La Galera Year of the Horse Limited Edition 2026

Cigar companies commemorating the Chinese Zodiac calendar have become fairly common these days, with companies using packaging that feature the Zodiac symbol and oftentimes, similar red-and-gold color schemes that symbolize luck and wealth in China.

For the Year of the Horse, which started on Feb. 17, 2026, more than a dozen companies announced Year of the Horse-themed cigars or cigar accessories.

In February, La Galera shipped its entry to that list, the La Galera Year of the Horse Limited Edition 2026. It’s a 6 x 56 toro extra made with a Brazilian Arapiraca wrapper covering a Dominican olor binder and four Dominican filler tobaccos: criollo 98, olor, pelo de oro and piloto cubano. The cigars are produced at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic.

One of the most memorable aspects of the release is the box: a dozen cigars come in each ornate box, separated into four compartments that extend from the sides. In addition, the drawers feature a gold horse motif, while the draw pulls feature a palm tree design, which is a nod to both the Dominican Republic and the Tabacalera Palma factory.

Interestingly, the box is designed as two separate parts held together by magnets: the cigars are in the top section, while the base holds three accessories. Those accessories—a cutter, lighter and ashtray—keep with the red-and-gold horse theme.

Each box has an MSRP of $690, which includes the 12 cigars and three accessories mentioned above. Production is limited to 2,026 numbered boxes, totaling 24,312 cigars.

This is the third consecutive year that the company has released a cigar for Chinese New Year:

• La Galera Year of the Dragon (6 x 52) — January 2024 — 2,024 Boxes of 10 Cigars (20,240 Total Cigars)
• La Galera Year of the Snake (7 x 47) — January 2025 — 2,025 Boxes of 10 Cigars (20,250 Total Cigars)
• La Galera Year of the Horse Limited Edition 2026 (6 x 56) — Feburary 2026 — 2,026 Boxes of 12 Cigars (24,312 Total Cigars)

• Cigar Reviewed: La Galera Year of the Horse Limited Edition 2026
• Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
• Factory: Tabacalera Palma
• Wrapper: Brazil (Arapiraca)
• Binder: Dominican Republic (Olor)
• Filler: Dominican Republic (Criollo 98, Olor, Pelo de Oro & Piloto Cubano)
• Length: 6 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 56
• Shape: Round
• MSRP: $57.50 (Box of 12, $690)
• Release Date: February 2026
• Number of Cigars Released: 2,026 Boxes of 12 Cigars (24,312 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Medium brown-colored wrappers cover the three La Galera Year of the Horse Limited Edition 2026 cigars. While all three feature extremely rough-feeling wrappers and plenty of veins, the first cigar has a couple of veins that are protruding so much that the cigar reminds me of a certain monster movie, more in the Final Notes below. There is virtually no oil that I can discern, and each cigar has a large soft spot in almost exactly the same location, about half an inch above the foot. When holding them in my hand one after another, all three cigars seem very light for their size, but the second cigar is almost comically light, while the last cigar is quite obviously the heaviest of the three. Slightly sour oak and dank earth lead the aromas from the wrappers, followed by leather, creamy hay, dark chocolate, and slightly sweet barnyard. There is oak emanating from the feet of all three cigars as well, but it is tempered by some different secondary notes: cinnamon, leather and earth from the first cigar; cocoa nibs, pencil lead, tree bark and honey from the second cigar; and leather, cloves, sweet bread and earth from the third cigar. After straight cuts, all three cigars feature similar flavors of sweet oak, cocoa nibs, creamy hay, raisin sweetness, cinnamon, pretzel bread and earth; however, the second cigar has more raisin sweetness and the third cigar features an additional black pepper note that the other two lack.

Light black pepper and a dry earth flavor start all three cigars, but the third cigar also has a bit of spice on my tongue; the other two cigars are lacking thus far. Very quickly, creamy oak and slightly sweet dark chocolate take over as the main profile, followed by secondary notes of coffee beans, starchy white rice, earth, almonds and tree bark. The first and second cigars feature a bit of a clove note on the finish, while the last cigar has a distinct earthy note. The retrohales are smooth, with a combination of light black pepper and powdered sugar sweetness. Flavor is full, while both the body and strength hit a point just under the medium mark. When it comes to construction, the draw resistance on all three cigars is a little looser than I like, but still well within normal limits. There is plenty of thick smoke, and while my first cigar needs a quick touch-up to stay on track, it is a very minor correction.

The second third sees some changes in the profiles for the second and third cigars, as a coffee bean note replaces the dark chocolate from the first third and joins the oak as a main flavor. However, the first cigar continues to feature oak and dark chocolate, but now with more oak than chocolate. Additional flavors of light cloves, gritty earth, sawdust, charred meat, toasted bread and almonds flit in and out, and a new bitter espresso note has taken over the finish of all three cigars. The flavor on the retrohales have also become more consistent, with slight black pepper and honey sweetness becoming evident. Flavor remains at full, but the body has increased to a solid medium and the strength crosses into medium-plus territory. Once again, a cigar needs a minor correction—the third cigar this time—but the smoke production remains high, and the draw resistance has tightened up nicely.

In the final third, the first and third cigars shift to somewhat less exciting flavors of earth and creamy leather, while the second cigar continues to exhibit the same combination of rich coffee beans and oak. As far as second flavors, the first and third cigars now feature sawdust, generic nuttiness, stone crackers, pencil lead, baker’s spices and dry leaves. In comparison, the second cigar has powdery cocoa nibs, roasted peanuts, charred meat, potato chips, chalk and a bit of cinnamon. The differences extend to the retrohales as well: black pepper and honey remain in place for the first and third cigars, while the second cigar features less black pepper and a sweetness that reminds me of chocolate pudding. Flavor bumps down to medium-full on the first and third cigars—the second cigar remains at full—while the body remains at a solid medium and the strength stays at medium-plus for all three cigars. There are zero construction issues during the final third, as the burn lines, smoke production and draw resistance give me no problems at all.

Final Notes

• The Lunar New Year took place on Feb. 17.
• I really can’t say enough about the boxes. They are well-made and designed excellently. I love how the four drawers open up to reveal an extremely unique look. Furthermore, it’s a rare case of a multi-level box that comes apart. I have no doubt that it will be in contention for halfwheel’s 2026 Packaging Awards.
• La Galera is no stranger to our Packaging Awards: the company’s Year of the Snake was #7 in last year’s awards. Like the Year of the Horse, the cigars came with an accessory, a cigar case.
• The box number our cigars came from was 0349/2026.

• Speaking of the box number, the plate on which it is printed is fairly hard to find. I didn’t recognize it when I was photographing the box, but it is located inside one of the four drawers that hold the cigars, which means that if you don’t take the cigars out of the box, you would probably never see it.

• All three cigars had too much glue on secondary bands, resulting in some of the wrapper being pulled off when I tried to remove it, so my advice is to be careful with that process.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.

• These cigars are listed as being 6 x 56 vitolas. Above are the measurements we took when we measured them.
• As you can see, none of the three cigars was anywhere close to the 56-ring gauge listed for this release.
• The final smoking time averaged out to one hour and 52 minutes for all three cigars.
• One image of the packaging was provided by and used courtesy of La Galera.

Brooks Whittington

I have worn many hats in my life up to this point: I started out as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, then transitioned to photographing weddings—both internationally and in the U.S.—for more than a decade. After realizing that there was a need for a cigar website containing better photographs and more in-depth information about each release, I founded my first cigar blog, SmokingStogie, in 2008. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars, and it was one of the predecessors to halfwheel, which I co-founded.