La Palina Black Label Robusto Review

Black Label
Made by: La Palina
Country: Brazil, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua
Vitola: 5 by 52 (Robusto)

A week of first’s, this is a label I have yet to visit for the blog as well. The most popular blends that the company puts out are the Mr. Sam and the Goldie, but let’s see what this blend has to offer with a La Palina Black Label Robusto Review.

Prelight

Mainly a spongy pack, but there are couple of hard spot. The cap is well-made, small veins and visible seams. Very light tooth to the wrapper, and the foot is giving off heavy wood with some black pepper. Easy cut, definitely some loose tobacco. Extremely easy draw, and the prelight flavors are similar to what the foot was putting off. Let’s get this lit up and see how it performs.

1/3

Tons and tons of smoke production right of the bat, the extremely easy draw is making this an interesting experience from the start. Cocoa and deep oak on the front with black pepper controlling the center and finish alongside the heavy oak. Flaky but compact ash, the burn line is slightly off but no touchups needed yet. Medium smoke thickness, medium to full body and medium strength. It seems to be burning quicker than usual for a cigar of this size. That is most likely attributed to the light pack resulting in the easy draw.

2/3

Cocoa is up on the front there is now a mix of oak and cedar underneath. The center is more pronounced now showing leather and deep oak. That black pepper and deep oak finish is still holding. The deep oak is a constant characteristic of this cigar and carries through the whole profile. Approaching full body but it’s not quite there, and the strength has stayed at a medium. The smoke production is still a lot and the smoke thickness is holding at a medium. Some decent flavor shifts but the overall flavor is being pretty consistent in this profile. The ash is still pretty flaking and it isn’t the best burn line, but the flavors are very present. The finish is a bit over pronounced but there are always areas for cigars to improve.

3/3

If you like black pepper then this last third would be perfect. The cocoa has fallen as the front as the black pepper is bleeding into the entire profile. There is a subtle mix of leather and oak under the pepper on the center and the finish now has characteristic of red pepper showing as well. The cigar did reach a full body and the strength got to a medium plus at the end of the cigar.

Smoke Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Conclusion: 83

In my opinion the first two thirds of this cigar were pretty good. The black pepper was overwhelming in the last third. Definitely a cigar with more body and strength then usual which is something that a lot of people look for. Interesting and bold transitions and a fair amount of complexity within the flavors that the cigar did present.

Click on the picture to find this cigar at anthonyscigars.com