Budget Habanos

[jeanbreckman]

looks very interesting

[craig]

Name of Cigar: Por Larrañaga Panatela
Ring/Length Shape: 5"x36
Filler/binder/wrapper:Vuelta Abajo, short-filler
Wrapper Colour: Colorado Claro to Colorado
Wrapper Sheen: a bit
Sample web price: $1.75US
Date of box: Jan 08
Date of last review: Nov 08
Date of review: Feb 09
Storage: sealed Mason jar in coolerdor, 65F/65%RH

(Aside: the storing of tobacco in sealed Mason jars is borrowed from pipe smokers, and is an old form of packaging Habanos - and a new form of packaging of some Tatuaje's. I tried jars with JLP's a while back (half the box in jars, half in a wooden box(SBN, not a dress box)) and after six months, I liked the mason jar'd cigars better. Currently I'm repeating the experiment with a number of other cigars. Interesting (to me) observations: Some cigars out-gas enough to generate positive pressure in a sealed jar, others do nothing. Also, the wrappers on jar'd cigars seem to not exude oils in the jar, unlike cigars stored un-cello'd in a box or humi. Once out of the jar, the oils seem to come out right away. Back to the PL ...)

These PL's have just hit one year of box age, and the improvement from the last smoking at nine months is noticeable. While a number of smokers like the tannic (sharp) taste of a young smoke, I prefer that the tannins be reduced. (I don't notice the tannins if I drink alcohol while smoking a cigar.)

Pre-light showed a typical Cuban short-filler wrapper: far from flawless, somewhat coarse, and with colour variations. The bunch was fine - no soft spots, and the cold draw was perfect. As is seemingly typical with a cigar taken fresh from a jar, the aroma was fragrant and generous. There was a definite fruity/floral taste to the cold draw.

Upon lighting the cigar, I was immediately hit with mild sweet smoke - although not an overwhelming sweetness. There was a lot of smoke, and a mild tickling of the sinus' if I exhaled through the nose. Not a peppery smoke. The trademark PL caramel taste was not very strong, and was overwhelmed by basic tobacco taste. No richness or leather, etc. - PL's, at least the Panatela and the Montecarlo, do not seem to have any ligero, or very little of it. A slight saltiness crept in about a 1/2 inch in, but a purge got rid of that. No bitterness at all.

The flavour of the cigar was not intense; fairly weak in fact. However, what was there was quite agreeable, though not complex. This is a mild smoke in terms of body, although it had a surprisingly strong nicotene punch compared to a similar non-Cuban.

The ash was very dark, but held up well for a short-filler. Burn and draw were perfect - a welcome contrast to the Quintero Breva's that I have been smoking recently, every one of which has needed a poke or two. (This is probably due to the relative amounts of ligero between the two smokes. Ligero holds more moisture than volado or seco.) Trying to smoke in a normal big-ring fashion did lead to hot mildly-burning smoke on the tongue, but being patient and taking it slow made all the difference. I took 45 minutes to get this thin-ringed 5"x36 cigar down to a 3/4" nub. (Most people rate this as a half-hour smoke.)

Overall, I'd say that this particular cigar was typical of a PL panatela. Not heavy, or rich, or full-bodied, or complex; but a straightforward mild-bodied smoke with hints of sweetness that would go well with coffee. (I had this one with water.) Note that when I say mild, it is relative to other Cubans; this isn't like a tasteless (to me) mild-bodied Dominican/Honduran that is prevalent in this price range. With one year of box age, these are ready to be smoked now, but I'll be waiting for the spring before I work them into rotation.

Finally, for those into numbers like myself, I scored the cigar at 74 without taking price into account - identical to the cigars-review.org rating of 7.4

[597]

Thanks for the reviews.

[12500]

[pmp]

I smoked an upmann regalia last night. My apologies on the scoring system if you haven't seen it here before. Its something I developed for blowinsmoke that I find to be slightly more accurate than most

Name: H. Upmann Regalia
Vitola: mareva 5x42
Box Date: Sept 07
Review Date: Feb 14

8/10 - appearance and construction
Appearance is great. From outward appearance the entire box is perfectly constructed across the board. Each band, each cap, each foot is perfect. The wrappers are smooth with very little mottling or veining. The wrapper color is uniform and the color of rich red clay earth(colorado). The prelight aroma is somewhat tangy and spicy. The clip is a slightly askew by a small vein under the surface of the wrapper. The prelight draw is ample. Definitely no plugged stick here. Overall these are constructed very well.

15/20 - flavor
the flavor was bordering on exciting. It started off right out of the gate with a nice bit of leather, cake, black tea and some pepper. The first inch or so was a bit rough. As the cigar burned down it developed this bittersweet tannic profile and showed slight hints of spice. The flavor was consistent and enjoyable. I would have to say my only qualm was that it was slightly muted at times. Still an enjoyable flavor profile from h. Upmann.

9/10 smoking characteristics

Not much to report here. This cigar burned excellently and produced ample clouds of smoke. Solid construction is showing through in the smoking characteristics.

price 5/5

For a 4 dollar stick this is hard to beat.

37/45 x 100 = Score = 82%

Overall I was impressed but not blown away. The flavors were excellent and a very good example of cuban tobacco and h. upmann flavors. For anyone who has smoked the coronas major this is a departure from the lightness in that vitola. This stick is much bolder and spicier and closer to the flavors of a mag. This scoring system tends to be harsh sometimes in an attempt to make something unbiased where an average cigar actually earns a 50%. That considered, a score of 82 for a 4 dollar cigar is quite impressive.

[craig]

Thanks for the review!

So it sounds like the Regalia's are more flavourful compared to the Corona Major?

[pmp]

Thanks for the review!

So it sounds like the Regalia's are more flavourful compared to the Corona Major?

Not really they are just different. The corona major to me is pretty mild. These are more full bodied. The flavor in both cases is ample.