Por Larranaga Petit Coronas LGR AUG 2019 (TCVRW)

jakebarnes · August 1, 2022

I absolutely love traveling. I love going to a new or sometimes familiar place and experiencing it in new and exciting ways--the food, the culture, the unique locales. It really is a true "recharge the batteries" experience for me. While I love a relaxing "lay around on the beach and do nothing" vacation, my wife and I are particularly drawn to places where we can enjoy biking, hiking, or some other enjoyable way to see a new side of where we are at (example: mountain biking the Atherton Tablelands). It's all about fitting quality time into the brief time we have where we go.

In that same vein, I tend to choose cigars that satisfy the time/quality ratio of the vacation. For me, that generally means a mareva--big flavors but not a huge time commitment. Right now top mareva for me is the PLPC, and the cigar I had this weekend is no exception. This is definitely THE cigar that comes with me on any vacation. Honestly, the beautiful flavor profile allows me to kick up my feet, take a breath, and just take it in. One of those "it's a perfect cigar for not worrying about the cigar at all."

Prelight: Toasty-sweet draw with a slight bit of resistance, which I prefer. This one is a special cigar out of the cab as it bears the ribbon line that held the cabinet bundle together. Slight curve to the cigar that I am hoping will not cause any burn issues. Big barnyard smell coming from this beaut. Slightly rustic wrapper which makes the elegance of the gold PL band seem a little odd. Visually will not win a beauty contest--but from the other senses this feels like a winner.

First Third: Starts off with a little more strength than I was expecting--especially since the first out of this cab had beautiful honey notes. Toasted tobacco and earth driving the initial start here with a pinch of almost salt. Towards the end of this third the salt and tobacco opens to a hint of sweetness that I was starting to worry wouldn't come. What a beautiful smoke so far. Burn is perfect. Light-medium body, but flavor is amazing.

Second Third: The sweetness intensifies and there is a beautiful interplay with the sweetness and pinch of salt. Not really caramel, but something adjacent like a lightly bruleed sugar. Burnt toast also shining through. Absolutely beautiful draw that yields great smoke output as well. A little bit of spice shows up at the latter part of this third. Most importantly though--it's just absolutely smooth. Nothing is fighting and everything feels deliberate. Medium body and flavor intensity is rich--but you almost don't even realize it.

Final Third: The strength has amped a bit. The deep burnt sugar is still there but the pepper has intensified as well. Holding them together is the toast notes and a little bit of almost floral earth lingering note (I don't understand it, but that's how I can best describe it). Still burning beautifully, albeit slightly hot in the final moments due to user error. Lay it down with about an inch left. What a journey.

Final thoughts: The PLPC is a vacation cigar because it provides a beautiful complexity and intensity of flavor that almost goads you into an autodrive mode to just enjoy everything around you. I'd almost liken it almost to a perfect omakase where the subtle progression allows you to just sit back and enjoy the environment when it's done right. You're not thinking about the flavor profile or changes--you're just enjoying the ride and taking in the world around you.

It's clear the sweetness notes are present in this cabinet and it's still relatively "young" for a PLPC around these parts, but I really enjoyed this cigar and it reminded me why I keep coming back to it. With more caramel intensity this would be unbeatable, but for now I am giving it a 92. Much more ceiling on this cab and I am beyond excited about it.