La Palina El Año 1896 Oscuro 5x52 Robusto

Written by Craig Vanderslice

The La Palina Brand got its start in the late 1800s with Samuel Paley, who’s son, William Paley, Sr. bought a radio station in Philadelphia to help promote the brand. The radio station eventually became the Columbia Broadcasting System, so William Paley became a little too bust building a media empire to continue the cigar brand. In the early 2000s, William Paley, Jr. Resurrected the brand, starting with a very expensive cigar made at the Greycliff factory in the Bahamas, moving production to a selection of factories. The La Palina line has a broad range of cigars with something for every palate and budget. The El Año 1896 Oscuro comes in robusto, toro and belicoso, and has a tissue sleeve with the traditional image of Bill Paley’s Grandmother Goldie, which is usually on the band. The wrapper is San Andrés and is classified as Oscuro in the name, although it was a shade lighter than what I consider oscuro. It also has Dominican fillers and binder and It has a slight box press, and a very interesting flavor. It had some earthiness and dark espresso, with a little spice and some cocoa. It was a cigar I very much enjoyed when I smoked it last year. The construction was very good and it had an effortless draw. These are made at Abe Flores’ PDR factory in the Dominican Republic and was released at the 2016 IPCPR trade show.