Cigar Review: La Palina El Diario Toro

Posted by WillyStyl on May 16, 2012 in Reviews | 0 comments

Cigar: La Palina El Diario Toro

Size: Box Pressed Toro (6 x 50)

Wrapper: Honduran Corojo ’99 Rosado

Binder: Honduran Criollo ’98 (Double Binder)

Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo ’99 and Criollo ’98

Strength: Medium

Price: $10 msrp ($200 for a box of 20)

Grade: 8.9

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The La Palina El Diario, or “the daily” is a new release made at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras for the La Palina brand of cigars. La Palina has a rich history and you can learn more about them here. I’m not going to go in much detail about he brand because 1.) I usually don’t, and 2.) I am so excited by the blend characteristics and the fact that this is a Raices Cubanas release (see Alec Bradley, Padilla ,and Viaje, just to name a few). The double binder is intriguing, the corojo criollo blend is a common favorite for me, and I’ve really enjoyed a lot of the Rosado wrapped cigars I’ve smoked.

I have enjoyed many an outstanding smoke from Raices Cubanas and considering the tobaccos used I anticipate this should be a flavorful, somewhat complex smoke.

Enough with that, how’s the Cigar:

Pre-Light : (1.8) The Rosado wrapper is quite attractive. The scent off the foot I get is of lots of dirty barn smell it smells almost sour. The prelight draw reveals a bit more complexity; sweetness of the rosado wrapper, some hay, and a hint of spice. The cigar feels tightly packed but there’s a little give with a squeeze.

Burn: (1.6) The draw is a bit on tight side for my liking, otherwise construction is good. In the first third there was a small amount of tunneling on my burn line but it self corrected. The burn line gets wavy several times and I had to touch up the burn with my torch a few times through the smoke.

Flavor: (2.7) After the first puff I get a little spice and pepper across the palette along with a gentle sweetness courtesy of the Rosado wrapper. The flavors are a full bouquet of rich and semi-spicy tobaccos About an inch and a half in I get a really nice nutty note, the kind that really stands out, it quickly disappears back into this rich, almost fruity, almost salty bouquet of flavor. The nuttiness reappears and is a welcome change up from the richness of the main flavors.

At the start of the second third the cigar the Diario required a quick touch up from the torch, I suspect this is related to the tight draw. However, I am quickly rewarded with a very rich plum note and another nutty note, I assume is from the corojo in the filler. The burn line has become a bit wavy, likely a by product of my touch ups, but the flavor remains consistent and complex with very rewarding notes. Ash has been solid throughout.

The flavor remains much the same through the final third, although I think both the sweetness and spice have picked up a bit, I guess that is from the double Honduran binder.. Both the plum and almond note make the occasional appearance. Body throughout the smoke has been medium. I seem to pick up a little saltiness on the finish but after speaking to some friends it seems I must have been the only one that tasted it.

Overall: (2.8) The La Palina Diario Toro is a very complex, rich and flavorful cigar. It offers a wonderful balance of sweetness and spice. The toro I smoked for this review was very slow burning and this cigar could have easily lasted two hours. I’m sure a battle with the hiccups didn’t help either.

The notes of plum and almond were wonderful, and if I had to complain I’d say I wish there were more of these notes. I think the La Palina will likely get even better with age as the flavors marry a bit more and the nuances of the taste become even more refined. The body grew to a solid medium during the smoke.

Total: 8.9

@WillyStyl