La Palina: Illumination Robusto Cigars

La Palina's history dates to Chicago 1896 when Ukrainian émigré Samuel Paley established Congress Cigar Company and released his debut blend: La Palina, named after his wife. At its height, Congress Cigar Co. rolled one million cigars per day, but the Great Depression doomed the factory, like so many other businesses, and the company folded — lost to time if not for Samuel's grandson Bill Paley, who resurrected the La Palina name in 2010. Committed to the same excellence as his grandfather, Bill Paley revived La Palina as a "personal, signature luxury cigar," and the brand custom-sources tobaccos and partners with renowned factories in Honduras, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Miami, USA, for a range of distinctive, premium cigars.

Hand-rolled in the USA at Miami's El Titan de Bronze factory, the Illumination cigar is a more price-conscious version of La Palina's illustrious and limited-production Goldie cigar. Rolled at the same location and comprising similar components, the Illumination is a worthy, everyday substitute for the Goldie, featuring an Ecuadorian Habano wrapper, Nicaraguan binder, and fillers from Nicaragua and the Dominican Republic.