Cigar Weekly

Published Monday, July 24, 2000

Nick Perdomo, Jr. seemed destined to make great cigars. Nick's Cigar Company, which began in 1991, started with two Cuban rollers and a sales and marketing staff consisting of himself and his wife, Janine. His grandfather, Silvio, worked as production manager for several of the most prestigious cigar factories in Cuba. His father, Nick Sr., also served as manager for a number of top Cuban producers until 1962, when he joined the exodus out of the country after Castro came to power.

Most of Perdomo's cigars are produced at a 27,000-square-foot factory in the Nicaraguan tobacco town of Esteli, where some 300 workers, turn out 90% of the company's product. Perdomo has factories in Ybor City (Tampa, Fla.), Ecuador and Nicaragua. The company is one of the larger manufacturers of premium cigars made in the United States.

Perdomo makes the La Tradicion Cabinet Selection, La Tradicion Cabinet Perdomo Reserve Tobacos San Jose and most recently the Perdomo2. Perdomo also has a line of flavored cigars.

The Perdomo Reserve Line uses a Rosado colored wrapper from Ecuador with double-aged Cuban seed filler and wrapper from Nicaragua. All five sizes are box-pressed to recapture the pre-embargo Cuban tradition of cigar making. Also available in a triple fremented Ecuador maduro

Pre-Smoke Comments

Gardner Umbarger (GTU): The unique shape gave this one away, so it was difficult to maintain complete objectivity. It is a well constructed cigar with a smooth shiny wrapper, strong box pressed shape, and very solid construction. My only complaint was a few loose edges on the wrapper, but otherwise, a well constructed cigar.

Jeff Stebbins (cjstebbins): The cigar was beautiful and it looked almost too good to smoke. It was a pyramid cigar about 5 in and ring gauge from about 35 to 50. A nipple on the foot. The wrapper was dark brown and very few veins. Excellent construction.

Joseph J. Giordano (JGIORD): When I first saw these cigars one word came to mind. PERDOMO! This little box pressed perfecto had a nice oily rosado wrapper. The bunch was firm-soft and there was a difference between the 2 samples, but due to the difficulty in rolling this style, allowances are made.

Mark Wentworth (MnSmoke): Unique looking box pressed toro with a smooth reddish brown wrapper and a severely tapered head. Great construction for this difficult to roll cigar. The closed foot was easy to light with an even burn throughout. The draw was perfect. It tended to burn hot if I went to fast towards the end due to the narrow diameter. This was more my problem than the cigars.

Michael J. Herlihy (Lernin2Herf): This Diadema shaped Figurado was a vitola that I never would have picked out for myself. It reminds me of a CAO Maduro that I received as part of my package at ACHY. The foot is closed at about 46 to 50 RG, while the cap is at about 36 RG. The wrapper was a smooth Connecticut shade, with only one vein on each of the samples. I clipped the head only at about ½ inch, it was a clean easy clip. Surprisingly the pre-light draw (with the closed foot) was easy and had a slightly sweet taste.

Richard Lambert (Double Maduro): These were interesting figurado's nice color, nice cap, very light veins, slight box press. The samples looked good, brown wrapper, with a light oily sheen to them, and the fancy tail was cute. The prelight aroma was very light but pleasant.

Smoke Comments

Gardner Umbarger (GTU): Lighting these sticks is a challenge, not because of the small "nipple" provided but because it takes a few minutes to get a decent draw going. Once it is fully lit, it smokes fine. Nice big pulls of smoke, not much effort needed, and decent flavor throughout. The only problems I had were some difficulty keeping a straight burn and some tunneling at the widest point. It also gets hot when you don't really want it to. For me, it was too much work.

Jeff Stebbins (cjstebbins): The smoke itself was quite satisfying. The flavor varied from start to finish and seemed to be primarily a vegetable flavor but had some spiciness in it. Quite a nice aroma. Not too powerful and really, in my opinion, a medium bodied smoke. The major drawback during the smoke was for about 50% of the smoke, one side burned faster than the other.

Joseph J. Giordano (JGIORD): The initial puffs, indicated a stronger blend than what I would have expected. However, it did mellow into a traditional Nicaraguan tobacco flavor. There is some complexity with an overall toasty flavor dominating. The aroma is nice, not too strong or weak and slightly sweet.

Mark Wentworth (MnSmoke): This is a mild to medium bodied cigar with a sweet almost chocolate taste with a short finish. The flavor was somewhat one dimensional but smooth and was consistent throughout. One of the samples had more flavor which added to the enjoyment of this cigar.

Michael J. Herlihy (Lernin2Herf): I light the entire foot with my torch before taking the first puff. The draw was a bit tight at first but loosened up quickly. The burn was consistent through out with a gray non-flaky ash. The taste started slightly sweet and then built somewhat with some spiciness at the " way point.

Richard Lambert (Double Maduro): One of these had a perfect burn with a great draw. The other had a very tight draw and developed a runner that had to be corrected twice. The ash was dark gray and firm. There was little flavor in either, with the first tending to Earthy and the second to grassy, both gave a burn to the tongue. Both cigars had a salty aftertaste.

Summary Comments

Gardner Umbarger (GTU): A nice, overall cigar that would please most smokers, but I think that more experienced smokers might lose interest in the flavors after 30 minutes. I enjoyed it, but I also know that the price for these cigars is not matched by the smoking experience. A good buy at half the price, but I would rather smoke a Hemingway Short Story for the cost of this cigar. My suggestion is they look at bringing the price down, even if it means the quality suffers a little.

Jeff Stebbins (cjstebbins): A very good cigar.

Joseph J. Giordano (JGIORD): This well made cigar gave little to no burn problems. The finish is very short and a little dry. I found it mild-med bodied and mild in strength. It would make a good morning smoke, but wouldn't be my top choice to finish off the night. I think its a La Tradicion, but wouldn't bet the bank on it.

Mark Wentworth (MnSmoke): This is a good very well made cigar, with a unique shape that makes it fun to smoke. This cigar had volumes of smoke with a pleasant aroma that even my wife didn't mind. It is not a complex cigar but these will definitely make it into my humidor.

Michael J. Herlihy (Lernin2Herf): I think I'd really like this cigar in a Maduro since that is my current passion. I enjoyed the Diadema shape more than I thought I would. It seems to keep the cigar cool by reducing the coal as you smoke it. I will be smoking these again, although I don't know if I'm ready for a box.

Richard Lambert (Double Maduro): These cigars had little to offer in the way of taste or power. The first was an average smoke while the second with the tight draw and the grassy flavor was a chore to finish (if I hadn't been reviewing it I probably wouldn't have). Aside from the runner, tight draw and grassy flavor in the one, there was nothing awful about them, just nothing great. I probably will not try them again.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 35.1 out of 50

 

4 Star -- Excellent

Cigars with unique shapes make blind reviews more difficult. Most reviewers -- whether they knew the brand or not -- seemed to enjoy this figurado. The predominant flavor descriptions were "mild" and "slightly sweet". I would add "refined" to the list as well. The combination of the Rosado wrapper, together with the well-aged Nicaraguan filler gives this cigar a smooth, almost regal character. On the down side, some reviewers thought the flavor didn't have enough complexity. Everyone agreed on the construction, though, which was first rate. At $6.00 MSRP, I would say this cigar was an excellent value.