar and the sun. Total run time was about 2 1/2 hours.



I REALLY enjoyed this cigar. And i know the environment has just as much to do with the enjoyment, but I think this surpassed just being a product of the environment. I wish I had that much time more often to sit back and enjoy a smoke. And thanks, SJM, for this great smoke.

Dinner was great, as expected. And when it was finally done, I sat outside with a cup of coffee and a Bolivar (NC) robusto. Nice strong smoke to cap off a perfect day. I had originally planned on doing a full review on this smoke, too, but I was just way too damn tired to do anything else but enjoy the smoke, and hope that the caffeine would hurry up and kick in.

Nice review...sounds great! I have a pair of these in Natural and Maduro from the 2006 release. I'm hoping to find half an afternoon to enjoy one of them soon!

Holy mother of god, now thats a real mans barbecue! And to think I thought I was pimping yesterday with (8) 12 oz filet's on the grill! Well done Tom, make us all look like pussies... :sign:

Damn Tom, industrial size smoke with an industrial sized BBQ, looks like you had a nice day. Thanks for sharing.

Nice review mate

Nice review... thanks for sharing. I've seen these sitting around a few B&Ms and wondered what they were like.

Have you smoked the regular Serie R in a large ring guage? Would you say these are similar or different? The flavors you listed make it sound similar, except I always get more of a nutty (hazelnut, macademia) flavor out of the Serie R.

---John Holmes...

I haven't had a regular Serie R yet. A friend of mine has been recommending them for a while. I recently picked up a 5er of the #5 maduros. He's coming to visit next week, and bringing me a #5 with about a year on it for me to try, in exchange for one of my newer ones. I might get to it next weekend, and if I do, I'll let you know how it compares.

Nice review. Sounds like a good day all the way around. :thumbs:

Very nice review Tom.
I still have one giant LGC natural resting in my humi and waiting for free 2,5-3 hours for smoking

Great review and thanks for sharing.
Some day I'll post some pics of the roasts we do here in Miami. Lechon is always a favorite, with the lechon sometimes being staked like yours was, but more often (and as I do it at my place in the Keys), it's placed like this:



with another grate on top of it so it can be flipped over the pit. People also use what is known as a "Caja China" (Chinese box) that looks like this:



I prefer roasting the lechon over a standard pit, on the grates as above. With tons of delicious mojo over it...dammnnnnn it is a treat. Usually done around the holidays especially, but good anytime.

Thanks again for the review and pics.

I had one of those back in January and I must say that while being a decent smoke it was just too damn large. The difference between a 52 or 54 to a 62 ring isn't that much but it is enough to make it uncomfortable for me.

Hellofa BBQ you got there.

They are a good cigar. I have some maduros and nats from 05 and some maduros from 06. The only problem is trying to make sure I have enough time in the day because you are committed to it for 2 hours. Also, I usually do not smoke it in front of people. I've gotten tired of the comments that people make when they see a cigar of that size. They look at me as if I'm Mr.Johnnycakes.

That is a great and strong cigar.
I had one recently,took me 2 and a half hours to finish it.
I really enjoyed it.

Look like good times you had there.