Jose Padron began manufacturing cigars in Miami in 1964. Padron had grown up in the Pinar del Río region of Cuba, and he wanted to re-create the taste and quality of the cigars made from that tobacco. Jose's grandfather emigrated to Cuba in the mid-1899's from the Canary Islands and bought a small tobacco farm.

The Padron cigars are Cuban-seed Nicaraguan puros.

Padron went to Nicaragua in 1970 to make cigars to fill his demand. After temporarily abandoning Nicaragua in 1978 due to the Sandinistas, Padron set up manufacturing in Honduras in 1980. The Padron's returned to Nicaragua in 1990.

The cigars are now made in Padron factories in Esteli, Nicaragua and Danli, Honduras.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Brandon K.M. Chong (brandon): Cigar #119 was solid in construction with no major physical flaws to speak of. The cap was kinda weird though, just a circle piece of tobacco not even covering the shoulder. Punch cutter yielded a funny cut, but my Xikar took care of that. FLAWLESS draw. Either dark EMS or maduro.

Dennis Powell (dkp858): A nice oily, natural brown wrapper with a "leathery" look and texture, somewhere between veiny and smooth. This cigar has a nice firm bunch and maintained it's "solid" feel from start to finish. The draw was perfect for me, not too tight, but neither did the cigar "smoke itself". The burn was even with a gray ash that was solid in structure.

Ed Lee: Not the prettiest cigar I've ever seen, but not ugly either. I tend to enjoy darker wrappers (like this one) that have not been "cooked" to turn them into maduro's, so I am anticipating great things from this cigar.

Edward Biebel (Waxyee): This Rothschild sized cigar was either very dark brown or a maduro. There is quite a bit of veinyness on the wrapper. Not a pretty cigar. The pre-smoke aroma is very full and rich. This usually bodes well for a good tasting cigar. The look, aroma and construction are usually the only guides to judge a new, unproven or unknown cigar. The filler appears even darker than the wrapper.

Jim Tisack (ÞStogie Man): The two samples appeared to have different wrappers. One was smooth and leathery with an oily sheen like an Ecuadorian, the other was not nearly as smooth and shiny, it looked like an Indonesian. Both had a nice medium brown color, were firmly rolled with a smooth cap. The burn was flat and even and the ash structure/color was typical/gray. The draw was easy.

Major Paul Palmer (Smoke6): Slightly box squared petite corona/robusto sized cigar. Looks and smells like a Cameroon or H2000 wrapper and packed with an evenly balanced blend of filler tobaccos. Dark, chocolate brown wrapper with fine veining. Well made; however it has a funny looking cap. No soft spots to detect, suggesting it is filled just right. Both samples are uniform in size, appearance and construction. Smells enticing, can't wait to spark these two up.

Vincent S. Tricamo (Vinnie): Looks good, and is appealing to try. I liked the aroma of the cigar as you breathed it. It was slightly sweet smelling. It was a little bumpy but seemed firm.

Smoke Comments

Brandon K.M. Chong (brandon): Lit very well and burned great. The ash was very tight and held on for a long while. A straight-forward honest cigar without any hints of this or that. Yielded LOTS of smoke....big points in my book. Didn't smell too bad either.

Dennis Powell (dkp858): Both samples started out with a straight forward tobacco taste and maintained this one dimension until just about the 2/3 point. At this point it started to build some spiciness and developed into a fuller taste that I wish had shown itself sooner... too little, too late.

Ed Lee: Both samples had an excellent draw that gave up plenty of smoke. I really enjoyed the rich nutty flavor. There were no burn problems even though both cigars were smoked in fairly windy conditions. Toward the end I had a few sour draws, but nothing too serious.

Edward Biebel (Waxyee): The cigar has good flavor, but wasn't maduro material. It had a bit of an aftertaste, only a slight sharpness. It had a sharp taste at first (first cigar smoked in two weeks), but mellowed right out and became very pleasant and enjoyable after about 1 1/2 inches. The draw was perfect and it had a nice ash. It started with an uneven burn, but straightened itself right, after the first flick of ash. The smoke lasted about 50 minutes, puffing about once a minute. About average for a Rothschild.

Jim Tisack (ÞStogie Man): The two samples varied significantly in flavor. One was a solid, enjoyable every day cigar that tasted like a well balanced medium bodied Nic/Dom blend. The second cigar had a strong vegetal flavor and was unappealing.

Major Paul Palmer (Smoke6): Can't believe the uniformity of both samples. Talk about quality control. From start to finish, both had great even burn, smooth draw, rich aroma, and the smoke was dense and rich with just the right amount of bite. This cigar is a good solid smoke which will satisfy most smokers who prefer medium to heavier bodied sticks. Heavy tastes of coffee, leather, and earthiness marked the first half, ripening to pepper and sweet spice for the second half that added to the character of this blend.

Vincent S. Tricamo (Vinnie): This cigar was very easy to draw. It had a full flavor and was not bitter at all, even late in the smoke. It burned even and did not go out even after letting it set a few minutes.

Summary Comments

Brandon K.M. Chong (brandon): This was a good cigar. If it was available in Hawaii and at a reasonable price I'd probably keep a bunch of these on hand. I think aging would do wonders for this cigar. I would describe this cigar as honest. No frills, bells or whistles.

Dennis Powell (dkp858): This was a decent cigar that could have been a great cigar if the change in flavor had developed sooner. I'm going out on a limb and guessing that this was the new cabinet series robusto from LCG, with a Cameroon wrapper....proving to me again, unfortunately, that the blend of a cigar is capable of making or breaking the taste of a great wrapper.

Ed Lee: This cigar had all properties I value. 1) Good flavor 2) No burn problems 3) LOTS of smoke. This is an EXCELLENT smoke and I will buy them if they are reasonably priced.

Edward Biebel (Waxyee): Definitely a good, but not great smoke. As I said it needs more sweetness and flavor. I would be willing to buy it in the $2 range. I would smoke them myself, but not recommend it to friends or give it to anyone, due to the veinyness of the wrapper. It's an everyday smoke, not for special occasion. I smoked this cigar with only an occasional sip of water. I usually enjoy a cigar with cognac, ale or Guinness when appropriate or available.

Jim Tisack (ÞStogie Man): Assuming there wasn't some kind of mix-up with the samples, I would approach this brand with a little bit of caution because of the significant variations between the two samples. I will note however, that the better of the two cigars is more than likely the product the manufacturer intended to produce and my rating is based on that cigar. It's a cigar that the beginner or experienced herfer could enjoy, a solid, every day 2-3 dollar cigar.

Major Paul Palmer (Smoke6): I really enjoyed this cigar! Lasted about the right amount of time for me--approx. 45-50 minutes. This cigar has an excellent hand and mouth feel and possesses just enough punch to be satisfying, yet was mellow enough for the average smoker. I'm glad these aren't from the islands as I may adopt it as a regular. Just hope that they aren't too expensive. Would mature beautifully. These definitely deserve some space in my humidor. Can I please have a box? Highly recommended.

Vincent S. Tricamo (Vinnie): Over all this was a good cigar, I would probably buy it at a reasonable price. I liked the color and the wrapper held up through the entire smoke.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 38.8 out of 50

 

4 Star -- Excellent

Most of our reviewers enjoyed this cigar for what it was: a straight forward, honest cigar. This Nicaraguan puro is well-made, with a classic Nicaraguan flavor profile of earth, coffee and leather. And at less than $4 dollars a piece, it's an excellent value.