Por Larrañaga Marks Fifth Avenue's Anniversary With Double Corona

German cigar shops will soon carry a substantial new arrival from Havana: the Por Larrañaga 35 Aniversario Regional Edición Alemania. This is a prominente, the size collectors know as a double corona, measuring 7 5/8 inches with a 49 ring gauge. The cigars ship in cabinets of 50, and only 2,000 individually numbered boxes have been produced. Each cigar will carry a retail price of 35 euros, roughly $40.

The release comes courtesy of Fifth Avenue Products Trading GmbH, the sole official distributor of Cuban cigars in Germany, Austria and Poland. According to the company's own statement, the cigars should reach shelves soon, though no exact date has been announced.

The Por Larrañaga name carries considerably more history than the anniversary number suggests. Founded by Ignacio Larrañaga in 1834, it remains Cuba's oldest cigar brand still in active production, predating this new release by nearly two centuries. The 35 in the name refers not to the brand's age but to Fifth Avenue's own 35th anniversary as a company.

This is not the first time Fifth Avenue has turned to Por Larrañaga for a Regional Edition. The brand has appeared in the company's special releases going back to 2006, when it issued a slimmer Por Larrañaga Lonsdale. A Por Larrañaga Robusto followed in 2010, and a smaller Por Larrañaga Corona arrived in 2017.

The 35th anniversary itself has arrived a bit later than the calendar would suggest. Fifth Avenue was actually founded in 1989, making this year its 37th in business rather than its 35th. The company marked its 30th anniversary properly in 2019, with a special edition of the Bolivar Belicoso Fino. Given the well known difficulties of doing business in Cuba, production and release schedules for Regional Editions rarely move on time, and this delay fits a familiar pattern for the market.

Collectors watching for the release will want to note the scale of the cigar itself. A 49 ring gauge double corona of this length is a serious commitment of both time and tobacco, and cabinets of 50 numbered boxes tend to move quickly once they land in specialist shops. With only 2,000 boxes produced for the entire German market, those with an interest in Por Larrañaga's long history, or in Fifth Avenue's own anniversary releases, would do well to inquire with their local retailer soon after the cigars appear.