Review of Por Larranaga Nacionales Cigar

The Por Larranaga is an excellent cigar for both novice and seasoned smokers looking for a nice mild easy smoke. The original cigar is one of the oldest brand names produced and dates back to 1834 when it was made at the famous ‘Menedez y Garcia’ factory in Havana. Altadis USA now makes this cigar along with such greats as Montecristo, H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta. These four great cigars have a ‘Cabinet Selection’ series that use a slightly higher grade tobacco and a longer aging process than the regular blends and are all excellent smokes. Por Larranaga gold label is rolled in the Dominican Republic and white label in Honduras. The Dominican rolled cigars are made with a nice light colored U.S.A. Connecticut Shade wrapper while the Honduran blend is wrapped in a Habano 2000 seed from Nicaragua. The binder and filler of the gold label are both from the Dominican Republic. The white label Cabinet Selection is a Nicaraguan puro. The cigar I smoked for the review had a size/shape called a Nacionales, which is a corona 5 ½” long with a ring gauge of 42.

This is a very easy smoking cigar. I smoked both a gold label and white label and found them to be very much the same. It has a nice light creamy flavor with hints of cedar. The aroma is also light. In fact, the smoke is so light that it can almost be inhaled. This is a cigar that can definitely be smoked indoors because it is so light. The best way to describe this in one is ‘smoooooth’. There is a little spice at the end but that is only if you smoke it below the 1” mark, not something I usually do but with an excellent cigar like this I make an exception.

The draw is easy and cigar is firm but not hard. I had three re-lights with the white label and each time the smoke stayed consistent and the burn very even. The gold label smoked all the way through without any re-lights. The ash on both fell off at 2 ½” and I was able to smoke the cigar down to the last ½” before I finally put it down after 1 hour and 15 minutes.

These cigars are a great value. They are sold in boxes of 20 for around $80, which puts it at the $4 per stick range. They are hard to find in singles but a good tobacconist will have them tucked away for the cigar smokers that know the name. I highly recommend this for a beginner. This is one cigar that my buddies in Afghanistan smoked all the way down to the cap. All of the ‘Cabinet Selection’ of cigars made by Altadis USA smoke similarly, are great cigars, and some of my favorites.