La Colmena Amado No. 40

In mid-April, Warped added a new size to its La Colmena line, one that’s exclusive to DROP Cigar Club, the online retailer and subscription service that was founded by Warped’s creator, Kyle Gellis.

It’s called the La Colmena Amado No. 40, and it’s a 5 x 40 petit corona that has a closed foot and a small twist of tobacco on the head. The blend remains the same as the bigger vitolas, meaning an Ecuadorian Connecticut-seed desflorada wrapper, an Ecuadorian binder, and fillers from the Dominican Republic and Nicaragua. El Titan de Bronze in Miami made the cigars.

According to the listing on DROP Cigar Club, production is limited to 200 boxes of 10 cigars, a total run of 2,000 cigars. Pricing is set at $180 per box of 10 cigars.

La Colmena debuted in 2014 as part of Warped’s reset as it returned to the cigar industry, inspired by the style of Cuban custom-rolled cigars. It debuted in two sizes: the 6 x 36 Amado No. 36, and the 5 1/2 x 44 Amado No. 44. When released, the cigars came without bands, and with a note that one of El Titan de Bronze’s rollers, Raf, rolled the Amado No. 36, while Reynaldo rolled the Amado No. 44. Production was said to be limited to just 100 cigars per day.

When the line was announced, Gellis said that La Colmena “gives us a chance to showcase something different in the industry, a profile that hasn’t been seen in a while and of course offering it in true sizes, it’s just something that you are intrigued by.”

He added that he remembers his father getting his first bundle of custom-rolled cigars from Cuba, and how it inspired the creation of La Colmena.

Since then, Gellis has added a number of sizes and extensions to the La Colmena line as well as an offshoot called La Colmena Black Honey, which uses the Ecuadorian habano oscuro wrapper used on the company’s EL OSO line while also adding more viso tobacco to the blend.

Most recently, Warped celebrated the 10th anniversary of the line with the La Colmena Amado No. 50, alternatively known as the La Colmena 10th Anniversary, a 5 7/8 x 50 robusto extra that uses a different internal blend than the one found on the Amado No. 44. It’s one that the company said uses higher priming tobaccos to amp up the body and strength while retaining the line’s signature sweetness and cream.

• Cigar Reviewed: La Colmena Amado No. 40
• Country of Origin: U.S.A.
• Factory: El Titan de Bronze
• Wrapper: Ecuador (Connecticut-seed)
• Binder: Ecuador
• Filler: Dominican Republic & Nicaragua
• Length: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 40
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $18 (Box of 10, $180)
• Release Date: April 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: 200 Boxes of 10 Cigars (2,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The La Colmena Amado No. 40 looks like the kind of cigar I would want as my first one in the day: fairly small with a light-colored wrapper suggesting a mellower profile. The little candle wick finish on the head is a nice touch as well, although it can be fragile. The covered feet are done well, with seemingly just enough tobacco to cover the fiiler but not so much that it sticks out as a bump. All three wrappers are on the dry side with a couple of small veins, nearly invisible seams, and generally very even coloration. They are firm and have a consistent density both individually and across the three cigars. The aroma off the foot is pretty mild and nondescript, with a bit of breadiness and a light, generic tobacco scent, with the third cigar adding a bit of creaminess. It leads me to wonder how much the covered foot is keeping me from smelling the filler, as I can’t tell much of a difference between the cylinder and the foot. The cold draw is a bit firm on the first and third cigars, and thankfully better in the second. If the aroma was mild, the flavor is nearly non-existent; there’s a little creaminess and white bread, but I have to go looking for both, with flavors only emerging after a handful of cold draws.

As expected, the La Colmena Amado No. 40 gets off to a fairly mild start, mixing tastes of toast and pepper, both of which are on the light and tame side. The second cigar has a white pepper that makes the bread taste more like dry wood. All three cigars have a fairly peppery retrohale that wakes up the senses, particularly if smoking this cigar earlier in the day. Thankfully, the cigars with the firm cold draws turn nearly ideal once the cigar gets burning, so no issues there. A little creaminess joins in at the end of this section, helping give the profile some depth and complexity. Flavor-wise, it’s a medium-minus start, though retrohales are there to kick things up when wanted. The body is medium-minus as well until the end of this section, when it bumps up to medium, while strength is mild. Construction is quite good thus far, with no issues across the three cigars.

Building off the creaminess that emerged at the end of the previous section and helped build up the body of the smoke, the flavor takes the next step forward. There’s a thicker white bread flavor but the more notable change comes with a toned-down earthiness emerging to give the profile a bit more weight and substance. It’s a change that gets noticed on retrohales as well, which continue to be peppery and pleasant, leaving a tingle in my nostrils for several seconds after each exhale. The La Colmena Amado No. 40 doesn’t make many more changes in his section, though it feels like I am starting to get a bit more pepper and body as the transition to the final third begins. The flavor now sits around medium, body is medium-plus and strength is still mild. Construction issues are minimal if even existent, but the ash of the first cigar flowers like crazy, with three strips of ash going in different directions.

If looking at this through the lens of a morning cigar, I would like the cigars to have more flavor changes or at least quicker ones than what the cigar has provided so far. That’s not to say there’s no progression, and the final third is proof of that. This section of the La Colmena Amado No. 40 starts with a bit more flavor intensity, as an initial taste of toasted bread gives way to some pepper and an earthy finish. This makes the profile notably heartier than it had been in the first third. Interestingly, pepper in the retrohale diminishes a bit, bringing the two experiences of the smoke into closer alignment as opposed to being an amped up accent. Part of that change comes to a clear thread of mild pepper in the profile that elicits a more focused reaction on my tongue. As expected with pretty much any cigar, some heat comes in during the final inch, signaling that the conclusion of the cigar is near, and while it does sharpen up the flavor, it doesn’t adversely impact it all that much. Flavor finishes medium-full, body is medium-plus and strength is now medium-minus, but with no overt effects on my system. Construction remains very good, as I have few if any notable issues with the draw, combustion, burn line or smoke production.

Final Notes

• I’m interested to know why La Colmena Black Honey hasn’t been released in other sizes like the regular La Colmena has. I’d be interested to try that blend in other vitolas.
• La Colmena is Spanish for “the beehive.”
• It is also the title of a 1982 Spanish film directed by Mario Camus that was based on the novel “The Hive” by Camilo José Cela, and which depicts the fallout of the Spanish Civil War.
• I didn’t get any appreciable nicotine strength from any of the three La Colmena Amado No. 40s smoked for this review.

• We placed an order for the cigars from DROP Cigar Club and, after wondering why the cigars hadn’t arrived, realized that the order had been canceled by DROP. Fortunately, the cigars were still in stock, so we had someone order us the box that we ended up reviewing.

• The company lists these as a 5 x 40 petit corona. The numbers above are the measurements we found for the three cigars used for this review.
• Final smoking time was one hour and 20 minutes on average.
• The La Colmena Amado No. 40 is available exclusively via DROP Cigar Club.

DROP
El Titan de Bronze
La Colmena
La Colmena Amado No. 40
Petit Corona
U.S.A.
Warped Cigars