Now this is a very special line made by Padron Cigars to honor their many great years of quality cigar production. It remains a family owned business so you can see where the name comes from. This line is amongst the best cigars ever to come from the Padron factory. Only the top quality tobacco leaves are used here and as with most of their cigars, all the tobacco leaves are exclusively Nicaraguan. On top of that, each leaf is aged a full 10 years before being rolled into one of the limited edition cigars.

Similar to some other limited cigars on the market, these blends are released annually, usually landing in September, and each year brings a new vitola and some different names. The name here, No. 44, commemorates the 44 years of successful cigar manufacturing by the Padron Family. This particular blend/vitola was released in 2008.

I fully plan on taking my time and enjoying this one, as you can see below, the price isn’t exactly cheap. The price, along with Padron name on the band, sets some pretty high expectations as I head outside to light this cigar up. I’m hoping it can live up to my expectations now. Let’s get to it!

Cigar: Padron Family Reserve No. 44 Years
Drink: St. Ambroise 2011 Special Reserve Extra Strong Imperial Stout
Vitola: Box Pressed Torpedo (6 x 52)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $30
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• First thing I noticed when I picked up this cigar was the subtle toothiness on the wrapper, there’s tons of little spots on it and it’s super oily to boot, damn tasty from an outsiders perspective
• The oily wrapper also has a super dark chocolate tone to it that just adds to its appeal
• Now the springiness on this cigar is almost non-existent, it’s a pretty solid box-pressed stick from end to end with no soft spots
• The cigar is a little bumpy but there are almost no veins above a “small” size here and it’s got a very silky feel to it
• The cap actually looks pretty poorly applied considering the special edition here, it’s kind of a crescent shaped tapered cap
• The foot is understandably well packed but despite being such a solid stick it actually feels pretty light in your hands
• After an easy cut, the draw was a little bit tight but not too bad. I didn’t want to cut much of this pricey stick so I’ll work with this

Burn:
• This cigar lit up with ease, within a few seconds the whole foot was glowing evenly with minimal effort
• Through the first inch I’m getting a super tight, razor sharp burn that is going very well so far
• This section is gonna be pretty short, the Padron 44 years is smoking wonderfully without any needs for touch ups at all
• It’s also letting me smoke it slowly and enjoy it without having to take a bunch of extra draws to get it going again

Smoke & Ash:
• The smoke from each draw isn’t overly thick but it’s not thin either, I’d say its a nice balance right now
• The first bit of ash is coming along nicely, keeping tight together and fairly clean with only one kind of split on the side
• The resting smoke was fairly light and gave off a sweet cedar type of aroma, very pleasant
• The ash held on strong to an inch before I gently tapped it off into the ashtray
• The ash has a nice light grey color to it with thin black lines creating a nice zebra stripe effect
• The second ash stayed nice and strong and clean up until I tapped it off at about the one inch mark

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper is pretty much aroma-less, can’t pick up anything except for the slight cedar smell of my humidor
• The foot brings some more interesting aromas including cinnamon, a touch of sweetness and bit of coffee too
• Pre-light draw brings just a touch of cedar flavors to my tongue, not much else here though
• Right off the initial draw you get a super flavorful mouthful of cocoa, coffee, baking spices and a wonderful sweetness, what an awesome start!
• Within the first inch the cigar quickly ramps up from an initial mild body to getting near the high end of medium
• The retrohale started off with a light cedar finish and now I’m getting nice spicy bite to go along with it
• As the body builds at this early point, so does the spice. It has changed from being baking spices to more cooking spices in the range of white pepper and even paprika while still keeping the cedar, cocoa and coffee
• As quickly as the body and spicy flavors came, they are now gone and I’m back to the sweet and tasty cocoa, coffee and cedar. So much action in just the first third!
• The coffee and cocoa are dominating right now and it’s so damn tasty, there’s just enough spice and cedar in the background to make it interesting
• I should also note the body came down a bit towards the low end of medium after towing the line of becoming a full bodied stick before
• As I get into the last third, the cedar and spice started taking charge, leaving the sweet cocoa and coffee notes aside
• I also started picking up some tasty almond flavors and an interesting flavor I can only characterize as “red wine”. I’ve never got this before and I’m pairing it with beer so that really caught me off guard!
• Flavor and body picked up a little intensity towards the end but it never got harsh and I enjoyed it right to the nub!

Final Thoughts:
These are obviously super limited cigars and I’m very glad I had a chance to try one. The first thing everyone will look at is the price. It is way up there for sure and I don’t think I could justify a whole box but it was definitely worth having a couple to try. The flavors, construction and burn were all top notch and worthy of the price it carries, especially considering the rare tobacco that goes into it. The Padron family has a huge reputation to live up to so chances are, when you pick up a special edition cigar by them that it’s going to be a good one. Having said that, the Padron Family Reserve 44 years lived up to that legacy for me.

Pairings:
I picked up this brew while on a trip to Ottawa. We crossed over into Quebec where the selection of beers far outweighs what we have here in Ontario, and they are cheaper to boot. At the local stores here I can only find the oatmeal stout by St. Ambroise and I really enjoy it so I figured I’d give this special edition a try. It is a 2011 Special Reserve Extra Strong Imperial Stout. Now what a wonderful brew this turned out to be. It’s got a smooth creamy texture that is so darn tasty. The amount of malt in here is damn near staggering and it’s paired with some awesome coffee flavors and a touch of cocoa. To round out the mix, it is aged in Bourbon barrels and the bourbon flavor definitely shines through, but it’s not overpowering, just a nice hint. It is a strong brew coming in at 9.5% alc./vol. but it paired perfectly with the Padron Family Reserve 44 Years. Other good pairings here would be my port of course or maybe a good strong coffee.

The post Padron Family Reserve No. 44 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

Today I will be lighting up the second cigar in this set. Needless to say with a selection like his, I can’t help but get all giggly each time I find the spare time to fire up one the cigars he sent over.

Prelight: #2 is wrapped in a very, very, very dark brown, almost black tobacco leaf. The leaf itself is pretty consistent in color with just a few darker spots especially concentrated around the head of the cigar. The wrapper seems pretty thick and gives off an almost duct tape type gleam as light shines off of its silky, oily texture. The wrapper is excellently laid and tapers off to a very large, beefy torpedo shaped cap. The cigar is firm for the most part, but there are a few softer areas dead center of the cigar’s body. I can’t pick up too much other than a really musky cedar smell coming from the wrapper as the foot of the cigar gives off the slightest hint of spice. Not much aroma coming off this unlit cigar what so ever.

The cap clipped clean off (although a little flaky) using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw surprisingly kicked out a massive burst of what could be best described as a spicy gingerbread. Maybe it’s a little too close to Christmas for me., but I swear that’s all I’m getting off this cold draw.

First Smoke: The cigar didn’t start off with the massive kick of spice I was expecting. It’s not to say the spice wasn’t there, it just wasn’t in the action packed form I thought it would be. Outside of the subtle spice/pepper the cigar packed a vibrant, woodsy taste, backed by a bit of leather and even some of that gingerbread flavor I picked up during the cold draw. The pepper is kind of interesting though. It’s not too noticeable in taste, but my lips and back of the throat are really feeling it. This cigar kicks out just an overly massive, effortless cloud of thick, grey smoke with every draw. Tons of stationary smoke as well. The burnline was all over the place at first but finally into the second third it began correcting itself.  The ash left behind was very flaky, and medium gray with dark black spots and only held on for a little over half an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Halfway There: Early into the second third and I am already starting to feel the body in this cigar. One interesting note on my last blind review was the fact that I felt a bit of a full body experience, yet knowing that the cigar is now, I know it’s a mild/medium stick. Maybe I am not the best judge in body, or maybe this just goes to show that my theory is true. The strength of each cigar will always affect each smoker in different ways. Anywho, back to the review. The pepper and spice in this cigar is still just a tease. They’re not as potent as they were to begin with but they still sine through the cocoa, leather, woodsy flavors that have started to develop in the second third. The retrohale is killer, priming my nasal passage with a ton of pepper and cedar. The burnline is still a bit wild on one side of the cigar, but nothing to cause any concern. The ash has also taken a turn for the better with the body being much more smooth, compact and a consistent brownish-gray.

Finish: This cigar is really packing a punch. Into the final third and I am really getting a nice little nic-kick off of this one. The pepper has finally started to wear off and now the main flavors are a really smooth woodsy flavor, backed by a bit of earth tones, cocoa, and spice. I am also getting just a bit of harshness as I get to the mid-point of the final third. It’s a bit bitter, but could be worse.  The burnline has been consistently wavy leading me to think there might be a bit of ligero thrown into the mix. No touch ups or relights leading up to about an hour and a half total burn.

Overview: This was a great little cigar. The full body and very powerful flavors made for a great departure from your everyday, smoother, milder maduro.  Outside of the harsh bitterness that crept into the final third, this cigar was very enjoyable. It’s probably not something I would smoke everyday, but it’s the perfect cigar to keep on hand when you are out back, enjoying some late night coffee and relaxation.

Final Guess? I would have to say something Nicaraguan. Maybe the Oliva Serie V Maduro or the Alec Bradley Tempus. Whatever it is, it’s a spicy little cigar that boasts tons of body and excellent flavors.

The Reveal: This was actually an exact quote from Brooks when I sent him my guess:

“Not even close :), Oh, and I would not send you an AB Tempus, surely you think better of me then that? LOL!”

He then goes on to reveal what cigar this was:

“It was a LFD (La Flor Dominicana) Cabinet Maduro #6..Apparently, about once a month Litto picks out some cigars that have the darkest & most oily wrappers & when he get enough cigars to make a cab of 50,he sends them out to specific stores. Really great stick, & usually not easy to find…”

Very awesome. I would have never in a million years been able to guess this one. What a pleasant surprise. One a side note, Brooks had mentioned that there was a cigar in the bunch that was the only cigar that had ever mad him vomit. This was the cigar. He went on to explain hotboxing and smoking too fast was probably the main culprit. But that’s something to keep in mind if you ever do stumble across one of these cigars.

The post Blind Cigar Review #2 (from Brooks at Smoking Stogie) appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.