This Padilla Hybrid was actually sent over by our good friends StogieBoys.com. If you aren’t familiar with the site check it out for some neat features such as the Make a Wishlist, and even a Military Discount program. Anyhow, originally released in 2004 Padilla’s Hybrid is a top-notch cigar created with value in mind. The Peruvian, Nicaraguan, and Dominican blend is constructed  under the direct supervision of the almighty Ernesto Padilla. That being said, you know that the product will be top shelf.

The Padilla Hybrid is released in three classic sizes: Churchill (7 x 48), Robusto (5 x 50), and Torpedo (6.2 x 52). You can pick these up from Stogieboys.com here for less than $3 a stick.

 Size: 5 x 50  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Shade  –  Binder/Filler: Nicaraguan  – Body: Mild

Prelight: The Padilla Hybrid carries a classic, shade character wrapper. Light, and incredibly consistent brown with only a few darker spots near the foot of the cigar. The wrapper is silky and smooth, but feel very delicate in my hands. The filler is firm for the most part with only a few softer spots towards the foot of the cigar. The body of the cigar carries almost no veins all the way to its round double cap. This cigar as well as the others I have look a bit sloppy. There are a few knicks in the wrapper as well as some peeling on the cap and the foot. The Band on the Padilla Hybrid is huge, and in my opinion not very pretty. It starts with a huge black stargate looking band with a brownish/orageish/reddish crest with a gold and black “P”. The crest is surrounded by a few gold coins before a silver “Padilla” emblem stretched out around each side of the band. Underneath each of those is the words “Hybrid” and “Hand Made”. It’s almost impossible for me to get any kind of aroma from the wrapper of this hybrid. I can get a very faint tobacco scent, but that’s about it. The foot’s aromas are barely noticeable as well but I did  get a nice whiff of some subtle spice in there. I actually used a V cut on this cigar. Something I have been trying out lately and its been working really well! The cold draw produced a very mild profile with lots of grassy, earth tones and just a little bit of spice and tobacco.

First Smoke: The Padilla Hybrid lit up almost the second the flame hit the cigar.  The flavors started out with a really mellow cedar, a little bit of spice, a tiny bit of pepper, and lots of natural tobacco flavor. The draw is awesome kicking out massive amounts of thick white smoke with every little puff. The Hybrid doesn’t give off a lot of stationary smoke, but it smells awesome! It’s like a little cedar stick burning away in my ashtray. The burnline is a bit thick with a lot of little waves, but nothing too concerning. The ash is a decently packed dark grey which only held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: As I stated before, the wrapper on this Padilla Hybrid is a gentle one, and deep into the second third it begins to show it’s weakness cracking about 4 different times throughout the body. The good thing is, it’s just the wrapper so there is not smoke escaping and it isn’t hindering the experience in the least. The flavors really haven’t changed up any from the first third, still really smooth with some nice subtle cedar and spice, natural earth flavors and a bit of tobacco. I am feeling zero nicotine at this point and the wavy burnline has completely corrected itself and the Hybrid is now burning like a champ.

Finish: The band slid off clean and easily which is a huge relief. Given the strength of the cigar’s wrapper I was really scared that it would just pull the whole damn thing off. Again, the Padilla Hybrid hasn’t really switched up too much in the flavor department. Although the spice has ramped up a bit in the final third, all the other flavors have remained the same. This cigar is really mild and smooth, not giving off even the slightest of nicotine kicks. I did encounter a little harshness into the final inch, but that was expected. It’s nothing too bad, and for the price I would have been shocked if I didn’t pick up any harshness at all.

Overview: It’s obvious that this cigar isn’t my flavor profile, but that doesn’t really make it a bad cigar. It’s very one dimensional but carries an very smooth and overall enjoyable composure. It’s very mild and only produces a handful of flavor, but given that it makes a perfect cigar for all those who don’t like the full bodied smokes or are just starting out smoking cigars. Another pro is the fact that I have seen these cigars sold for as little as $1.50 to $2.00 a stick! Can’t beat that. It might be a good investment for those of you who have a lot of people who normally don’t smoke cigars are need something smooth and mild to offer then that won’t break the bank. Needless to say, this cigar won’t be in my regular rotation but that’s just simply due to the fact that I didn’t care for the flavor or the body. Outside of the subjectivity it’s a great cigar at a great value.

Pairing: I decided to switch it up a bit and pair this Padilla Hybrid with some Ramos Pinto Quinta Ervamoira 10-year-old Tawny Port. I was just in a wine kind of mood and my lovely sister in law got this for me for Christmas. The wine is a very sweet, caramel type of port with lots of ripe grape, cherry, and spicy flavors. This isn’t as heavy as most ports I have had but definitely tastes like it is. Although the port was excellent, I wish I would have paired it with something that wouldn’t had overpowered the cigar so much. Maybe a nice ale, pilsner or some apple juice.

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The Good Stuff: La Casita Criolla or “The Creole Cottage” is the first, or one of the very few cigars that are actually constructed from 100% Connecticut Broadleaf. Pete Johnson goes into a bit more detail on the tobacco used for this cigar:

“Okay guys. To clear this up. Not all broadleaf is dark. The wrapper will be but the binders and fillers are made up of broadleaf tobacco also. When Jaime (Garcia) buys broadleaf, he buys in hopes to get good dark juicy wrapper, some medium color wrapper like La Riqueza and good binder but the other leaf that doesn’t make those grades is sorted by size and texture for filler. Again not every leaf will look like the wrapper. It’s all 100% USA Conn. Broadleaf. Jaime also buys all primings of broadleaf. Seco, Viso and Ligero. This is also how we are able to sort the filler to do the blend on the cigar.”

So yes, that’s right. 100% Broadleaf. I know that Broadleaf is expensive, and isn’t the easiest to come by so if anyone was able to create a cigar comprised of nothing but this leaf, it had to come from the My Father factory. The Garcias use more broadleaf than any other cigar manufacturer. And anyone that reads this blog knows that I am sucker for Broadleaf. Let’s hope this cigar doesn’t disappoint. The La Casita Criolla line will come in three different sizes, HCB – 5 1/8 x 42, HCBC – 5 5/8 x 46, and the HCBF – 6 1/2 x 48 and will be sold in the $7 range. That’s right, I was expecting a much higher price tag.

Size: HCBC 5 5/8” x 46  –  Wrapper: Connecticut Broadleaf  –  Binder/Filler: Broadleaf  –  Body: Medium

Prelight: What a vintage looking cigar, from the band down to the wrapper’s appearance. Although quite consistent in color the Casita Criolla sports a very rustic, almost beaten looking appearance. The construction is spot-on and the wrapper is a nice dark brown with lots of smaller darker spots around the ripples in the leaf. There are lots of very small veins throughout the slender body leading up to a nice round triple cap. The cigar is actually very first and puts up a ton of resistance when compressed with no soft spots at all.  The band is interesting and a departure form what we normally expect Pete to come up with. It’s very vintage looking with an almost old days, sewn on looking placement of the “La Casita Criolla” logo. As you rotate the cigar around you can see Pete’s embroidered logo as well as “Tatuaje Cigars Estelí” just before coming to a small sketch of a nice little cottage. Right away I get this crazy pungent smell from the Broadleaf wrapper.  It’s very barnyardesque with some nice chocolate and spice notes. The foot is almost just as stinky as the wrapper of the cigar bearing almost identical aromas.  The cap was easily clipped using my double bladed Palio cutter. The cold draw was a lot smoother than I had originally expected pumping out some inviting spice and coffee notes with just a hint of pepper.

First Smoke: Wow, the Tatuaje La Casita Criolla starts off as what I would call the epitome of smooth. Right away I am greeting with some very nice woodsy, cocoa, espresso notes that tend to transition into a bit of spice after a while. No pepper at all, but a whole ton of sweetness. The draw on this Casita Criolla is super effortless pumping out huge clouds of thick smoke with every little draw. The cigar doesn’t give off much stationary smoke, but the smell is pungent! Be prepared, this probably isn’t something you’d want to smoke around people who aren’t really into cigar smoke (or could work in your favor by keeping them away). The burnline is pretty thick but produces a very nicely compacted, light grey ash. The ash held on for about an inch before giving way.

Halfway There: The dark chocolate and sharp espresso flavors are really taking over this cigar, along with a nice creamy fruit hint here and there mixed in with some subtle spice. The Casita Criolla started out really smooth and has managed to become even more-so into the second third. Even the retrohale on this cigar is creamy and smooth coating with a nice creamed coffee style flavor. I’m really not feeling any nicotine, but this cigar is burning a little quicker than I expected. The burnline is still dead even.

Finish: Into the final third of the Casita Criolla and the spice that has been nothing but an aftertaste has really start to shine through. The cocoa and espresso are still the there in force, with a more creamier, milky flavor starting to creep in with still a dash of sweetness. This cigar took only a little over an hour to finish, requiring no touch-ups or relights. I started to feel a little nicotine at the tail end of the experience, but not really enough to call this cigar anything stronger than medium.

Overview: It may be a little early to call it, but I think Tatuaje’s La Casita Criolla has a VERY good chance in making it’s way towards the top of our “Top 10 Cigars of 2011” list. The flavors are smooth and powerful with only slight changeups where needed to keep me on my toes, the construction on these cigars are perfect, and the price point is actually cheaper then I expected knowing that these are composed 100% of Connecticut Broadleaf.

Pairing: Despite what most people think, Fat Tire was actually New Belgium’s second beer. The first being their award winning Abbey. Since then New Belgium has actually created a stronger, more premium Abbey with limited releases through their “Lips of Faith” collection. They call this their “Grand Cru Abbey Ale” and it’s exactly what I decided to pair this Tatuaje La Casita Criolla with. Abbey is a traditional strong, dark ale perfected by Belgium Trappist Monks, and in my opinion, one of the best brew styles available. With a malty flavor with nice Banana, Caramel, and Lemon hints its hard to believe that he beer boasts a 9.5% ABV. The sweet, creamy style of the beer blended perfectly with the smoothness of this cigar. It really made for a perfect pairing, even if it does leave you a bit loopy afterwards. I think this cigar would go well with any stout, porter, or brown ale as well as Dr. Pepper or sweet tea.

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