Those were the facts that faced me when I decided to break out a few Por Larranaga Cuban Grade Figurados to enjoy on a nice spring evening. This would also serve as a nice test to see if I would dip in and pry open my wallet and take advantage of these low prices. They had to be good as well, as this economy had acted like Gorilla Glue in keeping my wallet closed.

Por Larranaga Cuban Grade is the creation of master cigar blender Michael Argenti, and his company Cuban Imports. Mr. Argenti had previously been what Tabacalera Perdomo, (Michael Argenti is the brother in law of Nick Perdomo Jr.) and in late 1995 branched out on his own. Would he get the opportunity to do was fantastic, re-blending some famous brands like Por Larranaga, and H. Upmann.

Michael and his brother Al run Cuban Imports, and are the sole distributor of all of their brands. This can be confusing to some, considering the famous names they are re-blending, don’t let this confuse you. The cigars are still made by Altadis in their Flor de Copan factory in Honduras. I don’t think Altadis would let these big names too far out their sight.

I had always liked Mr. Argenti is blending back in the Perdomo days, and his follow ups have been fantastic as well. The figurado is a 6 1/8 x 52 cigar with a Ecuadorian wrapper, Dominican and Honduran filler, and Mexican binder. The original retail price of the cigar was $7.50, but as I said earlier checking JR, they are quickly being cleared out. That said I have also seen in show up on some of the very auction sites, and you can get some unbelievable bargains they are as well.