Por Larrañaga Brand Returns to Retail This Month

Source from:  Cigar Aficionado 05/17/2016

The long absent Por Larrañaga cigar line is coming back to the U.S. market. Altadis U.S.A., one of the world's largest manufacturers of premium cigars, is resurrecting Por Larrañaga as a regular-production cigar brand. The company discontinued the line a number of years ago, but is re-introducing the heritage brand in a new blend that will start shipping to retailers by the end of the month.

"Por Larrañaga is a heritage brand, and we've had several different iterations of Por Larrañaga as ongoing brands in the market at different times throughout the years, including a very popular line in the late-1990s," Yasemin Ozoncul, marketing manager at Altadis U.S.A., told Cigar Aficionado. "Por Larrañaga is back with a new blend as an ongoing product."

The new, vintage-specific Por Larrañaga launching this month wears an Ecuadoran Connecticut wrapper from a 2012 harvest, a Dominican Piloto binder from 2012, and filler tobaccos consisting of Dominican Piloto and Olor from 2013. The company describes the new Por Larrañaga as a medium-bodied cigar. It will arrive on store shelves in three sizes: Robusto, measuring 5 inches by 52 ring gauge ($8.00); Gran Corona, 6 by 46 ($8.50); and Toro, 6 by 50 ($9.00).

Por Larrañaga first launched in Cuba in 1834. Though the Cuban version of Por Larrañaga still exists on the international market today, it is one of Cuba's smallest premium cigar brands and distributed by Habanos S.A.

Altadis U.S.A.'s regular-production version of Por Larrañaga is rolled with non-Cuban tobacco, but has been unavailable in the United States for many years. The brand made a brief appearance last year as a limited-edition cigar called Por Larrañaga TAA en Cedro, rolled exclusively for retail members of the Tobacconist's Association of America. The 6 inch by 54 ring gauge cigar was made entirely of Nicaraguan tobaccos and was limited to 1,000 boxes of 16 cigars.

Por Larrañaga is rolled at Tabacalera de Garcia S.A.S. in the Dominican Republic and will ship in teal-colored, 20-count boxes. Though the primary allegorical box art is the same as the Cuban original, the presentation differs greatly, as do the band designs. Enditem