Cigar Review - Perla Del Mar Shade

Cigar Review – Perla Del Mar Shade

Perla Del Mar has an interesting story behind it. The name actually comes from a cigar company started by four Cuban brothers in 1905 and means pearl of the sea.

The original Perla Del Mar brand was extremely popular, so much so that the brothers decided to move their rolling operation to the “Ybor City” area of Tampa, Florida. Their factory happened to be directly next to the JC Newman cigar factory.

The Perla Del Mar brand fell out of favor in the 1930s and was dormant for many years but JC Newman acquired the brand in about 2010.

When Smoked: November 2023
Obtained from: sample from cigar event
Size: Toro (6 inches x 52)
Approximate cost: US$8.00
See ratings below

If you’re not familiar, Ybor City as a cigar mecca in the early 1900s, full of cigar rolling factories. If you ever visit the Tampa area, it’s still worth a trip to Ybor City, it is a restaurant/entertainment center but still shows its cigar heritage, including JC Newman’s current headquarters.

Specs on this cigar – it’s a quintessential Connecticut Shade cigar, with Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper and Nicaraguan binder and filler. It is rolled at the JC Newman Nicaragua factory. The size I smoked was a Toro, pretty husky at 6 inches x 52 gauge with a soft cornered box press.

I smoked one of these prior to the review – the cigar I smoked in the video was an identical experience. Both featured excellent construction, wonderful draw and smoke production, and nice creamy Connecticut Shade flavor profile.

This is billed as a mild to medium body cigar, the smoothness and Connecticut profile was tight in the wheelhouse of Connecticut lovers. I’m going with 3.0/10 for body – flavorful enough to be interesting but not pushing for medium like some Connecticut Shades try to do.

Overall smoking experience for the Perla Del Mar Connecticut Shade is 8.0/10. I have to say I am impressed with the high level of consistency between the two I smoked. I’m also impressed with the price on this stick – at about US$8 it’s a welcome change from other JC Newman cigars (Diamond Crown, etc.) that I think are grossly overpriced for what they are.

This cigar made the video cut but just barely. There are many cigars I don’t review on youtube for one reason or another, but I have a growing catalog of written-only reviews that you can find at https://cigarscigarscigars.com