Por Larranaga Petit Coronas Cabinet Selection (Box of 50)

• Length: 130mm
• Gauge: 42
• Flavour: Mild - Medium
• Hand Rolled
• Wrapper: Corojo
• Filler: Cuban
• Long Filler
• Cuban

Por Larrañaga Petit Coronas Cabinet Selection – 50 Cigars

Buying one Por Larrañaga Petit Coronas is eminently sensible. Buying fifty at once suggests you've understood the cigar rather well.

Por Larrañaga dates back to 1834, making it one of the great old names of Havana. The Petit Coronas has for many years been the standard bearer of the regular range in Britain, combining the marque's characteristically gentle nature with one of Cuba's most enduring cigar formats.

That format is the Marevas – 5 1/8 inches long with a 42 ring gauge. It's neither a tiny cigar nor an afternoon-consuming leviathan, generally providing around 30–35 minutes of smoking. Each is totally handmade with long-filler Cuban tobacco.

Por Larrañaga has a character quite distinct from many of the heavier Cuban marques. Caramel and honey are recurring themes, joined by toasted tobacco, almond, cream, wood and a measured touch of spice. The result sits towards the light-to-medium end of the Havana scale, concentrating on aroma and sweetness rather than sheer strength.

But this particular presentation is really what makes the listing interesting.

The cigars come as a Cabinet Selection of 50 in the traditional wooden slide-lid box, arranged together beneath the familiar yellow Por Larrañaga cabinet ribbon. It's a splendidly old-fashioned piece of Havana presentation: cedar, cigars and ribbon, with remarkably little effort spent persuading you that the box ought to resemble a jewellery case.

The cabinet format is also especially attractive to anyone intending to lay cigars down in the humidor. Fifty cigars stored together make this a natural candidate for longer-term maturation, and the Petit Coronas has long enjoyed a following among enthusiasts who age them. Current specialist descriptions similarly note the ageing potential of the 50-count cabinet.

There's something rather satisfying about opening a cabinet containing fifty identical Marevas. No limited-edition lacquer, commemorative medallions or complicated wooden engineering.

Just fifty handmade Cuban cigars in a wooden box.

In 1834 that was apparently considered sufficient.

I see little reason to argue with them now.