The Good Stuff:

The Padron Damaso is the first Connecticut wrapped cigar to enter the Padron Family’s portfolio. Not only is the wrapper a first for Padron, but the Damaso is also the first all round format released to date. The name “Damaso” comes from Damaso Padron, the grandfather of current owner Jose O. Padron. The blend features an undisclosed Connecticut seed wrapper, Nicaraguan binder and Nicaraguan fillers. The Padron Damaso is offered in four sizes, each of which is named after the ages of each of Jose Padron’s grandchildren: The No. 8 (5 1/2 x 46), the No. 12 (5 x 50), the No. 15 (6 x 52), and the No. 17 (7 x 54). The Padron Damaso comes packaged in boxes of 20 running between $12.50 and $17.50 a stick. They were recently released and have bene slowing trickling into shops around the U.S. I picked these up from out good friends over at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 5 1/2 x 46
Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Medium
Strength: Mild/Medium
Price: $12.50
Pairing: Ommegang Hennepin (Saison 7.7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Padron Damaso starts out with a very consistent, light brown wrapper. The wrapper carries a very oily, silky smooth texture with absolutely no sign of tooth. There is some mild veins running through the length of the body and some very small, slightly darker webbed areas running through the wrapper leaf. The cigar itself feels pretty light, yet very tightly compacted and hard with no soft spots whatsoever. The wrapper is very thin and delicate. I actually cracked one of the cigars I smoked when I was squeezing softly, inspecting the foot. The Padron Damaso is capped off with a beautiful, round double cap. The Damaso is polished off with a beautiful white version of the gold and maroon anniversary band we have all grown so familiar of. There is a secondary white, maroon, and gold band with the word “Damaso” located just below this one.

The wrapper on the Padron Damaso gives off a very oaty/grainy aroma with just a bit of sweetness while the foot of the cigar is much more potent leading with strong spice, tobacco, and cedar scents. The cap cut very clean and easily using my Palio double bladed cutter. The cold draw on the Padron Damaso is way more bold than I expected leading with a very strong spice and malt with some great cedar flavors and a bit of pine.

First Third:

The Padron Damaso lead into the first third with some mild black pepper, spice, cinnamon, cashew, and cedar with just a touch of sweetness. The flavors are pretty subtle, but preform well as a whole. The draw is flawless. Each little puff pumps out a good mouth of thick, white smoke while the Padron Damaso gives off almost no stationary smoke while it rests in my ashtray. The burn line is razor thin and dead even leaving behind a very tightly compacted trail of black and dark gray has which held on for a little under an inch before giving way.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Padron Damaso and the body has began to simmer down quite a bit. The cashew and cedar now lead the way with some slight spice, pine, and sweetness in tow. The retrohale actually brings a lot more life into the cigar as it coats my nasal passage with a good amount of sweetness and strong cedar. The Padron Damaso is still burning dead even and razor thin while I close out the second third without any sign of nicotine whatsoever.

Finish:

The final third of the Padron Damaso finished much of the same. The cigar carried a decent amount of cedar and cashew with mild spice and pine. The sweetness was absent in the final third. There was a bit of a resurgence in the pepper department, but that too was short lived. While the Padron Damaso hasn’t been a very bold cigar, one thing it does have going for it is it’s incredibly smooth and creamy. The while cigar took me a little over 45 minutes to take down to the nub and I experienced absolutely no harshness, and no extra heat. If anything, the cigar became more smooth and more creamy as it progressed especially into the final inch.

Overview:

If you evet smoked a Padron and thought to yourself “Man, this is great, but I’d really like one that’s not as flavorful, and not nearly as strong”, then this one might be for you. In my case, I was pretty disappointed in the lack of everything that you have come to expect from Padron in the case of the Damaso. The body was lacking, the flavor profile was less than stellar, and the price point was way too high for what the cigar delivered. Not to mention that I really tried to take my time with this cigar, but even then it burned way too quickly. It seriously only took me about 50 minutes to smoke this down to the very nub. What I’m trying to say is that going in, I expected this to be milder than the other cigars in Padron’s portfolio. But I also expected it to be much more than just your standard Connecticut wrapped cigar. I guess with Padron you always expect something special, and that special something wasn’t found in the case of the Damaso.

Pairing:

I know I needed to pair this cigar with something that could compliment it, while raising some of the body, but wouldn’t overpower it at the same time. That perfect mixture came from Ommegang’s Hennepin. Hennepin is a 7.7% ABV Belgian style Farmhouse Saison brewed in Cooperstown, New York. Hennepin leads with some bold wheat flavors, lots of spice and cinnamon, some slight sweetness and a very light mouthfeel before finishing crisp and clean with malt, citrus, spice, and pine. It’s obvious why I chose this cigar for this pairing as the flavors matched up extremely well. The flavors in the beer were much more dominant than the ones I found in the cigar, but since they palates were so similar it helped bring the lacking body in the cigar up into a new level. Alternate pairings for this cigar would be a nice Belgian golden ale, a light marzen, or just your standard black coffee.

The post Padron Damaso No. 8 appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

So this week I sat down on a crazy warm day to write my review. It was like 65 degrees today and only 2 days ago it was 5F! 55 degree difference in 2 days? Crazy right?! Well I made the most of it and sat down with a cigar I’ve been wanting to review for awhile. It is the Nicks Sticks Little Havana Blend by Perdomo, a special budget friendly blend created by none other than Nick Perdomo himself!

The Nick’s Sticks line comes in 3 wrapper types and all are filler and bound by Cuban seed Nicaraguan tobacco. There is a white label for Connecticuts, a black label for Maduros and todays blend is the Sun Grown marked by a deep red/burgundy label. The Nick’s Sticks name actually dates back to the beginning of the Perdomo brand and these cigars were only available at their store in Little Havana, Miami at the time. Nick listened to his fans and customers and by popular demand the blend is now being produced in larger quantities for distribution across the nation.

You will notice that the price of these cigars is very accessible and if history is any indication, they will carry the trademark quality and consistently that I’ve come to know from the Perdomo brand. I’ve always been amazed at how Perdomo can produce such consistent sticks for a fraction of the cost of some other manufacturers. So does the Nick’s Sticks Little Havana Blend live up the Perdomo legacy and will it be another winner in their growing line up of cigars? Read on to find out what I thought!

Cigar: Perdomo Nick’s Sticks Little Havana Blend Sun Grown
Drink: Coffee
Vitola: Torpedo (6.5 x 54)
Wrapper: Sun Grown Nicaraguan
Binder: Cuban-Seed Nicaraguan
Filler: Cuban-Seed Nicaraguan
Price: About $4.00 – $4.50
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The wrapper on this cigar has a soft but rough texture to it with very few veins
• There do seem to be a few bumps and even two little tears in the wrapper
• The cap is amazingly finished and blends seamlessly into the rest of the wrapper
• The foot appears full and well packed and the whole cigar has a nice firmness to it but with just the right amount of spring when squeezed
• The cut was super clean and easy leaving me with a perfect draw

Burn:
• Toasting was very even and easy, it’s like the cigar wanted to light itself
• There’s a slight wave as I burn through the first inch but nothing major so far, let’s hope it doesn’t turn bad
• The burn is still slightly wavy but it’s keeping the wave at a good minimum and not causing issues, burn has been good so far
• Just after I passed the halfway mark the wrapper cracked just below the band, nothing major now I’m just hoping it doesn’t explode on me
• The wrapper split didn’t get bigger but it did cause a bit of a wonky burn that needed a little correction from my lighter
• Quick note that I didn’t have the spilt problem on any other Nick’s Sticks cigars that I smoked in any wrapper

Smoke & Ash:
• There is a ton of smoke coming from every draw on this cigar
• The resting smoke is equally abundant and giving off a nice campfire type of aroma
• So far the ash is very clean, very white and holding strong through the first inch
• The first ash rolled off into the ashtray shortly after the 1 inch mark
• Each subsequent ash stayed strong just past the one inch mark before I tapped it off
• The smoke stayed full and thick throughout the entire cigar

Tasting Notes:
• The dry aroma on the wrapper of this cigar definitely shows signs of cocoa and soft tobacco
• The foot brings forth a ton of woodsiness an a good helping of baking spices
• Pre-light draw brought more cedar flavors and spices with just a touch of cocoa in there too
• Initial flavors on the Perdomo Nick’s Sticks are cedar, a bit of leather, some baking spices and a touch of earthiness in there too
• The body is definitely on the mild side with a very smooth woodsy finish
• The leather and spices seem to have tapered off a bit and I’m left with a smooth woodsy cigar with some hints of earthiness and cocoa
• The retrohale on this cigar brings an interesting spice mix and the finish is smooth and woodsy
• As I get near the middle of the cigar it seems the body has stepped up a bit to a nice smooth medium
• The flavors continue to be well balanced and enjoyable despite not changing up a whole lot, there is a nice fresh baked cookie type of flavor appearing now and then
• The spice is making a nice slow comeback and balancing well with the cedar and earthy notes
• The flavors really started to pop in the last third, no harshness but a definite spike in the spices and cedar and a touch more body as well
• Getting a slight coffee flavor in the last third as well that’s joining the other flavors nicely

Final Thoughts:
I’m a pretty big Perdomo fan and enjoy a lot of their cigars. I find that they are all well made, and enjoyable. They seem to fit into the comfort zone of a lot of smokers and can be a good “Ol’ Faithful” stick to keep in the humidor. Having said that, I came into this review with high expectations and I was not left down. At a cost close to $4.00 for a Torpedo stick this is definitely a budget friendly cigar and it fits the bill perfectly. It had some interesting flavors and a great burn (minus one minor wrapper crack that didn’t really cause any major problems). I have to say that Perdomo has another quality and reliable stick on their hands with the Nick’s Sticks Little Havana Blend Sun Grown and I will definitely be seeking out more of these. Their price also makes them easy to hand out to friends without breaking the bank and everyone gets a good cigar in the process. Grab some an enjoy!

Pairings:
As you may know I’ve been battling some cold/flu symptoms lately so I visited my doctor and got some nice anti-biotics to help clean out whatever it is that’s been bothering me. So that means I gotta lay off the alcoholic pairings for a little while. I decided to make myself just a plain cup of coffee with a bit of milk to go with today’s cigar. It ended up being quite a nice pairing. There weren’t any strong coffee flavors from the cigar so it almost added a nice little dimension to the whole experience. I think a nice dark ale would have been a perfect pairing here too.

The post Perdomo Nick’s Sticks Little Havana Blend Sun Grown appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.

The G.A.R. line of cigars is currently only offered in the Original or White Label. There were two other blends in the G.A.R. lineup called the Lux and the Vanguard but both have been recently discontinued. I heard a little “rumour” that there may be a new addition to the G.A.R. lineup very soon so be sure to keep your eyes peeled on the Gran Habano website! G.A.R. stands for it’s creator’s initials, George A. Rico, who is the mastermind behind Gran Habano Cigars. Be sure to check out some of our other Gran Habano reviews, including the new Azteca, Gran Reserva #3, Corojo #5 or the Connecticut #1 which was part of this Blind Review post. There is also a ton more information about the company in each of those reviews if you were curious to learn more about Gran Habano and it’s history.

The G.A.R. line was blending by Mr. Rico to be a full-bodied and full-flavored cigar that promises to be complex throughout. It is currently offered in 4 vitolas and today I will be lighting up the Robusto Grande size. One interesting thing about this blend is the use of a mild Connecticut leaf as the binder underneath the more powerful Corojo wrapper. Sounds like it could be a nice creamy compliment to the spicy and full offering, we’ll see how it plays out as I burn through the cigar.

Cigar: G.A.R. by George A. Rico. White Label / Original
Drink: Quinta do Tedo Fine Tawny Port
Vitola: Robusto Grande (5.5 x 52)
Wrapper: Ecuadorian Corojo
Binder: Ecuadorian Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $6
Burn Time: 1.5 hours

Construction:
• A very even and round looking cigar wrapped with a wonderfully oily and dark cinnamon brown wrapper
• A triple cap tops off this cigar with a mostly clean finish
• The wrapper is mostly vein-less and smooth except for two large veins running the length of the cigar
• The cigar has a perfect soft spring when squeezed that is consistent from cap to foot
• The band holds it together at the foot which appears to be well packed
• The cut cut off as clean as could be and with minimal effort

Burn:
• Took quite a bit of time to get the foot glowing and even then it wasn’t even, but after a quick draw everything was back in order
• The burn started off promising but then needed a correction within the first inch
• The cigar kept burning a little uneven and eventually it needs a slight re-light every so often
• It is burning quite slow and letting me enjoy it without extra attention
• Cigar began to tunnel and burn a bit hot near the end

Smoke & Ash:
• Each draw is offering up a full mouth of smoke
• Resting smoke is very minimal and gives off a woodsy aroma
• Ash is a very light grey color, almost white, and appears to be holding strong
• Tapped off the first ash just past an inch, it could have held on longer but my re-lighting seemed to affect it’s structural integrity
• All the other ashes were still around the one inch mark or less

Tasting Notes:
• The wrapper has a light sweet tobacco aroma
• The foot has a similar sweet tobacco aroma but paired with a faint fruity-coffee mixture
• The pre-light draw offers up a kick of spice and cedar that you could never guess from the aromas
• Initial draws smack you in the face with a ton of tasty woody flavors
• The retrohale at this point is also full of woodsy flavors and lacks any bite
• A nice mellow bready flavor kicked in, nice
• After about an inch I’m getting some nice mild coffee flavors
• As I approach the middle I’m getting some clove flavors and a slight tartness to the mix
• The retrohale still has no bite and the same woodsy finish
• The body has held steady around the mild/medium and is continually giving me a nice creamy finish
• The coffee, bready and clove flavors are all still present as I reach the last third, they are each developing slowly on their own and taking turns as the dominant flavor
• I find that the clove flavor is developing the most and also mixing in a white pepper like flavor, I believe this is the Corojo wrapper starting to shine near the end
• The body started to pick up a bit more as I passed the past third
• The G.A.R. ended with more coffee and clove notes and subtle hints of pepper, very little harshness

Final Thoughts:
This was a tasty smoke with a good variety of flavors to keep you on your toes as you smoke through it. None of the flavors were overpowering or off-putting. My only complaint on this cigar would be the number of touch-ups it required. The touch-ups usually tend to change the flavor for at least a few draws and I try to avoid it as much as possible. Some of these burn issues could also be attributed to the cold temperature out here today, I find that below freezing temps can easily affect a delicate wrapper. But aside from that issue this is a cigar worthy of trying. It promised to be more full bodied then I found it to be, but that might have been because of the Port that I paired it with. It also promised to be complex and full-flavored and I fully believe it lived up to that. It’s offered at a fair price which can make it a good option to be included in your regular rotation.

Pairings:
Sorry for the lack in uniqueness in my pairings lately, I haven’t gone shopping for beer in awhile and I picked up two bottles of this port because they were on sale. If you’re one our wonderful faithful readers you’ll recognize this Quinta do Tedo Tawny Port from a couple of my recent reviews including the Monte Pascoal and the Miraculous Templar Maduro. Please check out those reviews for more details on this Port. The fruity flavors here are pairing well with the cloves and coffee. The higher sugar content of the Port is also helping to any nicotine effects that this cigar may have offered. I think a nice Scotch would have been a great choice here or a tasty bold coffee.

The post G.A.R. By George A. Rico – Robusto Grande appeared first on Cigar Reviews | Beer Pairings | Casas Fumando.