Padron Serie 1926 80 Years Maduro Review

Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: $31.00

This passed Thursday and Friday Holt's Cigar Company hosted Padron events. While I was there I met Jorge and Orlando Padron. After talking to them for some time, I had to grab this cigar to review. Since they actually had a good deal on their cigars, I didn't feel bad grabbing this cigar. For the past several months, the price tag has stopped me from buying it. And I recently got some awesome news about my friend Timo, so I dedicate this review to him as a celebration cigar.

The first thing I noticed about this cigar was how flawless it looks. The wrapper is dark chocolate brown. The cigar is a box=pressed perfecto where both ends become tapered. The cap on this cigar was wrapped tightly and was perfectly smooth and flush. The wrapper leaf also had no veins in it whatsoever leaving the cigar very smooth. Upon last inspection I noticed its consistent solid pack and the very sweet, earthy smell the cigar gave off.

I can honestly say that I was extremely excited to light this cigar. I was expecting I good amount of spice off of the light, but instead the start was very smooth. There were some light pepper notes, but they were slightly overshadowed but espresso notes. As this cigar very slowly progresses, the pepper notes pick up. As odd as it sounds, the combination of espresso and pepper was outstanding.

Once I smoked passed the first inch, some new flavors entered the picture. A nice strong oak flavor comes out and is about as strong as the espresso flavor. The pepper mellowed out on the draw, but still sits in the back of the throat. Towards the end of the first third, the espresso picks up again and becomes slightly bitter.

As I moved into the second third the pepper mellowed out again. This actually let the oak and earth tones to take over a bit more. Once the earthiness picked up, a mild leather flavor came out. I say the leather was mild because it never picked up enough to compete with the strong espresso flavor.

Halfway marked the start of the sweet flavors. Some notes of dark chocolate came out which added a nice accent to the strong wood and earthy background. The cigar starts to smooth out but still has a slight bitterness that sticks out due to the espresso.

The last third of this cigar was probably my favorite part. The flavors balanced out completely. The pepper reformed and the rest of the flavors picked up. Every puff seemed to be perfectly complex. The espresso coated my palate while the pepper and oak coated my tongue. The finish was very smooth and flavorful.

The ash was surprisingly not as strong as I thought. The ash was dark gray and held on for a little over an inch at a time. The ask was nicely layered too. The burn was even until the last inch and a half or so. The draw, even through the perfecto cap, was very easy and produced a thick gray and brown smoke. The abundant smoke gave off a very powerful aroma full of oak and espresso notes.

I enjoyed this cigar quite a bit. This is by far the best Padron I have ever smoked. I'm not sure I can justify the price tag, but if you can get them on a deal, or are having a special occasion, this cigar is worthy of picking up. There was a ton of flavor throughout this entire cigar. The only complaint i have about this cigar is the burn issue in the last third. I give this cigar a 9.75 out of 10.

Thanks for reading,

Zack the Stogie Man