Out of the shadows
The Por Larrañaga Galanes, an entirely new vitola, is as unexpected as it is welcome, says Bolivar
EVEN the most ardent devotee of and apologist for Havana cigars— among whom I number myself primus inter pares—will concede that arrivals on our shores from the palm-fringed island paradise of Cuba are… ahem… unpredictable. Limited editions may not entirely coincide their arrival with the year that appears on the band. And if there are regular readers of these irregular ramblings, you will be aware that there is also a tendency for some cigars to arrive too early; by which I mean that they could have done with more rest in the escaparate before shipping and have to be laid down on arrival to shed the lingering traces of ammoniac harshness that is one of the less agreeable symptoms of youth in a cigar.
Then, once in a while, something truly unpredictable occurs. A cigar arrives from Cuba in perfect shape, ready to dispense the unique combination of mental stimulation and corporeal relaxation that make the cigar such an undeniable pleasure. And so, in a pandemic-ravaged world in which so much has been thrown into disarray, the Por Larrañaga Galanes, an entirely new vitola, makes landfall: as unexpected as it is welcome.
Por Larrañaga is one of the most historic of Havana brands. It can be traced back as far as 1834, predating such marques as Punch (1840), H. Upmann (1844), Partagás (1845), El Rey del Mundo (1848) and Romeo y Julieta (1850)—marques that, it is fair to say, have historically overshadowed Por Larrañaga. Even the legendary Min Ron Nee, author of the canonical work An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of PostRevolution Havana Cigars, admits: ‘I must confess that I am not familiar with Por Larrañaga.’
Nor, to my shame, was I… at least not until 2007, when the majestic (50 ring gauge by 6¾in) Magnifico made its debut, a cigar regarded by many as one of the best Regional Editions ever made. In addition to being an astonishingly good cigar to smoke, it was as easy on the eye as on the palate; as UK importer Hunters & Frankau went to extraordinary lengths to re-create the old Por Larrañaga band, tracking down a venerable printer in Eindhoven with more than a century of experience in the cigar trade. The Sobresalientes of 2014 was almost as good.
Nevertheless, the standard range has not tended to impress. In my most recent book on cigars, I described the petit corona as ‘a slightly harsh little stub of a thing’, less of the standard bearer for the brand that it claims to be and—to pursue the vaguely military metaphor—more ‘the little drummer boy attached to the regiment who does his best under the circumstances’.
It was my son who first began to change my opinion—one can learn a lot from one’s children. Like many of the younger cigar lovers, he favours slimmer examples: more elegant in appearance and just as flavourful. He had come across the evocatively named Montecarlo, a stylish 33 ring gauge by 6¼in (not to be confused with an early incarnation that was machine made). I found it agreeable.
Then, in June, I tasted the Galanes, which was apparently intended for release last year, but which only recently landed in the UK. First, it is a new vitola with a substantial, but not excessive ring gauge of 52 (in cigars, 50 has been the new 40 for some time) and length of 120mm (slightly under 4¾in), making it ever so slightly girthier and about an eighth of an inch shorter than a Robusto. The market already has plenty of nearly-robustos, but the powers that be in the Cuban cigar industry felt that there was room for one more and, based on my acquaintance with the Galanes, I can heartily concur.
Woody, sweet, fruity smooth and light without being insubstantial and possessing enough body to make it the perfect way in which to bring a light lunch to a close, I find it hard to fault the Galanes. What is more, the cigars in the batch I tried were all properly rolled, well constructed and burned evenly.
Given the circumstances, I think it’s fair to describe the Galanes as one of the high points; not only of the cigar year, but of what has been a very testing year in general.
Woody, sweet, fruity smooth and light, I find it hard to fault the Galanes