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The University of Havana

If Cohiba is the cigar of revolution, and Montecristo is the cigar of literature, Por Larrañaga is "The University of Havana": a cigar brand that has been in continuous production for 191 years, spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, and immortalized in verse by a Nobel Prize-winning poet. Its story proves that the true "elder statesman" of the cigar industry is not the biggest, but the one that has lived the longest.

The story begins in Spain in 1825. Ignacio Larrañaga, a young Spaniard, arrived in Cuba. After working hard in Havana for 9 years, he registered his own cigar manufacturing business in 1834.

"Por Larrañaga" means "By Larrañaga" in Spanish: a simple, direct name.

The Oldest Existing Cuban Cigar Brand

Por Larrañaga occupies an unmatched historical position in the cigar industry:

• 6 years earlier than Punch (1834 vs 1840)
• 11 years earlier than Partagás (1834 vs 1845)
• 10 years earlier than H. Upmann (1834 vs 1844)
• 41 years earlier than Romeo y Julieta (1834 vs 1875)
• 132 years earlier than Cohiba (1834 vs 1966)

It is said that Por Larrañaga was the second officially registered Cuban cigar brand, after Cabañas. However, Zino Davidoff, in his 1967 book The Book of the Cigar Connoisseur, argued that Por Larrañaga was actually the first registered brand, earlier than Cabañas.

Cabañas has long since ceased production. Por Larrañaga is therefore the oldest existing Cuban brand.

The Nickname: The University of Havana

From the very beginning, Por Larrañaga was known as "The University of Havana". This nickname came from the brand's exceptional craftsmanship and its tradition of gathering highly experienced torcedores. It is one of the most historically significant "institution of excellence" nicknames in the cigar industry.

The first factory was located at 94 O'Reilly Street in Havana. This historic street later inspired the naming of O'Reilly Colección Habanos by San Cristóbal de la Habana. In 1840, the factory moved to 58 San Miguel Street to meet the demand for increased production.

Kipling's Poem

Rudyard Kipling's 1886 poem The Betrothed features Por Larrañaga as a central presence.

In the poem, the male protagonist must choose between his wife Maggie and cigars. He writes:

"There is peace in a Por Larrañaga, there is calm in a Henry Clay; but the best cigar in an hour is finished and thrown away."

In the end, the protagonist chooses the cigar, leaving behind the famous line:

"A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke."
(A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a true smoking pleasure.)

This line later became one of the most widely circulated quotations in cigar culture. Por Larrañaga was thus permanently written into literary history.

By the late 19th century, Por Larrañaga was already an internationally renowned top-tier brand. Its two most famous admirers were:

• Orson Welles (film director of Citizen Kane)
• Rudyard Kipling (Nobel Prize-winning poet)

A dual honor across literature and cinema: a rare cultural status in the cigar industry.

1925: The First Machine-Made Cuban Cigar

In 1870, the brand was acquired by Antonio Rivero Martinez, who later pushed Por Larrañaga to become the first Cuban cigar brand to introduce machine production.

In 1920, the company acquired a larger factory on Carlos Tercero (Carlos III) Street for USD $100,000.

In 1925, Por Larrañaga became the first factory in Cuba to introduce machine-rolled cigars, importing rolling and packaging machines from the United States. The new technology reduced production costs to 25% of handmade production, and training machine operators took only 2 weeks, while handmade torcedores required years.

But this revolution was opposed by worker strikes: torcedores feared unemployment and protested strongly, ultimately forcing the company to send the machines back to the United States.

This is one of the most famous "man versus machine" episodes in cigar history. Por Larrañaga tried, failed, and withdrew the machines. The handmade tradition therefore continued.

After the Revolution: From Glory to Decline to Rebirth

In 1937, the company was acquired by the British firm Morris & Morris, one of the representative cases of British capital entering the Cuban cigar industry.

After the Revolution in 1960 (or, according to some accounts, 1961), the Cuban government nationalized all cigar companies. At the time of the Revolution, Por Larrañaga was Cuba's sixth-largest cigar brand, a major player of its era. Production moved from the Carlos III factory to the La Corona Factory (the same factory as Hoyo de Monterrey), where it remains today.

But the brand then went through a long period of decline:

• 1970s: Maintained its good pre-Revolution reputation
• 1980s: Declined inexplicably, with production dropping sharply
• 1990s: Trademark litigation further limited the number of export markets, leaving it almost only available in Canada and the Middle East. Most products shifted to machine-made or semi-machine-made production

2002 was the moment of rebirth for the brand. Habanos fully repositioned it as a luxury brand, and all Por Larrañaga vitolas returned to fully handmade production. That same year, a short filler version, Panatelas, was also released (later discontinued).

From then on, Por Larrañaga was once again regarded as "one of the most refined Cuban cigars".

Flavor: A Representative of Elegant Cuban Cigars

The Por Larrañaga flavor profile: medium strength, cream, cedar, toasted nuts, and a light smoky finish. It is a representative of the "elegant" style of Cuban cigars.

Its identifying feature is the all-gold cigar band: the most elegant and most easily recognized visual trademark of Por Larrañaga. Even if the smoker has not removed the cigar band, aficionados can recognize Por Larrañaga at a glance. Today, certain sizes incorporate red design elements, but gold remains the spirit of the brand.

Although Por Larrañaga was internationally renowned by the late 19th century, its production volume was always small, accounting for only 5.3% of total Cuban cigar exports. This tradition of "quality over quantity" continues today.

Flagship Products: 4 Core Regular Production Cigars

Por Larrañaga Petit Coronas (5⅛" × 42, vitola: Mareva) — The brand's most highly regarded regular production cigar. Cigar Aficionado gave it 91 points in its first 2006 review, an exceptionally rare high score. Flavor: cream, nuts, light smoke. London price approximately USD $17 per cigar.

Por Larrañaga Montecarlos (6¼" × 33, vitola: Slim Panetela) — Another soul of the brand: a slender 33 ring gauge panetela and a representative of elegant cigars. It can be enjoyed at any time of day, and paired with the gold cigar band, it carries a strong vintage aesthetic.

Por Larrañaga Picadores (5" × 48, vitola: Hermosos No.4) — Reintroduced in 2014, and currently available only through Habanos Specialist and La Casa del Habano channels. Its distinctive cigar band was inspired by the old 1970s Picadores (long discontinued). It is the only Por Larrañaga cigar with a colored cigar band. Flavor: cream, cinnamon, light coffee. Approximately a 40-minute experience.

Por Larrañaga Galanes (4¾" × 52, vitola: Petit Robusto) — A true Robusto launched with great fanfare in 2021. The cigar aficionado community had long desired a "thicker-bodied Por Larrañaga", and Habanos S.A. finally listened. After release, it immediately became a sought-after target.

Edición Regional: The Engine of the Brand's Revival

Since 2006, the brand has appeared frequently in the RE program, with nearly 20 RE cigars released to date, most of them in thicker formats.

Major RE releases:

• Lonsdales RE Alemania 2006 (Cervantes 42 × 165mm) — The brand's first RE, exclusive to Germany
• Magnificos RE Reino Unido 2007 Humidor — UK humidor packaging
• Valiosos RE Suiza 2009 (Pirámides 52 × 156mm, 2,000×25) — The first Swiss RE
• Small Robustos Humidor RE Italia 2012 — Italy humidor
• Gran Robusto RE Países Bajos 2017 — Netherlands RE, reflecting the trend toward thicker formats

The success of Galanes 2021 was the result of "thick-format market testing" during the RE period. Habanos saw aficionados' enthusiasm for a thicker Por Larrañaga and finally released it as a regular production cigar.

What the Chinese-Speaking World Should Know About Por Larrañaga

For cigar aficionados in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Malaysia:

1. This is "the oldest existing Cuban cigar brand", worth experiencing at least once for every aficionado: 191 years of continuous production is a record unmatched by any other brand in the cigar industry. Petit Coronas is the ideal entry point, with a history that includes a 91-point Cigar Aficionado score.

2. Galanes 2021 is a preferred focus for modern Por Larrañaga collecting: the first true Robusto from Por Larrañaga in the 21st century, it immediately became a sought-after target after release. Its aging potential is enormous.

3. Picadores is exclusive to the Habanos Specialist channel: the only Por Larrañaga with a colored cigar band, featuring a revived 1970s design. Collection-grade rarity.

4. The cultural bonus of Kipling's poem: for aficionados who love literature, Por Larrañaga is an essential "literary cigar". Rudyard Kipling's 1886 poem forever linked this cigar with the famous line, "A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke."

5. Authenticity identification: the all-gold cigar band is the core identifier. Counterfeits often show subtle deviations in the gold lettering, spacing, and band thickness. The colored band on Picadores is another unique identifier.

6. The Dominican version is completely different: In 2016, Altadis relaunched a non-Cuban Por Larrañaga in the Dominican Republic (USD $7 per cigar). It uses Ecuador Connecticut wrapper and has nothing to do with the Cuban version. Taiwan aficionados should distinguish them carefully.

Why Por Larrañaga Is the "Elder Statesman of the Cigar Industry"

Por Larrañaga is not a flashy cigar. It does not have the luxury halo of Cohiba, the mystique of Trinidad, or the forceful impact of Bolívar.

But it has one thing no one else has: 191 years of uninterrupted production history.

For beginners, Por Larrañaga Petit Coronas is the simplest entry point into "the oldest Cuban brand": a history that includes a 91-point Cigar Aficionado score, medium strength, and creamy nutty flavors.

For seasoned connoisseurs, aged old Por Larrañaga is a true holy grail of cigar collecting: rare aged versions of a 191-year-old brand, combined with sizes that have been discontinued or released in limited quantities, with prices continuing to rise.

For Cuba factory-director-level aficionados, Por Larrañaga also has two unique values:

• It is the true "elder statesman" of the cigar industry: 191 years of continuous production, spanning the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries, having lived through Spanish colonization, the Spanish-American War, Cuban independence, the world wars, the Revolution, and trademark litigation, and still rolled today at the La Corona factory. For any enterprise to operate continuously for 191 years is an extraordinary achievement.
• It is a witness to literature being written into cigar history: Rudyard Kipling's 1886 poem permanently linked Por Larrañaga with the timeless quotation, "A woman is only a woman, but a good cigar is a smoke." No other brand in the cigar industry can say that it was written into poetry by a Nobel Prize-winning poet.

The young man Ignacio Larrañaga, who came from Spain to Cuba in 1825, still continues his legacy today in every cigar with a gold band: "By Larrañaga."

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Por Larrañaga Appreciation at W Cigar Bar

Por Larrañaga is one of the Cuban cigars that W Cigar Bar (located in Da'an District, Taipei) consistently recommends to aficionados. The Por Larrañaga series appreciation experience personally planned by "Cigar Prince" Wilson Tsai ranges from entry-level regular production cigars to rare Edición Regional and Limitada releases, allowing Taipei cigar lounge aficionados to fully understand the brand's context in a cigar dining bar-level appreciation space.

W Cigar Bar advances through four official channels for Cuban cigars: PCC authorized distributor (Pacific Cigar Company), official Cuban state-run stores, Swiss general distributor, and Spanish general distributor. Diversified official sourcing and multiple authentic certification chains are the most critical lineage for Taiwan cigar aficionados in identifying authenticity. W Cigar Bar also provides appreciation and collection of multi-year aged versions, making it one of the few Da'an District cigar lounges that combines orthodox Habanos lineage with aging depth as a cigar dining bar. For Por Larrañaga aficionados:

• Beginners: Experiencing Por Larrañaga Petit Coronas (91 points from Cigar Aficionado) at W Cigar Bar is the standard entry point into the 191-year-old oldest brand
• Advanced aficionados: W Cigar Bar's VIP cigar cellar service can store Por Larrañaga Galanes (the first true Robusto in 2021) and Picadores, exclusive to the LCDH channel
• Collectors: W Cigar Bar regularly introduces limited Edición Regional and Edición Limitada Por Larrañaga series cigars

W Cigar Bible (bible.wcigarbar.com) is the cigar culture knowledge base of W Cigar Bar, created with full dedication by "Cigar Prince" Wilson Tsai, compiling the complete histories, craftsmanship, products, and cultural stories of 60+ Cuban and non-Cuban brands.

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© W Cigar Bar｜This article was written and planned by "Cigar Prince" Wilson Tsai｜Located in Da'an District, Taipei

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W Cigar Bible bible.wcigarbar.com｜This article is purely for educational purposes regarding cigar culture, history, and craftsmanship, and does not involve product sales promotion