I figure I should do a few more these since we have Benzo's blind reviews coming up! I've had this beauty resting for about a year. I could wait no longer. I enjoyed this one on my deck, after a round of golf (I shot a never-boring plus-nine with a bogey-double to finish like a champ. Disappointing after yesterdays five-over. Holy rambling inside the parenthesis batman!)...before dinner, with some water.
Appearance: The wrapper on this cigar make it look like a chocolate bar...it was a deep, dark brown maduro. The construction is nice - firm and a little lumpy, but almost no veins. Score - 14
Ash: The ash was a beautiful salt and pepper. It had a LITTLE flaking to it, but held strong for just about two inches before I set it free. Score - 9
Draw: I love my Palio cutter. I snipped the cap and the pre-light draw was just a little loose. However, it firmed up a nicely about one-third in. Still ever-so-slightly loose, but very good. It remained this way to the end. Score - 9
Burn: The burn was never an issue. It wasn't razor straight, but I attribute that more to the maduro wrapper than anything. Only one touch-up was needed, and that was at the very end when the smoke became too hot to draw a little extra and help it self-correct...VERY nice. Score - 9
Smoke: The smoke off this cigar was blue-gray and pretty plentiful. With the slightly loose draw, I felt I wasn't getting quite as much smoke as I could have produced. The aroma was tough for me to catch because there was just enough of a breeze to whisk the smoke away pretty quickly. The little bit I did catch was very pleasing. Score - 9
Flavor: Pre-light aroma was of sweet tobacco and a slight barnyard goodness. The first couple of puffs seemed surprisingly bland - although this could be my frequent enjoyment of Pepin sticks causing this surprise - creamy and a little earth. Notes of chocolate and coffee crept up and by the one inch mark. There is a slight spice on the retro-hale, but none on the tongue. At the start of the second third all the flavors seemed to blend to perfection. The little spice that was there picked up a tiny bit as I was now able to detect on the back of my tongue, yet the core flavors of creamy chocolate and coffee remained. Just as the second-third was finishing, the chocolate and spice faded and the smoke became very creamy. The coffee note was still there and some earth returned. The flavors stayed this way well into the final third. As I removed the band and approached the end, the cigar was still very creamy and I was now getting some of the sweet tobacco notes I had detected before setting fire to it. Cream and sweet tobacco were my final flavor notes as I laid it to rest. Score - 17
Uniqueness: This one has always been hard for me. I found it to be a pretty typical flavor profile of well made maduro. If I had not known it was a Serie 1926 Padron would I have been able to distinguish it? I'm not sure, but it did have good balance and the flavors were changing. Knowing it was a Padron I feel I could detect that Padron flavor profile. Hmmm... Score - 8
Finish: I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping the chocolate-coffee-spice of the middle third would return for an encore...but alas it was not to be. That being said, it did remain creamy and never got bitter or too hot, even at the nub. It didn't leave me immediately wanting another, but I will most definitely do so in the future. Score - 13.
Total Score: 88
When I look at the final score, it looks lower than I think it should for this cigar. Oh well, it is what it is! Just off memory, I seem to remember enjoying the 1964 just a little more. Also, I noted that a few months ago my palate seems a little less interested in Padron lately than it did just over a year ago! Still, I found this to be an great pre-dinner or late-afternoon cigar.
I received this treat as part of a "yummmmy" sampler that I purchased from Ocat. Thanks much bro! It was a solid way to end a fantastic weekend here in 'Sota!
eace:
Appearance: The wrapper on this cigar make it look like a chocolate bar...it was a deep, dark brown maduro. The construction is nice - firm and a little lumpy, but almost no veins. Score - 14
Ash: The ash was a beautiful salt and pepper. It had a LITTLE flaking to it, but held strong for just about two inches before I set it free. Score - 9
Draw: I love my Palio cutter. I snipped the cap and the pre-light draw was just a little loose. However, it firmed up a nicely about one-third in. Still ever-so-slightly loose, but very good. It remained this way to the end. Score - 9
Burn: The burn was never an issue. It wasn't razor straight, but I attribute that more to the maduro wrapper than anything. Only one touch-up was needed, and that was at the very end when the smoke became too hot to draw a little extra and help it self-correct...VERY nice. Score - 9
Smoke: The smoke off this cigar was blue-gray and pretty plentiful. With the slightly loose draw, I felt I wasn't getting quite as much smoke as I could have produced. The aroma was tough for me to catch because there was just enough of a breeze to whisk the smoke away pretty quickly. The little bit I did catch was very pleasing. Score - 9
Flavor: Pre-light aroma was of sweet tobacco and a slight barnyard goodness. The first couple of puffs seemed surprisingly bland - although this could be my frequent enjoyment of Pepin sticks causing this surprise - creamy and a little earth. Notes of chocolate and coffee crept up and by the one inch mark. There is a slight spice on the retro-hale, but none on the tongue. At the start of the second third all the flavors seemed to blend to perfection. The little spice that was there picked up a tiny bit as I was now able to detect on the back of my tongue, yet the core flavors of creamy chocolate and coffee remained. Just as the second-third was finishing, the chocolate and spice faded and the smoke became very creamy. The coffee note was still there and some earth returned. The flavors stayed this way well into the final third. As I removed the band and approached the end, the cigar was still very creamy and I was now getting some of the sweet tobacco notes I had detected before setting fire to it. Cream and sweet tobacco were my final flavor notes as I laid it to rest. Score - 17
Uniqueness: This one has always been hard for me. I found it to be a pretty typical flavor profile of well made maduro. If I had not known it was a Serie 1926 Padron would I have been able to distinguish it? I'm not sure, but it did have good balance and the flavors were changing. Knowing it was a Padron I feel I could detect that Padron flavor profile. Hmmm... Score - 8
Finish: I'm not gonna lie, I was hoping the chocolate-coffee-spice of the middle third would return for an encore...but alas it was not to be. That being said, it did remain creamy and never got bitter or too hot, even at the nub. It didn't leave me immediately wanting another, but I will most definitely do so in the future. Score - 13.
Total Score: 88
When I look at the final score, it looks lower than I think it should for this cigar. Oh well, it is what it is! Just off memory, I seem to remember enjoying the 1964 just a little more. Also, I noted that a few months ago my palate seems a little less interested in Padron lately than it did just over a year ago! Still, I found this to be an great pre-dinner or late-afternoon cigar.
I received this treat as part of a "yummmmy" sampler that I purchased from Ocat. Thanks much bro! It was a solid way to end a fantastic weekend here in 'Sota!
eace:
