Por Larrañaga Robustos de Larrañaga (ER Asia Pacifico 2007)

When thinking of the majority of new cigar releases, it’s reasonable to expect that those cigars will come in a few standard sizes, such as a robusto, a toro, increasingly a 6 x 60 gordo and then maybe a corona, Churchill or some sort of figuardo. And when thinking about Habanos S.A.’s Edición Regional program, in which distributors select vitolas not in a marca’s regular production offerings for a limited release to either a country or region in the world, it’s not usually a program that results in truly rare, obscure sizes, but there have been a few of those.

But when hearing that a fairly standard robusto was selected for a release, it does raise an eyebrow as part of wondering how a robusto wasn’t already part of a brand’s offerings.

Yet that was exactly what happened back in 2007 when Pacific Cigar Co. commissioned the Por Larrañaga Robusto de Larrañaga for release in the Asia Pacific region.

The cigar measures 4 7/8 inches (124mm) long and has a 50 ring gauge, a size that has a factory name of Robustos and which is found among several marcas’ regular production offerings, including Bolívar, Cohiba, Juan López and Romeo y Julieta. It has also been used for a number of limited releases, including a Selección Robustos sampler and plenty of Ediciónes Regional releases.

It is also a size that has been selected twice for a Por Larrañaga release in the Edición Regional program, as in 2010, the Por Larrañaga Robustos was released for the German market.

For the Por Larrañaga Robustos de Larrañaga ER Asia Pacific release, a total of 6,000 boxes of 25 cigars were produced, making for a total run of 150,000 cigars. It was either the second or third Por Larrañaga Edición Regional release at the time, as the Por Larrañaga Magnificos, a release for the United Kingdom, was also part of the 2007 class and got a re-release in 2008. That first cigar Por Larrañaga Edición Regional was the Lonsdales, which had been released in Germany in 2006.

• Cigar Reviewed: Por Larrañaga Robustos de Larrañaga Edición Regional Asia Pacifico (2007)
• Country of Origin: Cuba
• Factory: Undisclosed
• Wrapper: Cuba
• Binder: Cuba
• Filler: Cuba
• Length: 4 7/8 inches (124mm)
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Robusto
• Est. Price: $32 (Box of 25, $800)
• Release Date: 2007
• Number of Cigars Released: 6,000 Boxes of 25 Cigars (150,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Having reviewed the Por Larrañaga Galanes, which is a regular production cigar, the Robustos de Larranaga certainly looks familiar, with the addition of the secondary Edición Regional band, of course. The wrapper looks to have a little more of a matte finish, possibly attributable to its age, and the closer I inspect it, the more I find some slight mottling of the color. It also looks more like what I tend to think of Cuban wrappers, which is more a statement that the Galanes didn’t look as typically Cuban as this one does. It is rolled fairly firmly, probably about as much as you can get while still allowing for a bit of give. The foot of the cigar has a very mild aroma, just slightly sweet like a freshly opened box of some cereals, while there’s also some dry, packaged pretzels in the background. The cold draw on the first cigar and almost equally as mild, though I get a bit of matchstick wood with a corn flake cereal finish. Air flow if firm to nearly restricted, making me think of the cold milkshake comparison. Flavors are mellow, based in creaminess and a very mild corn cereal, with little to no pepper to be found.

The first puffs are a near equal mixture of the matchstick wood and the corn flakes from earlier, but now with a funky finish that is slightly chalky or waxy depending on the way it hits the palate. There’s some earth at times, but it feels marred by the funkiness. After about 10 minutes, the slightest bit of pepper enters the equation with just a touch of char on the wood. There is a brief moment where it seems like the funky finish has left the profile only to come back and hang around for the better part of the first third, intensifying a bit as the burn line approaches the second third. It’s clear that this is going to be a slow burning cigar, as it’s almost 30 minutes and I feel like I’m just hitting the one-inch mark, an interesting situation because the draw feels more or less normal and I’m not having to relight the cigar or anything that would suggest combustion issues. Once I knock the ash off, the flavor lightens for a few puffs before quickly turning earthy and vibrant as the burn line approaches the start of the second third. Retrohales, meanwhile, are a bit lighter with white pepper leading that experience. Flavor fluctuates from medium to medium-plus, body is fairly consistently medium-plus, and strength is mild thus far. Other than a firm draw, I can’t report any combustion or construction issues.

For a cigar with 14 or so years of age on it, I am absolutely stunned to find this chalky/waxy/funky flavor that dominates one of the samples at the start of its second third. In other samples it is a more enjoyable dry woodiness, which is familiar and relatively enjoyable other than the mouth-drying effect it has. There’s some white pepper through the nose that is more of an accent than a driver of the experience, but its tempered impact is still enjoyable. I feel like I’m overlooking some creaminess at the base of the flavor, and it seems because it’s not contributing much in the way of flavor but rather trying to balance and soften the other flavors. That includes a bit of burnt toast that I pick up more via the aroma and retrohales then via the taste buds. Just past the midway point, the cigar picks up a rockier, more robust earth, adding a sprinkling of sharp black pepper to solidify the new physical sensation experienced by the back of my tongue and throat. It’s a profile that takes the cigar through the rest of this section, finishing medium-plus in flavor, medium-plus in body, and building close to medium in strength.

Even with some enjoyable white pepper through the nose at the start of the final third, there is still a waxy component to the finish, one that does nothing to help the profile of the first sample. Beyond that, the cigar keeps its rocky earth and robust profile, not as heavy in earth as fuller-bodied Nicaragua cigars, but with a lot more character than I would expect from a brand like Por Larrañaga, which I associate with a lighter, more mild flavor profile. And certainly a lot more than I would expect from a brand with that reputation and a cigar that is approaching 15 years old. With a little more than an inch left to go, the flavor finds its way into a pretty enjoyable place, with the creaminess still the grounding flavor and textural sensation of the smoke, while the cereal, toast, white pepper, light earthiness and crisp black pepper find a couple of puffs of impressive harmony. Even with the slow burn rate, that flavor doesn’t stick around as long as I would like, and the cigar closes out with an interesting bit of a burning sensation on the lips, both from the increasing proximity of the heat and some distillation of the pepper. Flavor is medium-full, body has dialed back to medium, and strength is medium at most. The burn line is still begrudgingly slow, but when burning, smoke production is quite good and the burn line remains impressively even.

Final Notes

• The box code for these cigars was EMA OCT07.
• The cigar’s review process was a bit different than our normal one; the first sample was smoked in June 2021, while the remaining two were smoked in late February 2022. I was in the middle of a move to a new house, we had PCA coverage taking up the bulk of our time, and new cigars to review. As such, this got pulled off the schedule at the time and placed back on it a few weeks ago.
• I also reviewed the Por Larrañaga Robustos ER Alemania, which was released in 2010 and which I reviewed in 2012. I can’t say I have memories of it—fond or otherwise—and it didn’t score terribly well.
• Since the release of the Por Larrañaga Robustos de Larrañaga and Por Larrañaga Robustos, a robusto has been added to the regular production sizes. It’s called the Galanes and measures 4 3/4 inches (120mm) and has a 52 ring gauge. It was added in 2020 but didn’t debut until 2021
• I didn’t find any of the three samples to offer much in the way of nicotine strength, even though each sample my taste buds a workout.
• I really wish I had a better understanding of why this cigar burned so slowly, as nothing immediately stood out such as humidification issues or really heavy tobacco. The draw certainly didn’t help, but even still it would seem like that shouldn’t cause this much of an issue. This cigar just doesn’t seem to burn very quickly.
• Final smoking time was two hours and 20 minutes on average.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel. We paid $32 per cigar on the secondary market.