Tweet
I very much enjoyed the last Padron I had so I was looking forward to trying this more meaty stick. A beautiful sweet hay aroma was coming from the cigar, the wrapper was very toothy, the whole pack felt firm and looked substantial.
Once again Padron insisted on putting their stupid little single caps on the head of this cigar, no idea why but there you go. I cut straight past it as it was absolutely pointless trying to fiddle around with it.
Straight away, disappointment. If I had to make a list of things not to do when rolling a cigar then right at the top of the list would be a loose draw. Every time, draw draw draw. The draw on this stick was so poor that I could have used it as a snorkel! I find it just ruins any good experiences when having a cigar as I'm too busy being annoyed with the stick. This is now at least my 5th stick in a row where the draw has either been way too loose or completely unsuckable; we pay very good money for a premium product and so we expect premium quality, problems like draw should be ironed out, I don't think having 5 or 6 poor cigars in a row is now just bad luck or coincidence. The problem for me is probably more annoying than for most people as I don't have much money to spend on cigars so I want each one to be of excellent quality and when it isn't I feel ripped off.
Anyway rant over, onto the flavours...
The initial flavours were lovely, a big sweet dark chocolate on the draw and then a wash of black pepper and spice on the finish. The spice is balanced though, I find it's not a Partagas-type spice but a cleansing spice that combines very well with the initial chocolate flavours. The aroma of the smoke was also of chocolate, it smell delicious. So far so good!
Into the second third and the flavours just intensify with added leather, which is not a problem as I enjoy the chocolate/spice flavours. The second third was the best third I found as you really get a "wash" of flavour; first the sweet chocolate, then a darker chocolate then a lovely leathery earth just covers your mouth and then a big pepper wash with a lasting spice tingle to finish. It's just clever, it's almost like magic how Padron blend these things.
The final third just calmed down slightly, less pepper, still spicy though and more of an earthy taste comes through on the draw and the finish but with a sweet chocolate undertone. You could tell the cigar has reached its peak and was just dying down slightly.
Construction throughout was excellent as usual with Padron, all ashes fell off in big 1.5 inch chunks and I didn't have to touch it up at all. The cigar didn't get hot until the very last half inch, it was all very impressive.
Overall this is a great Nicaraguan puro, great big bold flavours that are blended well and contrast beautifully. If the draw wasn't a problem then this (for me) would easily be a 95 point cigar but unfortunately the draw that I had was horrendously loose and brought it down to about 91 points. If I have another one that has a better draw then I will update as usual.
Hope you enjoyed this review, happy smoking everyone,
Matt
Once again Padron insisted on putting their stupid little single caps on the head of this cigar, no idea why but there you go. I cut straight past it as it was absolutely pointless trying to fiddle around with it.
Straight away, disappointment. If I had to make a list of things not to do when rolling a cigar then right at the top of the list would be a loose draw. Every time, draw draw draw. The draw on this stick was so poor that I could have used it as a snorkel! I find it just ruins any good experiences when having a cigar as I'm too busy being annoyed with the stick. This is now at least my 5th stick in a row where the draw has either been way too loose or completely unsuckable; we pay very good money for a premium product and so we expect premium quality, problems like draw should be ironed out, I don't think having 5 or 6 poor cigars in a row is now just bad luck or coincidence. The problem for me is probably more annoying than for most people as I don't have much money to spend on cigars so I want each one to be of excellent quality and when it isn't I feel ripped off.
Anyway rant over, onto the flavours...
The initial flavours were lovely, a big sweet dark chocolate on the draw and then a wash of black pepper and spice on the finish. The spice is balanced though, I find it's not a Partagas-type spice but a cleansing spice that combines very well with the initial chocolate flavours. The aroma of the smoke was also of chocolate, it smell delicious. So far so good!
Into the second third and the flavours just intensify with added leather, which is not a problem as I enjoy the chocolate/spice flavours. The second third was the best third I found as you really get a "wash" of flavour; first the sweet chocolate, then a darker chocolate then a lovely leathery earth just covers your mouth and then a big pepper wash with a lasting spice tingle to finish. It's just clever, it's almost like magic how Padron blend these things.
The final third just calmed down slightly, less pepper, still spicy though and more of an earthy taste comes through on the draw and the finish but with a sweet chocolate undertone. You could tell the cigar has reached its peak and was just dying down slightly.
Construction throughout was excellent as usual with Padron, all ashes fell off in big 1.5 inch chunks and I didn't have to touch it up at all. The cigar didn't get hot until the very last half inch, it was all very impressive.
Overall this is a great Nicaraguan puro, great big bold flavours that are blended well and contrast beautifully. If the draw wasn't a problem then this (for me) would easily be a 95 point cigar but unfortunately the draw that I had was horrendously loose and brought it down to about 91 points. If I have another one that has a better draw then I will update as usual.
Hope you enjoyed this review, happy smoking everyone,
Matt
Comment