Padrón 80th Anniversary Natural
Size: 6-3/4 x 54 (perfecto)
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
About:
Released in 2007 as a special limited addition to the Padrón 1926 Anniversary Series, the Padrón 80th Anniversary is a box-pressed perfecto made to commemorate the 80th birthday of cigar industry legend José Padrón. In fact, they found it fitting to make the Padrón 80th a perfecto-shaped cigar – a first in the history of the Padrón cigar company. The cigars come packaged in boxes of eight and retail for about $30 each. There were both maduro and natural versions of this cigar released. For this Snapshot, I am reviewing the natural version.
Pre-light: The wrapper was a medium-brown in color, with a matte appearance – that is to say that there was no evidence of oils on the outside of the wrapper to speak of. The cigar is a beautifully rolled box-pressed perfecto, with no hard or soft spots. There were two imperfections that I noticed during my prelight inspection. First, there was a slight tear in the wrapper beneath the second band with a tiny flake of wrapper missing. Also, there was a 1/16 inch piece of tobacco applied to the side of the head near the bottom of the cap that resembled a patch. Though it is relatively common to use a small piece of tobacco as a patch, in a cigar of this caliber, I do indeed consider it to qualify as a defect.
AROMA: Strangely, the prelight aroma was so subtle and unassuming that it was almost completely non-existent. There was a slight hint of hardwood sawdust, along with some straight tobacco scents.
TASTE: The prelight taste had some pleasant notes of raisins, straight tobacco flavors, and a hint of allspice.
1/3:
Upon lighting, the cigar started right off with strong tobacco flavors, along with a strong backing of wet wood. There was a pleasant sweet dried-fruit-like taste that accompanied the emerging strength component.
The retrohale had a green peppercorn like sensation along with a slight bite. The ash was medium-gray and slightly flaky.
2/3:
As the strength increased in the second third, the wet wood flavors became more hay like – dry and more of a toasted flavor. There was also a buttery caramel-like undertone that served as a nice unifying background character. Though the strength increased in this third, it did not have any harsh or bitter characteristics at all. Rather, there was just an overall sensation of fullness in the profile with just the slightest touch of a nic kick.
3/3:
In the final third of the cigar, the strength built into what I would classify as medium-full. The flavor characteristics from the second third continued, with the buttery caramel flavors becoming a little richer. There was also the addition of an almost mushroom-like earthy note in the background. I smoked the cigar down to about the last inch or so before it started to loosen and heat up to the point that I had to put it down.
Overall:
The Padrón 80th was a fine tribute for the 80th birthday of José Padrón. The cigar was not nearly as full bodied as previous samples that I have smoked, so the four years of age has really changed the character of the cigar. In the process of losing a bit of the strength, the full range of the flavor profile became available, and I am glad that I was able to hold on to my last Padrón 80th long enough so that I could experience this. I certainly didn’t think that they would last that long!
Recaps from previous episodes:
- My Thanksgivings (yes, two!), and waking up sick on Saturday
- Voicemail from Ricardo
- Feedback from Cigar John
- Voicemial from Tim
New this episode:
- Still recovering, not quite 100% yet.
- Ordered and received a large batch of cigars from a retailer for future review.
Click HERE to link to episode and listen!
Size: 6-3/4 x 54 (perfecto)
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
About:
Released in 2007 as a special limited addition to the Padrón 1926 Anniversary Series, the Padrón 80th Anniversary is a box-pressed perfecto made to commemorate the 80th birthday of cigar industry legend José Padrón. In fact, they found it fitting to make the Padrón 80th a perfecto-shaped cigar – a first in the history of the Padrón cigar company. The cigars come packaged in boxes of eight and retail for about $30 each. There were both maduro and natural versions of this cigar released. For this Snapshot, I am reviewing the natural version.
Pre-light: The wrapper was a medium-brown in color, with a matte appearance – that is to say that there was no evidence of oils on the outside of the wrapper to speak of. The cigar is a beautifully rolled box-pressed perfecto, with no hard or soft spots. There were two imperfections that I noticed during my prelight inspection. First, there was a slight tear in the wrapper beneath the second band with a tiny flake of wrapper missing. Also, there was a 1/16 inch piece of tobacco applied to the side of the head near the bottom of the cap that resembled a patch. Though it is relatively common to use a small piece of tobacco as a patch, in a cigar of this caliber, I do indeed consider it to qualify as a defect.
AROMA: Strangely, the prelight aroma was so subtle and unassuming that it was almost completely non-existent. There was a slight hint of hardwood sawdust, along with some straight tobacco scents.
TASTE: The prelight taste had some pleasant notes of raisins, straight tobacco flavors, and a hint of allspice.
1/3:
Upon lighting, the cigar started right off with strong tobacco flavors, along with a strong backing of wet wood. There was a pleasant sweet dried-fruit-like taste that accompanied the emerging strength component.
The retrohale had a green peppercorn like sensation along with a slight bite. The ash was medium-gray and slightly flaky.
2/3:
As the strength increased in the second third, the wet wood flavors became more hay like – dry and more of a toasted flavor. There was also a buttery caramel-like undertone that served as a nice unifying background character. Though the strength increased in this third, it did not have any harsh or bitter characteristics at all. Rather, there was just an overall sensation of fullness in the profile with just the slightest touch of a nic kick.
3/3:
In the final third of the cigar, the strength built into what I would classify as medium-full. The flavor characteristics from the second third continued, with the buttery caramel flavors becoming a little richer. There was also the addition of an almost mushroom-like earthy note in the background. I smoked the cigar down to about the last inch or so before it started to loosen and heat up to the point that I had to put it down.
Overall:
The Padrón 80th was a fine tribute for the 80th birthday of José Padrón. The cigar was not nearly as full bodied as previous samples that I have smoked, so the four years of age has really changed the character of the cigar. In the process of losing a bit of the strength, the full range of the flavor profile became available, and I am glad that I was able to hold on to my last Padrón 80th long enough so that I could experience this. I certainly didn’t think that they would last that long!
Recaps from previous episodes:
- My Thanksgivings (yes, two!), and waking up sick on Saturday
- Voicemail from Ricardo
- Feedback from Cigar John
- Voicemial from Tim
New this episode:
- Still recovering, not quite 100% yet.
- Ordered and received a large batch of cigars from a retailer for future review.
Click HERE to link to episode and listen!
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