Smoking the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Limitada cigar is by no means a small undertaking.
- Angela Cesere
- The La Gloria Cubana Serie R Limitada cigar costs $34.99 (ANGELA CESERE/Daily)
First, there’s the price. Listed at $34.99 – $37.05 after tax – this is Nickel’s Arcade tobbaconist Maison Edward’s most expensive cigar. This is not a vanilla Dutch Masters from the local corner store.
Then there’s the time commitment. It takes about two hours to smoke this massive cigar, and that’s if you’re puffing full speed without getting tired at the end.
But you will get tired.
To add to a bit of the cigar’s pageantry, it comes sheathed in cedar casing, and preparing to smoke feels a bit like unveiling Excalibur – the sword, not the cigar.
Despite its name, the La Gloria Cubana Serie R Limitada is not from Cuba. Thanks to the United States’s decades-old embargo of the country, that would be illegal. It’s from the Dominican Republic.
The cigar has been aged for two years. That allows the three parts of the cigar – the binder, wrapper and filler – to slowly melt together for optimum flavor.
In terms of flavor and body, the Serie R Limitada is not among the most robust cigars available, but it rests in a very pleasant place just below.
One hit won’t make you cough up a lung, but you’ll definitely know you’re puffing a lot more than air.
Putting it down for a moment will allow you to fully experience this cigar’s wonderful aftertaste. Licking your lips brings you to a special world where your own mouth tastes like the strongest espresso and the darkest chocolate you’ve ever had, all with the slightest hint of sweetness.
But price and quality don’t always go together.
Maison Edwards owner Chuck Ghawi said the Serie R isn’t the shop’s best cigar.
Tobacco quality does play a part in price, but rarity and size are also large factors, Ghawi said.
In fact, Ghawi and Maison Edwards employee Julian Lizzio both said their best cigar is actually the Fuente Fuente Opus X cigar, which costs $29.99.