Por Larranaga: Picadores

The next cigar I am going to try as part of my cigar challenge is from the Por Larranaga cigar brand. I will be smoking the Por Larranaga Picadores.

The stats:

Length: 5″
Ring Gauge: 48
Strength: Light to Medium
Vitola: Hermoso No. 4
Country of origin: Cuba
Cost: £18.99 @ CGars

Background:

According to The Cigar Companion, the Por Larranaga is the oldest cigar brand out there, dating from 1834.

The are two lines of cigar produced, one in Cuba for Habanos, the Cuban state-owned tobacco company, and the second in Dominican Republic and Houndras.

The Cuban variant are said to be sought after by cigar connoisseurs for their traditional Havana flavour.

Por Larranaga were the first to introduce ‘machines’ into the production of cigars. Their range was limited at first but has expanded over the years.

According to Havana House, the Picadores was discontinued in the 70’s but has now been re-introduced and is the latest addition to the Por Larranaga regular production line. The new release was re-visited, the ring gauge was increased from 44 to 48 and the band is one that was used back in the day.

‘There’s peace in Larranaga’ claimed Rudyard Kipling in his 1890 poem ‘The Betrothed’ which includes the notorious line ‘A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke’. This is a bit of a dated phrase now, but iconic nonetheless. Read the whole poem here.

My experience:

This is your typical looking Cuban cigar, with it’s red, white and gold cigar band.

This one is a little dry, I’m guessing this is to do with my humidor being constantly at a humidity of 62 right now no matter what I do to try and change it with Boveda packs.

Upon cutting the cap and lighting, this Picadores has a woody cedar nutty flavour to it, with a little bit of pepper. The smoke is creamy and there is a lovely all round aroma to it.

The construction is great, a lovely build up of ash. The big question I have, is whether you should let the ash build-up or not? Does it make the cigar experience better or worse? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

I’ve read that these cigars get better with age, but I’ve not really ventured that much into the world of aged cigars just yet.

My rating: 7 out of 10. This is one of those cigars that you can smoke many of on a regular basis. It kind of reminds me of the Romeo y Julietta cigar brand.

Next up… a Punch cigar!