The Good Stuff:

By now you should all be familiar with the Padron 1926 series which has been held as a standard and quiet easily one of the best cigars ever produced. To celebrate  the founder of Patron Cigars and chairman of the company Jose Orlando Padron’s 90th birthday Padron has released a 90th Anniversary edition tubo. While it’s the first 1926 tube we’ve seen it’s also the first non-box-pressed version of the cigar we’ve seen as well being offered in a single 5 1/2 x 52 format. Like the rest of the 1926 line the 90th Anniversary is offered in both a Natural and Maduro version. Today we are concentrating on the Maduro version. You can easily scoop these up from our friends at Fox Cigar Bar in Gilbert, Arizona. You can cop the Maduro Version here, and the Natural version here. Keep in mind that Fox Cigar offers Free Shipping on all their orders. That means you can order a single stick, or a 100 boxes and pay nada.

Size: 5 1/2 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium / Full
Price: $19.50
Pairing: Saint Archer Tusk & Grain Wee Heavy (Scotch ale 11.3% ABV)

Prelight:

It’s so strange seeing a Padron 1926 in a round format. The Padron 1926 90th Anniversary starts off being packaged in a maroon and gold tubo which is as elegant as any of the packaging you would expect by the premium brand. Once opened you can take a look at the beautiful, round cigar. The Padron 1926 90th Anniversary starts out with a stunning, consistent dark brown wrapper. It’s hard to even spot an area with any discoloration. As seemless as the color, the wrapper is laid perfectly over itself coating the cigar leading up to its round, double cap. The wrapper’s texture is pretty toothy and gritty with a whole mess of thick oils. The wrapper feels very thick and dense while the cigar has absolutely no soft spots whatsoever. The Padron 1926 90th Anniversary is polished off with the standard 1926 band we’ve all grown to love as well as an added secondary Gold band with “No. 90” embossed in the front as well as Jose’s signature on both sides.

The wrapper on the Padron 1926 90th Anniversary gives off a ton of sweetness, cocoa, and spice while the foot of the cigar carries a much more natural bouquet of scents leading with some bold earthiness, moss, and natural tobacco. The cap cut like butter using my Xikar XO double bladed cutter. The cold draw leads with a ton of rich cooca, spice, sweetness, and earthiness. A bit of pepper left my lips tingling before I even lit up the cigar.

First Third:

The Padron 1926 90th Anniversary starts out with a whole mess of cayenne pepper which left my tongue and lips tinging. After the first few puffs the pepper dies down and is now only resident on the aftertaste. The flavor profile now leads with a strong dark chocolate, cedar, sweet brown sugar, moss, and some great dark berry flavors mixed in. The draw is incredible and I don’t think it gets any better than this. Each tiny puff kicks out massive clouds of thick, white smoke which hand around for a good amount of time before fading away while the cigar releases minimal stationary smoke as it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is dead even and razor thin leaving behind a trail of bright white and light gray ash which held on for almost and inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Padron 1926 90th Anniversary and the flavors are just pouring it on. The cigar leads with the dark chocolate and cedar, backed by dark berry, spice, sweetness, some moss, and great nutmeg and cinnamon flavors. It almost tastes like a Christmas themed treat. The retrohale leads with cedar and helps bring back the pepper so I don’t really find myself retrohaling this cigars too often. The burn line is still dead even and I close out the second third with only a tiny nicotine kick.

Finish:

Into the final third of the Padron 1926 No. 90 and the body and strength have both really ramped up. Leading with bold dark chocolate and cedar the flavor profile hasn’t changed too much, but thats not a bad thing. Backed by dark berry, caramel, spice, moss, and a resurgence of the spice it’s a hell of a profile. The cigar burned like a dream from start to finish with no help needed from my torch. It took me over 2 hours to smoke this cigar down to the nub and I loved every second of it. I experienced no harshness nor extended heat and it left with me with a decent nicotine kick.

Overview:

It’s hard to find a cigar that I enjoy more than the 1926 Series Padron, and the 90th is another great extension to the line. While I’m still in a bit of shock with the round format, I loved the tube aspect of the cigar. The Padron 1926 90th Anniversary is complex, balanced, and exposes you to an incredible flavor profile which lines up with just about everything I personally look for in a cigar. The price point is steep, but you are paying for the quality, and experience Padron offers which is second to none. I could easily see my buying a box of these to have on deck for those times I’m craving an uber-premium. Again, hit up our friends at Fox Cigar Bar for the goods.

Pairing:

Hailing from San Diego, California Saint Archer is one of the fastest growing breweries in California. The Tusk & Grain series featured experimental beers aged in bourbon barrels. This specific brew is their Wee Heavy, brewed with Hazelnuts and Cacao Nibs aged in Bourbon Barrels which comes in at a whopping 11.3% ABV. The beer leads with a ton of malt, hazelnut, vanilla, cocoa, and caramel with a very heavy mouthfeel before finishing sweet with brown sugar, caramel, cocoa, and a whole mess of more malty goodness. While the flavors don’t necessarily match up with those in the Padron 1926 90th Anniversary they complimented each other very well. The cigar added some great spice to the beer while the beer added more malty complex to the cigar which turned out to be an amazing pairing. Anything less could easily get overpowered by the Padron.

Contest Winner:

And we have another winner! First of all, thanks again to everyone who entered. We wouldn’t be doing these reviews if it wasn’t for the support from all of you. And the winner is…

Jeffery Hilker

Shoot your address to casasfumando@gmail.com and I’ll get your Hit and Run 5pk out to ya! Stayed tuned though as Fox Cigar has been in beast mode with these giveaways and I am sure we will have more coming up soon!

The post Padron 1926 No. 90 Maduro + Contest Winner appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

As noted on the band, the La Galera Maduro is manufactured at Tabacalera Palma in the Dominican Republic. The cigar features a Mexican San Andres Maduro wrapper over Dominican internals. Available vitolas include: No. 1 (3 ½ by 50), Pegador (6 by 46), Chaveta (5 by 50), Cortador (6 ¼ by 52), El Lector (6 by 54), and Cabeza Caracol (7 ¼ by 50). And with prices ranging between $4 and $6.75, this cigar will be easy on your wallet. 

You can purchase the La Galera Maduro from our good friends at Fox Cigar. It doesn’t look like they are listed on their online store yet, but you can give them a ring at  (800) 730-2087.

THE FACTS

Price: $5.69
Vitola: Pegador
Size: 6 by 46
Wrapper: Mexican San Andres Maduro
Binder: Dominican Piloto Cubano
Filler: Domincan Criollo 98 and Piloto Cubano
Smoke Time: 1 Hour and 30 Minutes

PRE-LIGHT

La Galera Maduro wears a milk chocolate wrapper that has a couple stitch like veins running the length of the cigar and a crazy amount of fine tooth. It is as if I am running my fingers across a fine grain sandpaper. The aroma on the wrapper is of nutmeg and meat seasonings, while rich cedar, pepper, and brandy are found on the foot of the cigar.

The double cap gets the job done and gives way to a perfect draw once cut. Flavors of cedar, baking spices, and brandy freely move across my palate on the dry draw.

FIRST THIRD

With the La Galera Maduro underway, cocoa, pencil shavings, and earth kick off the journey. A sweetness is tied to the cocoa that is rounding out the flavors as rich and creamy smoke coats all areas of my mouth. The pepper spice is medium and really stands out on the retrohale. There is a yeasty, bread-like flavor on the finish of the smoke. The cigar is  burning even as a good looking white ash forms. You can easily see the tooth from the wrapper in the ash.  

MIDDLE THIRD

The yeast has taken center stage with the cocoa sweetness and pencil shavings trailing close behind. The flavors are medium to full and a dark fruit flavor has joined in, but its appearance was brief. As the cigar progresses, the sweetness continues to gain ground and is hitting the tip of my tongue with each puff. 

FINAL THIRD

I am sad that I am already in the last third of the La Galera Maduro. The cocoa note is impressive and continues to build as the cigar takes  on a more earthy and gritty quality, which I am absolutely loving. And the sweetness is carrying along without interruption as the yeast from the second third has moved to the background and is appearing only every few puffs. 

WRAP-UP

Tony originally had this cigar on his review list and I am sure glad that he passed this one off to me to take a stab at it. The La Galera Maduro is an absolute treat for under $6. It burned along with no hiccups and offered up some medium/full flavors that evolved through the smoke. I am a sucker for dark and rich flavors that are rounded out by some sweetness and that is exactly what this cigar delivered. This cigar is right up there with the best of them and you won’t break budget smoking these. Go for a box purchase. You won’t regret it!

GIVEAWAY WINNER:

Thanks to our good friends at Fox Cigar Bar, we have had 2 awesome giveaways in the last couple of week. Make sure to show some love to Fox Cigar by visiting their online store HERE. And the moment you have been waiting for, the winner of the 2 LFD Andalusian Bulls, Drew Estate Ashtray, Liga Privada Hat and Cutter is…….

Chase TexicanEight

Congrats! Please send your address to casasfumando@gmail.com. And those of you who didn’t win, stayed tuned. We already have planned many more giveaways with Fox Cigar Bar. Also, keep up with our reviews here as we will be partnered up with them to give you guys straight access on how to get many of these newer/rarer cigars directly from them.

The post IndianHead Cigars – La Galera Maduro Pegador + GIVEAWAY WINNER appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The Good Stuff: Eddie took on a huge feat when he decided he wanted to release the Wild Bunch series this year. 12 blends, in 12 months. That’s nuts, but Eddie pulled it off. Maybe he got bored, or maybe he just loves Cliff and the staff at Fox Cigar Bar. Whatever the case may be he decided to throw out another blend this year producing “The Fox”, an event specific blend for Fox Cigar Bar’s FoxToberfest.

This is a huge event into it’s second year for Fox Cigar Bar. Many manufactures and staff headed out this year to pay a visit including Eddie Ortega from Ortega Cigar Company, Jose Ortega from My Father, Jesus Fuego from J Fuego Cigars, Matt Booth from 101, Nish Patel from Rocky Patel, Fabian Ziegler from Drew Estate, Tony Gomez from La Flor Dominicana, Rafael Alejandro from Boutique Blends, Wes Thornton from the Crowned Heads, Clint Aaron from 262 Cigars, David Fraser from Xikar, Meera Levin from Ashton, Terence Reilly from Sag, Jeff Nolen from Oliva Cigars, and Glen Loope from CRA.  We’ll have more on the event later this week. Eddie was one of the manufacturers who created a blend specific for the event (Along with Rafael who created a Swag blend, and LFD). This isn’t just a spin off of any of his other blends, The Fox was created as it’s own blend completely separate for anything Eddie was already doing. I don’t have the specifics of the blend at this time, but I will update this post as they become available to me.

While this was slotted to be a limited release with only a handful of 5 packs produced, Cliff let me know that Fox Cigar Bar has since secured the blend and are looking on even extended the line in the future. What does this mean? Simply put, you can still get your hands on them, but only from Fox Cigar Bar. They may still have a few on hand, with more on the way. They run $39.99 per 5-pack and you can get yours by contact Fox Cigar Bar directly via email, Facebook, twitter, or by simply walking in the store.

Size: 6.5 x 38
Wrapper: Unknown
Binder: Unknown
Filler: Unknown
Strength: Medium
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $7.99
Pairing: Founder’s Breakfast Stout (Double Chocolate, Oatmeal, Coffee Imperial Stout 8.3% ABV)

Prelight: Ortega’s Fox starts off with a beautiful, dark brown wrapper. The wrapper showcases some darker webbing areas in the leaf as it seamlessly leads up to the cigars round, tailed cap. I love these little tails on the caps of corona/Lancero cigars. Adds so much character. Anywho, the cigar is very slim and slender so I was a bit worried about compressing it to see the strength of the tobacco, but the Fox holds it own and is actually incredibly firm to the touch. The wrapper is very thick and toothy. The cigar is polished off with a “Wild Bunch” style logo showcasing Fox Cigar Bar’s infamous Fox logo along with white words printed on the back: “FoxToberfest 2013 Cigar & Beer Festival Limited Edition Fox Cigar Bar”. Good stuff.

The Fox gives off lots of spice and chocolate aromas from the wrapper and a nice blast of pepper and spice from the foot. The Cap cut clean and easily using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw produces a really sweet, leathery, syrupy draw. I get a bit of the black pepper from that as well.

First Smoke: The Fox leads off with a nice blast of black pepper which quickly faded away after the first few draws leaving behind lots of dark chocolate, syrup, natural tobacco flavors with a real neat floral aftertaste. The draw is just a bit tight, but nothing too concerning. In fact, I smoked three of these and all had a flawless draw except for this one. Anywho, it’s not plugged and really isn’t giving me much trouble so I’ll move on. The burnline is dead even and razor sharp leaving behind a brilliant trail of white and light gray ash which held on for only about ¾ of an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: The chocolate has really started to pour out of Ortega’s “The Fox” into the second third. Most of the spice and pepper has dropped out and the cigar is burning with lots of sweetness, chocolate, espresso and still a bit of those floral notes I picked up in the first third. I am also happy to report after about the first inch the draw completely opened up and has been pumping out a ton of thick, smoke ever since. The retrohale on the Fox is actually quite satisfying coating my nasal passage with just a ton of chocolate and even a bit of cedar. The burnline is still dead even and razor sharp while I am feeling absolutely no nicotine at this point.

Finish: The Fox has began to mellow out and finished off with a creamy mixture of coffee and chocolate. The floral flavors have diminished and I can only pick up the spice on the aftertaste. Usually I tend to smoke Lancero faster than most vitolas leading towards some harshness built up here and there, but that wasn’t the case in any of the Foxes I smoked. Each one finished off very smooth and creamy leaving behind absolutely no feeling of nicotine. It took me about an hour and a half to take this one down to the nub.

Overview: It’s easy to see why Cliff was so excited to introduce “The Fox” to the cigar world. Eddie created yet another masterpiece. First off, I love the size, but that’s no secret. I’m a corona, Lonsdale, Lancero guy. But the blend itself is just great. Leading off with a bit of black pepper and spice, balanced out with a ton of sweetness, coffee, and chocolate before finishing off with lots of creamy, earth notes. Great experience all around. Add in a fantastic price point,  the great people at Fox Cigar Bar and 5pk packaging vs. full boxes and you got a winner. I would contact Fox Cigar Bar ASAP and get a few if you’re a fan of flavorful, balance, cigars. Or just a fan of Eddie’s work in general.

Pairing: I found the perfect pairing for The Fox. Founders Brewing Breakfast Stout. It’s a double chocolate, coffee, oatmeal Imperial stout. Seriously, read that again. Without even drinking the beer can you see why it’s a perfect pairing? Brewed at the Founders Brewery in Michigan this Imperial stout comes in at a whopping 8.3% ABV. So, we got chocolate, coffee, oatmeal, and high ABV? SOLD! Seriously it’s just as good as it sounds leading with a ton of chocolate with just a bit of coffee on the finish. Lots of malt, and caramel fill the gap in between the two dominant flavors making as close to a perfect stout as you can get. Now add the sweetness, coffee, and chocolate from Ortega’s Fox and you have a perfect, all-round balanced pairing.

The post Ortega Cigar Company – The Fox – Fox Cigar Bar Exclusive appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.