La Palina Classic Classic

The cigars predate the network.  Yes, the Paley family that created and owns CBS is the same family that created and owns La Palina.  Long before William S. Paley was thinking about radio and television, his father Sam was in the cigar business.  And young Paley joined that business after graduating from the Wharton School.  Responsible for advertising, he decided that La Palina would sponsor radio shows.  When that proved successful, Paley chose to pursue that career.  Unfortunately, the cigar business was closed on the death of Sam in 1926.  But, not forgotten.  Bill Paley, looking for a cigar for the family retreat in the Bahamas found the famed Avelina Lara to recreate the La Palina brand.  This brand has met with great success and its reputation continues to grow as people discover these excellent cigars.

The newest of the La Palina line is the Classic.  It became available at the 2012 IPCPR show in Orlando.  My cigar was a pleasure to look at.  A caramel brown wrapper covered this beautiful parejo.  It punched without problem and lit easily.

This is a well constructed cigar.  The burn was even and the ash long.  The ash was almost white and held perfectly.  The entire time I was smoking this stick it just sang out to me. I think it was saying ‘I wish there were more’.

Flavor aplenty.  And, definitely interesting.  As I started the cigar there were definite hints of spice.  But, they were balanced by sweetness.  I tasted caramel.  Not overpowering but clearly sweet.  There were also hints of citrus.  As the cigar smoked, I found the spiciness continued and some the sweetness abated.  There was an earthy feel to the middle third of the cigar.  But, the caramel returned.  I know that salted caramel is quite popular these days, but this was peppered caramel.  And it too, was quite nice in a cigar.  This is a medium bodied or ‘lunch’ cigar that burns cool.  The aftertaste was very long on the mouth but not at all unpleasant.

This line of La Palina is intended to be a lesser expensive alternative to their offerings.  At $7.50 it is higher priced than I’d like for an everyday cigar, but still because of its flavor and construction well worth the money.  I know I want to smoke this stick again.