Por Larrañaga Montecarlos

[Shamrocker]

After reading CigarInspector's review of the PLPC HERE, I decided to give this one a go. It'd been sitting in my humidor for probably around 6 years. I kept forgetting about it because it was so small, sitting around a bunch of robustos.

Construction was decent with a few veins on the wrapper, but nothing overly prominent. Cap looked nice and the smell was heavenly. It had a sweet smell, kind of a honey/corn syrup smell. Clipped the head and the pre-light draw seemed a little tight, but I'm also used to smoking larger ring guage cigars. Lighting this stick was simple.. again, smaller ring guage I'm sure.

The first few puffs were unremarkable, it tasted like tobacco and not much else. After a few minutes the flavour tasted a little grassy, then moved on to a woody, cedar taste. Burn was nice and straight and the ash was speckled light to medium grey. I was trying to relax outside with this one and I suppose I got distracted for a minute or two and the cigar went out. After a quick relight the cigar picked up in strength a little, but the flavours were still rather one dimensional.

About halfway though it went out again. Re-lit and took a few puffs. The taste went from the woody cedar more towards a warm and borderline bitter taste. I decided to toss it at this point since it wasn't nearly as enjoyable as I had hoped.

This might have been a one-off experience, but I suspect I won't be trying any more of these for quite a while, unless they are offered to me or on sale for a very good price. Next weekend I'll go back to a larger ring guage.

 

[AdriftPanda]

I smoked a few of these last week and enjoyed it very much. I recommend you try this stick again, it's a cheap stick anyway so you won't be burning any holes in your pocket.

 

[Macion Grey]

The Montecarlo changed from machine made to hand made in the last few years (can't remember when). The hand made version is excellent. Lots of honey and caramel flavours, with creamy cedar and touches of nutmeg.

Honestly, they are my most purchased Cuban cigar, because of the low price point and relaxing flavours. Try an 07/08, and you will change your mind.

 

[DirtyDave]

The Montecarlo changed from machine made to hand made in the last few years (can't remember when). The hand made version is excellent. Lots of honey and caramel flavours, with creamy cedar and touches of nutmeg.

Honestly, they are my most purchased Cuban cigar, because of the low price point and relaxing flavours. Try an 07/08, and you will change your mind.

I agree. I really enjoy these. They are definitely near the top of the "budget" Cuban Cigar options!

 

[Shamrocker]

The Montecarlo changed from machine made to hand made in the last few years (can't remember when). The hand made version is excellent. Lots of honey and caramel flavours, with creamy cedar and touches of nutmeg.

Honestly, they are my most purchased Cuban cigar, because of the low price point and relaxing flavours. Try an 07/08, and you will change your mind.

So what you're saying is I likely had a machine made... I can't remember the last time I had anything machine made so I have no basis for comparison. Question: I assume the ash on a long filler cigar will hold much longer than a machine made using short filler, correct? I suppose considering the ash fell off after roughly half an inch (with my hand being completely steady) that would lead me to believe the cigar I had was short filler/machine made.

I agree. I really enjoy these. They are definitely near the top of the "budget" Cuban Cigar options!

Given the responses saying they're a great budget CC, I think I'll reconsider. Now it's just a matter if the local B&M's carry them.

Thank you!

 

[DirtyDave]

The box I have is an ema Jun 08. It is handmade. The ash usually hangs on about an inch for me. Being a smaller ring size it does have some issues with plugs. I've smoked about half the box and had 2 plugs so far. Not bad considering how cheap they were. The others have made up for it for sure.

 

[Macion Grey]

I can easily get the ash to stay for half the stick or more. What RH do you store it at Dirty Dave?

 

[DirtyDave]

68 to 70. I haven't tried to get it to stay on longer, but I bet it could. I usually smoke outside and the wind tends to knock off the ash at about an inch to an inch and a half. I don't really expect much more with a 34 ring gauge. Heck it stays on longer than some of the Monte's I've smoked.

 

[Mark Twain]

The cigars aren't truly "handmade," rather machine bunched and hand finished, meaning only the wrapper is applied by hand. This is why the ash is weak. The leaves aren't long-filler or short-filler, but a mix of mid-range leaves.

The majority of "machinemade" Cuban cigars made the change to machine bunched and hand fishined back in 2007 or 2008.

 

[Macion Grey]

The cigars aren't truly "handmade," rather machine bunched and hand finished, meaning only the wrapper is applied by hand. This is why the ash is weak. The leaves aren't long-filler or short-filler, but a mix of mid-range leaves.

The majority of "machinemade" Cuban cigars made the change to machine bunched and hand fishined back in 2007 or 2008.

Gonna have to contradict you there mate. My boxes are marked with the totalmente a mano stamp, which means they are totally made by hand. Long filler. Just like a box of Montecristo No 2s. Not sure where you got your info.

 

[DirtyDave]

Mine has the same stamp.

 

[Mark Twain]

The cigars aren't truly "handmade," rather machine bunched and hand finished, meaning only the wrapper is applied by hand. This is why the ash is weak. The leaves aren't long-filler or short-filler, but a mix of mid-range leaves.

The majority of "machinemade" Cuban cigars made the change to machine bunched and hand fishined back in 2007 or 2008.

Gonna have to contradict you there mate. My boxes are marked with the totalmente a mano stamp, which means they are totally made by hand. Long filler. Just like a box of Montecristo No 2s. Not sure where you got your info.

My box of PL panatelas is also marked "totalmente a mano" and after smoking through the entire thing I can say with confidence that these were a long way from being long filler cigars.

"Totalmente a mano" was stamped on boxes of MM cigars erratically from the mid-1990s to the present. There are no MM cigars left, and supposedly all former MM marcas have switched over to a "Tripa Larga" long filler format, but this is Cuba. And the hodge-podge state of their construction combined with people finding small leaves and even stems inside former MM cigars shows that either these cigars are using mid-range leaves or being machine bunched and hand-finished.

This is supposedly going to change, permanently to "Totalmente a mano" as time progresses. And Cuba's official position is that none of these cigars contain mid-range leaves or are machine bunched and hand finished.

Maybe this is because Cuba made this change rapidly. Perhaps without the necessary personal being trained to go from putting a bunch of short filler into a mm and producing a montecarlo to a man rolling a 34 ring gauge long panatela that actually draws.

 

[Macion Grey]

The cigars aren't truly "handmade," rather machine bunched and hand finished, meaning only the wrapper is applied by hand. This is why the ash is weak. The leaves aren't long-filler or short-filler, but a mix of mid-range leaves.

The majority of "machinemade" Cuban cigars made the change to machine bunched and hand fishined back in 2007 or 2008.

Gonna have to contradict you there mate. My boxes are marked with the totalmente a mano stamp, which means they are totally made by hand. Long filler. Just like a box of Montecristo No 2s. Not sure where you got your info.

My box of PL panatelas is also marked "totalmente a mano" and after smoking through the entire thing I can say with confidence that these were a long way from being long filler cigars.

"Totalmente a mano" was stamped on boxes of MM cigars erratically from the mid-1990s to the present. There are no MM cigars left, and supposedly all former MM marcas have switched over to a "Tripa Larga" long filler format, but this is Cuba. And the hodge-podge state of their construction combined with people finding small leaves and even stems inside former MM cigars shows that either these cigars are using mid-range leaves or being machine bunched and hand-finished.

This is supposedly going to change, permanently to "Totalmente a mano" as time progresses. And Cuba's official position is that none of these cigars contain mid-range leaves or are machine bunched and hand finished.

Maybe this is because Cuba made this change rapidly. Perhaps without the necessary personal being trained to go from putting a bunch of short filler into a mm and producing a montecarlo to a man rolling a 34 ring gauge long panatela that actually draws.

What year was your box? I have noticed a huge improvement even from 07 to 08.

It would be pretty shitty for 'Totalmente a mano' being erratically stamped on machine made cigars. Perhaps you are thinking of 'Hecho a mano' which encompasses machine bunched and hand finished? Then again, it is Cuba. Perhaps you are right.

Nevertheless, if the 2009 batch is as improved as the 2007-2008 batch was, all will be well.

 

[Mark Twain]

Yeah, the outlook is hopeful. My box is dated, from Oct 06. I'll have to pick up some newer examples and see if quality has improved.

 

[Macion Grey]

The cigars aren't truly "handmade," rather machine bunched and hand finished, meaning only the wrapper is applied by hand. This is why the ash is weak. The leaves aren't long-filler or short-filler, but a mix of mid-range leaves.

The majority of "machinemade" Cuban cigars made the change to machine bunched and hand fishined back in 2007 or 2008.

I dissected the nub of an 08 Por Larranaga Montecarlo a few minutes ago. Pure long filler. So it is totally hand made with 100% long filler now.


Main point being... smoke them, damn it. They are good.