La Perla Habana Morado

[scarhead]

Recently, I was listening to a podcast during which they were discussing this cigar. They gave it great reviews, so I started looking into it. There seemed to be different versions of the La Perla Habana Morado (i.e., some are wrapped in a cedar sleeve with a purple ribbon while others are not). In any event, I found some at Cigars International and bought a box of 20 at a very decent price.

When I removed it from the cellophane and examined the cigar I found it to be very loosely rolled and very light in weight. When I lit the cigar it almost didn't want to stay lit. The first few puffs on it reminded me almost of a cigarette. As I continued to smoke it I got more disappointed it and thought that this cannot be the same cigar discussed on the podcast.

I have never been the type to judge a cigar based only on one cigar let alone from just the first or second third of a cigar. So, I continued smoking. I was in my car at the time (actually one of my favorite places to smoke because I can open or close the window thereby adjusting the conditions I am smoking in). As I continued smoking I became more disappointed with the cigar and wound up tossing it about half way through.

As I said, I don't judge a cigar based only on one. Having said that, I spoke with my brother today who had grabbed one out of the box from my humidor. The first thing he said to me was that he really disliked this cigar. He smoked it back to back with a Joya de Nic Antano and really enjoyed the JDN. Prior to him telling me of his experience with the La Perla I didn't tell him what I thought of it, but what he told me was exactly what I experienced.

So, what's the deal? Did I get a box of duds, are these different from other Morados or is this the general consensus of these cigars?

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Do me a favor, and look at the band.

LPH is a brand I really like and the Morado is my absolute favorite.

It seems like there's a bit of an issue going on in my humidor - Half of my LPH have a purple band with a black border, and the front of the band (where the lady's head is) is a crisp image with a black border. The other half of them are purple bands with black borders, but the image on the band is less crisp, more like a copier printout, and it is surrounded in purple.

The former, with the black surrounding, are delicious. The latter are less so (they aren't as bad as you described, but my purple banded ones aren't as tasty as my black ringed ones).

At least, this is my experience

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Here, compare this:

to this:

Which is yours?

 

[Mathen]

I'm smoking the second type right now. It just came off of the big brown truck today. Given that this particular one never even made it into my humidor, it ain't terrible. Not having the problems as described above. Draw is a little tight, but not unsmokable. Flavor is very nice if somewhat simple. I expect they'll turn into a pretty decent cigar after taking a little nap.

 

[La Chupacabra]

I believe CI bought the rights to those lines , just like the Padilla's. Once CI gets it hand on the cigars they go down hill fast. They are being made now as cheap as possible. It's a LPH that's not a LPH, get the drift?

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Sorry for the triple post, but I felt like this was worth adding - Your post got me to wondering, so I went ahead and smoked another of the ones with the purple border (as opposed to the black one)

I'm fairly convinced that they are both the exact same cigar, just with different bands (also, the ones I have with the lower quality bands are Robustos, while the black ringed ones are Toros, so that could be the flavor difference)

I think the reason the ones with the purple-er band taste worse is, 1. They are robusto, so they don't have the same wrapper-binder-filler ratio (and the cameroon on this stick is flavorful, so that would change things), and 2. Age. My box with the black bands is between 8 months and a year old, my ones with the purple bands is one or two months old. It tastes a lot like I recall the fresh black-banded ones tasting.

Here's the conclusion I've drawn - The full purple bands are cheaper. The end. They have lower detail quality, and less color variance, so they are cheaper to mass produce. Hence the switch in bands (Something like what happened with the 601's, maybe?). I'm 99% positive that they are the same cigar, just different vitolas, ages and bands.

Which leads to my second conclusion. You just had a dud, or one that's too fresh. These things become excellent with age, so give them some down time. If, after a little rest, they aren't good, let me know, I'll send you a few of mine that I really like, you can compare for yourself. If the ones from me don't taste good to you, then you can chalk it up to preference. If mine taste good, but yours still don't, then you got duds, or they need more age.

One last question - What vitola did you get? In my experience, the Robustos are iffy, they can be good or above average, the Toro are always (for me) tasty as can be, and the Belicoso (torpedo) are either above average, or just downright disappointing. Of the two torpedos I had, one was just "pretty good"... The other was just plain bad. Bitter and bleh. The toros, if given a few months, have never let me down.

Sorry for the triple post, but I hope that helped

 

[La Chupacabra]

Look outside CI for the old stock, You'll pay full retail but get a LPH made by LPH.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

I believe CI bought the rights to those lines , just like the Padilla's. Once CI gets it hand on the cigars they go down hill fast. They are being made now as cheap as possible. It's a LPH that's not a LPH, get the drift?

This I VERY STRONGLY disagree with. It has happened in some cases, but is not universally true. Diesel UC and Man O War, along with 5 Vegas Classic/"A" (To name a few) are all owned by CI and are still excellent smokes. I've had old LPH, and new ones from CI. Both are the same, IMO. They just need time, and the right vitola helps. However, this does back up my theory that the bands are now changing to save a few bucks. If the stick is the same, but the band is cheaper, I don't really care.

I'm smoking the second type right now. It just came off of the big brown truck today. Given that this particular one never even made it into my humidor, it ain't terrible. Not having the problems as described above. Draw is a little tight, but not unsmokable. Flavor is very nice if somewhat simple. I expect they'll turn into a pretty decent cigar after taking a little nap.

That was my experience - The robusto was a bit too tight, the flavor was a little flat compared to a rested one, but it wasn't bad... Just "fresh". Some time will do things right, IMO

 

[La Chupacabra]

I ment when CI buys and established line. They killed Padilla. I too love 5 Vegas AAA, and some Man' O's

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Look outside CI for the old stock, You'll pay full retail but get a LPH made by LPH.

Just because CI owns it doesn't mean that LPH doesn't make it. Ownership changes all the time on all kinds of things. Sometimes that changes the product, sometimes it doesn't. In this case, I don't think it has anything to do with his cigar.

EDIT: I've had Padillas made under CI reign that were good, and Padilla's made pre-CI that were bad. I just don't think this is universally true. At least, not in the case of the LPH. I love this line, and have yet to have a bad one. I've had ones that were great, ones that were good, ones that were fantastic, etc, but not yet a Bad one (excepting one that was plugged)

Time will tell, but I think they're still the same cigars with a different owner

 

[La Chupacabra]

There is a difference between a cigar manufacturer making a line for a retailer and a retailer buying the rites to a line. When a cigar manufacturer sells a line it’s normally for one of two reasons. They are moving on to bigger and better things or they a broke.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Doesn't mean that the cigar line will change, though... There seems to be a really negative rep following CI exclusives - I've never had a bad one, be it made for them, or owned by them. In fact, I've never had a bad experience with CI at all.

As far as I can tell (and I've smoked my share of both band-versions, and my share of Pre/Post CI) these cigars remain the same, they just require a little downtime to hit their full stride

 

[La Chupacabra]

I have no problem CI in general. They cigar industry as a whole can be sneaky. Sometimes you think your buy one thing but getting another. Now I have no first hand knowledge about LPH. But I do know that when cigar line is sold they sell the name and recipe. Then the cigar can be made anywhere. LPH has not put out anything new since selling lines to CI. If I was a gambling man I would guess BROKE. Believe me, I was not trying to upset you or shit on a cigar you like. I loved old LPH. I bought a pair of 5ers a while back of the maduro's from CI. They where not the same as the old ones I had IMHO.

 

[Mathen]

I got to tell you... after the first half the draw opened up and I'm well on my way to nubbing this puppy. Flavor is still very consistent. Light pepper, some leather and maybe fruit? Almost sweet. It's quite nice. I'm looking forward to revisiting these around Christmas time.

Also... I appreciate the hell out of anyone passionate about a cigar line. That's how I tend to try new things.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Sorry if I sounded a little incensed, I didn't mean to come off as prickish. I've just seen a lot of threads around the net about how CI shits all over anything they touch. I thought you were going to pull that card. I've never had a bad experience with this brand, or with CI, so I took up the sword and shield... Maybe a bit too hastily, lol

We cool, bro? :razz:

And if you want me to send you one of the ones I've got that is under the CI umbrella, just ask, I'd be glad to let you try and compare.

Cheers!
Jeremy

 

[La Chupacabra]

Yeah, I hate CI so much that this is my current bid list on CI
Graycliff Espresso Series 'Double Espresso'
1/1 $23.00 $25.00


2d 4h 601 Serie Habano Oscuro Corona
1/1 $21.00 $23.00


2d 3h E.P. Carrillo Regalias Real
1/1 $23.00 $25.00


1d 6h Nica Libre Potencia Double Robusto
1/1 $11.00 $13.00


1d 4h Kinky Friedman 'Kinkycristo' (belicoso)
1/1 $9.00 $11.00


4h 10m La Aurora Barrel Aged Robusto
1/1 $17.00

 

[scarhead]

Really quick, thanks for the replies and information. I'm going to upload some photos I've taken of the cigar so we can determine what I have.

 

[scarhead]

There's some good discussion going on here.

It's hard to tell from the photos I posted, but the band is a dark purple with a black outline. The photo on the band is not crisp, but rather, like Dr. Xikar described, is more of a copy.

The size of my cigars is toro.

I really wished manufacturers outside of Cuba would use box dates so we can determine relatively when the cigars were rolled.

 

[Dr. Xikar]

Believe it or not, that's actually the crisper of the two pictures... They'll usually look like copies since they are, in fact, just that.

What you have there are some of my favorite cigars, both in brand/blend and vitola. Tell me, how long ago did you buy them and in what conditions have they been kept? To me, the LPH Morados smoked best around 63-65 humidity, and 60-65 degrees, so a little lower on both sides than average. If these are at all overly damp, they tend to be pretty bad.

I can be more helpful when I know how long you've had them, but I'd say just unbox them, pull them out of the cello (if that's your preference... I always keep these guys uncellod, but it doesn't really matter much) and store them in a well kept humidor. Give them a month or two and try again.

If they still taste bad to you, maybe we could trade - A handful of my LPH Morado toro's for some of yours, and both compare them?

Good luck!
Jeremy

 

[Cornrow_Wallis]

Slight hijack, anybody know which Padilla lines are CI and which are Padilla?