Galanes from Por Larranaga

Galanes is called the new line from Por Larranaga. The boxing date (BD) is NOV 20. I tested one on 04/17/21; The cigars were about 4-5 months young. For a Cuban cigar, this time can be subotimal for tasting. Because it may already be in the sick phase, in which the tobacco has begun to post-ripen. This is not a fault of the cigar! Read more about this in the chapter below. The cigar has indeed potential!

A cigar test is subjective

Notice: How a cigar tastes is influenced by personal taste preferences, taste memories, the shape of the day, what you have eaten or drunk before. Even the lighting mood in the room has an influence on the experienced taste. The notes described here therefore do not have to match your own impressions.

Fact Sheet of the Galanes

• Format: Robusto (length: 124 mm / ring size: 50)
• Tobacco: Complete Cuba
• Boxing Date (BD): NOV 20
• Price: Status April 2021
  • CHF 10.50 / box of 10 CHF 105.00
  • EUR currently still unknown
• Buy cigar: Google Search >

Personal impressions in the taste of Galanes

First half

• Tongue, palate: very nutty / a lot of cocoa (plain) / a lot of acid / a little scratchy > no fault of the cigar! Read more about this in the chapter below. The cigar has indeed potential!
• Retronasal: Pepper / Forest floor
• R+ ZiZo vacuum technology: very many roasted aromas of mature wood in the forest
• Umami: juicy / toasty / slightly astringent
• Strength 3/5

Second half

• She becomes more biting and bitchy. > no fault of the cigar! Read more about this in the chapter below.

What is "retronasal"?

Retronasal cigar enjoyment enhances the taste. What it is and, why it works and how to do it please read here. Especially look at the ZiZo vacuum technology. Incredible increase in the enjoyment of the cigar!

What is the "R+ ZiZo vacuum technology"?

This is the consummate pleasure of a cigar. Hard to describe. I'll try. Here's an example: a baby sucking on a pacifier. Try this technique with a cigar. Very little smoke enters the mouth. But this passes over the tongue and goes right through the nose. I tried it on about 10 cigars before I mastered it. Please be very careful with this technique when practicing: the smoke got to the back of my larynx several times when I did this. It was really bad. But now that I can do it, it's an accomplished technique for enjoying a cigar.

What is umami?

This means "savory", "spicy", "essence", "meaty". This blending of taste sensations is perceived in the middle of the tongue. You can find a good article about it on Wikipedia. 

Recommendation acclimatization: in the box in the humidor 2 years.

Cuban cigars and the important maturation phase

Cuban cigars are super tasty after rolling for the first 1 - 3 months. After that, the cigar begins to mature. The tobacco used is not yet ready for tasting. Cuba has too few resources. The tobacco cannot mature as long as it should. The cigars are rolled and have hardly any resting period. Depending on the brand and format, the maturation phase in the home humidor takes between 2 to over 8 years (or even longer). Very important: This is not a fault of the cigar.

Cuban cigars prefer storage no higher than 69%. At a conventional storage of about 72%, it becomes too moist and can lead to a strong draw resistance. These are not faults of the cigar, but the Cuban tobacco does not like it too moist.

If you buy single copies

Place the cigar with the cellophane in the humidor. If your cigar does not have cellophane: Put them in tubos and then in the humidor. Or you can put the single cigar in a Zippo bag and put a small Boveda in it. Then you put it closed in the humidor. Cigars that are stored open without cellophane or a box lose their flavor very quickly. This is proven in this article with experiments.

What is the Boxing Date of the cigar (BD)?

On the back of the box is a stamp. There you can see when the cigars were placed in the box. From this date Cuban cigars are excellent to taste within 1 - 3 months. If you did not buy a whole box, please ask your dealer for the boxing date.

Note: The boxing date can also be placed in other places. E.g. on the outer carton: Watch this short explanatory video:

Explain carton video

Conclusion of the Galanes

Recommended minimum maturation of Galanes: 2 years in the box in the humidor. As mentioned: > no fault of the cigar! Read more about this in the chapter above. I am sure that after about 2 years of storage it will be a nicely balanced and aromatic cigar. Right at the beginning I noticed a certain sharpness. Later it became a bit bitchy. Degassing didn't do much good here either. The flame was very wide and about 10 cm long! Please be careful when you degas. What is degassing and how do you do it?

My Galanes didn't burn very well in the first half; it almost burned out after about 30 seconds. So I had to keep it glowing well. After that, however, this phase was over and she glowed as usual. In the last third, it glowed out after just under 40 seconds. You can see that the tobacco is working very hard at the moment. The ash is compact and firm.

All in all, the Galanes is a quality product that simply needs time to mature. I recommend buying several boxes of it right away. Test one immediately after purchase and let the others mature for at least 2 years. I am already looking forward to it.