Introducing the
2007 UNITED KINGDOM REGIONAL SPECIALITY (Exclusivo Reino Unido)
POR LARRARÑAGA (pr. ‘la ranyaga’) MAGNIFICO
(Magnum, 6 ¾” x 50 ring gauge)
A night of double excitement then. The launch of a much anticipated limited edition Por Larraňga exclusively for the UK market, and on the inaugural night of 'Boisdales'(www.boisdale.co.uk) of Belgravia’s new cigar roof terrace to boot!
Ajay and I were the first to arrive (of course..), and were already lighting up as further aficionados slowly began to arrive. Wide-eyed and huffing (but not yet puffing) at the top of the stairs, many staggered onto Boisdale’s roof terrace hardly paying attention to the fabulous surroundings of this splendid covered terrace; for the time being only having eyes for the equally long awaited Magnifico.
And what a beauty! Reassuringly weighty in a light, oily wrapper and perfectly sized for an evening smoke (or post-lunch come to that) at 6 ¾” 50 ring gauge, each was strikingly adorned with a large embossed gold band, based on a design originally used on their rare double figurados, dating from the early 1900s.
It was apparently the no doubt complex manufacture of these beautiful bands that caused the 11th hour delay to the supply of the cigars, almost scuppering the event. The batch we smoked had only arrived into Gatwick airport that morning (phew!), so it was with an especially satisfied pleasure that we tasted the first draws, which whilst slightly tight from a firm body, gave lovely earthy, nutty flavours.
The burn remained reliable and consistent, as indeed did the easy-going flavours which although mild throughout, delivered generous aromatic notes. Indeed, such is the consistent enjoyment provided by this cigar, be warned it will certainly be a finger burner (once the bands have been safely removed and stored in one’s wallet of course..), as one tries in vain to delay as long as possible the inevitable and much lamented final puff.
An unreserved recommendation therefore to get hold of some of these before the almost pre-sold one-off manufacture of 20,000 sells out. And should one need further encouragement, try Rudyard Kipling’s 1890 poem ‘The Betrothed’, in which he writes “There’s peace in a Larraňga”, (but then again he also wrote in the same poem “And a woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke”, so I leave it to you whether to take much store in such opinion, I couldn’t possibly comment..).
The Kipper
© Copyright , Nov 2007.
