La Palina El Diario KBII Corona – Cigar Review

A nice cold front moved into central Florida this weekend and took the humidity down and lowered the heat. The Gar Cave is quite comfortable on these wonderful autumn  nights in Florida. A good evening to cook a steak on the grill and afterword  a enjoy a tasty smoke. This evening I chose the La Palina El Diario KBII Corona. “El Diario” translates to “The Daily” and it is designed to be an any day smoke. So since today is any day it was good choice for after a big steak dinner.

The El Diario is manufactured at the Raices Cubanas factory in Honduras and is very well constructed cigar. I don’t smoke many Corona Vitolas but the El Diario left me wanting to smoke more of them. It is a fine blend of Nicaraguan corojo and criollo filler with double binders from Honduras. The wrapper is a sweet Honduran rosada leaf.

Examining the El Diario, you will agree it is an elegant corona. You first notice the satin smooth rosado wrapper medium brown in color with a tinge of red. The Band is beautifully adorned with William Paley’s Grandmother Goldie, which is a tribute to her and his Grandfather who created the original La Palina cigar back in the early 1900s. I too revere my Grandmother and I thought it fitting to take this photo of the La Palina in front my Grandparent’s antique liquor cabinet, which I converted into a humidor.

The foot of the El Diario has a scent of sweet tea while the dry draw presents notes of earthy hay. On first lighting it up you are presented with immediate pepper flavor on the tongue and in the retro-hale. After a short time the flavor evolves into a sweet cafe mocha flavor. (Espresso Chocolate and frothed Milk) I don’t do Starbucks much but when I do cafe mocha is my choice, and this is definitely the flavor I tasted. the cigar is well packed and the draw is slightly constricted, but so much that it does not provide a decent amount of smoke. This cigar is meant to smoke slowly and be enjoyed for all it has to give. If the throttle on this cigar was wide open it burn too fast and you would miss many of the complexities in flavor.

As the El Diario approaches the end of the first third the wrapper starts to bead up with oils. The early espresso gives way to notes of tangy citrus and the pepper has all but settled down in a very well balanced flavor profile. The Burn line is perfect, razor sharp and the ash is still going strong even with the slight bend it has.

Moving into the second third, there are notes of cedar entering the profile and the smoke is smooth and quite delicious.I noticed a gentle sweetness developing on the head that I pick up on the tip of my tongue. Nearing the final third a nutty flavor breaks into the mix and a white pepper note enters. You will also note a tasty waft of molasses coming off the foot. The ash held tight to just before the band, a good 3 1/2 inches. The final burst of pepper is catching the inside of my lower lip which is delightful.

The El Diaro finishes with gentle pepper and that sweet molasses scent.

This was a great one hour plus smoke and it complimented my evening glass of Cabernet very well on this cool dry Florida night.