I was going to fire up (and review) an Ashton Corona this morning, but I decided to let it rest in the humi for a bit longer. I had other plans: to finally try one of those tempting Por Larrañaga Petit Cetros en Cedro. Maybe it’s just the superficial similarity between these cedar-wrapped petite coronas and my beloved Romeo y Julieta Cedros No. 3s, but whenever I dropped by my favorite tobacconist’s shop, I was always drawn to these gold beauties. For one reason or another, I’d never bought one before today.
The petit cetro comes with the signature gold Por Larrañaga band, another handsome blue and gold strip to hold the red cedar sleeve together at the top, and an elegant gold ribbon to seal the bottom. Only the head of the cigar is visible above the sleeve, but its color and texture are near perfect: a creamy gold wrapper (not at all greenish, as some lighter cigars are) with an excellent velvety feel promises a great smoke. After clipping the cap off the cigar, I found a very easy draw with pre-light flavors of wood and tea.
After lighting this stogie, I found a very faint flavor of cream with a hint of cedar. I actually wondered if maybe I’d made a mistake in buying this famously-mild cigar. A half-inch or so later, all my doubts were gone: the flavor evolved into a soft, well-blended mix of caramel, cedar, tea and smoke. This profile lasted throughout the 45-minute cigar, with the sweeter flavors most notable during the middle part of the smoke, and the final few puffs leaning more toward a dry, woody taste. There were occasional bouts of bitterness but I chalk these up to my being too eager to eek out every last bit of flavor from this beautiful cigar.
To sum things up: this smoke goes great with a cup of coffee and a newspaper. Nice burn; soft, sweet and woody flavor; perfect length. This is an excellent mild cigar.
4 out of 5 stars.
1 Comment
September 23, 2008 at 11:41 am
I always enjoy reading other cigar reviews. It keeps my own in perspective. I agree with you 100% on your evaluation of this nice little smoke. I reviewed the Cabinet Edition of the Por Larranaga and found the one you reviewed to be even a better cigar than the one I smoked. In fact, after reading your review and smoking one I bought a box.