The Padron Series Roundup

Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: Padron Cigars, Inc. - Miami, FL (website)
(distributor operates under the name Piloto Cigars, Inc.)
Factory: Tabacos Cubanica, S.A. - Esteli, Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacos Centroamericanos, S.A. - Danli, Honduras
Line: Padron Series (the original line)
Wrapper: Natural and Maduro - Nicaragua
Filler & Binder: Nicaragua
Body: Medium to Medium Plus
Strength: Medium to Full
Cigar Insider/Aficionado Ratings: Consistently high 80s to low 90s

Sixteen sizes available in the Padron Series

Frontmark	Length x Ring	Shape
2000	5.0 x 50	robusto
3000	5.5 x 52	robusto
4000	6.5 x 54	toro
5000	5.5 x 56	robusto
6000	5.5 x 52	torpedo
7000	6.25 x 60	toro
Ambassador	6.875 x 42	lonsdale
Chicos	5.5 x 36	corona
Churchill	6.875 x 46	churchill
Corticos	4.25 x 35	short panatela
Delicias	4.875 x 46	corona extra
Executive	7.5 x 50	double corona
Londres	5.5 x 42	corona
Magnum	9.0 x 50	giant
Palmas	6.25 x 42	long corona
Panetela	6.875 x 36	panetela

All sizes come in laquered cedar boxes of 26, packaged with cellophane sleeves on individual cigars. Many vendors list a box size of 25. Not entirely sure why that is. It may be that Padron changed the box count since the initial release (or it may be select vendors have lost a cog “up there” somewhere). The Corticos are the only exception packaged in boxes of 30 or tins of 6.

The Padron Series

As the Padron’s describe it … founded in 1964 and evolving throughout company history, the Padron Series today consists of sixteen medium-to full-bodied, long-filler cigars ranging from cigarillo to the large “A” size. All tobacco in this line is sun-grown habano aged a minimum of two-and-one-half years. Each vitola is available in a natural or maduro wrapper. The Padron Series offers exceptional quality and value.

Padron Series cigars are handmade, in one of two factories, with Cuban seed tobaccos grown entirely in Nicaragua. A true classic and unique-tasting cigar whose outstanding quality absolutely defies its affordable price. These perfectly balanced puros brim with flavor. Their consistency is family tradition which they are committed to maintaining it even if it means limiting production numbers.

The blend in each cigar is the same. The difference is in the size and shape which interestingly yield some distinctly different flavors. Just a note of caution. The Natural and Maduro versions of this line are quite difficult to tell apart visually. Be sure and mark them or store them separately otherwise you may just have to smoke ‘em to tell which is which.

The Keepers of the Flame Padron Roundup

In the interest of providing a good roadmap to this extensive line of cigars, we are gearing up for what promises to be a challenging project. We have enlisted some of the best reviewers available in the cigar community and, in the coming months, will post a comparison review of the natural and maduro wrapper editions of each vitola in the list above based on a concensus of opinion. When that is done, we will publish a vertical tasting for each wrapper giving cigar shoppers a valuable resource for cigar selection decisions.

Although cigar reviews are very much subjective and based on personal opinion and palates, what better way to level the playing field than to have multiple experts weigh in. We have assembled a cadre of guest reviewers, from the blogroll here on Keepers of the Flame, to assist us in this mammoth project. For each vitola listed above, cigarfan, lucky7 and select guests will sample the smoke and offer their observations. A consolidation of those views will be presented in a consensus review here on Keepers of the Flame. In addition, we will link each review to the vitola listing above for central access.

An impressive list of reviewing talent by anyone’s standard.

99 Cigar Guy

Ricky

Inspector

Lisa

Matt

Brian & Walt

Kevin

GeorgeE, JonN & PatrickA

Ironmeden & Elvis

We are still gathering and distributing the raw materials for the project but look for the comparison reviews to begin in a few weeks. Until then … Disfrute de los Padrons!

… cigarfan & lucky7

Padron 4000 Natural

Skip the fluff and jump straight to the review!

Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: Padron Cigars, Inc. (also operates under the name Piloto Cigars, Inc.) - Miami, FL
Factory: Tabacos Cubanica, S.A. - Esteli, Nicaragua
Factory: Tabacos Centroamericanos, S.A. - Danli, Honduras
Model/Vitola: Padron 4000 Natural
Size: 6.5 x 54 (Corona Gorda)
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Filler & Binder: Nicaragua
Body: Medium to Medium Plus
MSRP: $6.75 USD
Cigar Insider/Aficionado Ratings:

90 - April 2000
87 - November 2001 & June 2007

Fourteen other vitolas available in the traditional Padron line

• Corticos 4.25 x 35 (short panatela)
• Delicias 4.875 x 46 (corona extra)
• 2000 5.0 x 50 (robusto)
• Londres 5.5 x 42 (corona)
• 3000 5.5 x 52 (robusto)
• 6000 5.5 x 52 (torpedo)
• 5000 5.5 x 56 (robusto)
• Palmas 6.25 x 42 (long corona)
• 7000 6.25 x 60 (toro)
• Panetela 6.875 x 36
• Ambassador 6.875 x 42 (lonsdale)
• Churchill 6.875 x 46
• Executive 7.5 x 50 (double corona)
• Magnum 9.0 x 50 (giant)

All sizes come in lacquered cedar boxes of 26, packaged with cellophane sleeves on individual cigars. Many vendors list a box size of 25. I am not entirely sure why that is. It may be that Padron changed the box count since the initial release. The Corticos are the only exception packaged in boxes of 30
or tins of 6.

The Padron Story

Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar. That should never be said of a Padron. Jose Orlando Padron has put so much into the cigars that bear his name that both have earned the highest respect from those who know them. Both are Cuban to the core as evidenced by the Padron mantra:

Cuba has no boundaries, barriers or politics. At least not the Cuba we know and love. Cuba is in our hearts. It’s a state of mind. The sun on your face. The smoke that tells your nostrils you are home once again. Cuba is Padron Cigars. Wherever you smoke them.

Hand-rolled Padron cigars, like the man they’re named after, have roots that reach all the way back to 15th-century Spain. Spanish explorers discovered the Central American tradition of smoking string-tied rolls of select tobacco leaves. In fact, the Spanish word cigarro, from which “cigar” is derived, was probably an adaptation of sik’ar - the Mayan term for smoking. The tobacco and the tradition these explorers subsequently introduced to Spain became widely adopted throughout Europe two centuries later. Cigars found their way to North America with the Connecticut settlement in 1633.

Jose Padron’s personal story ranks up there with some of the great American success stories of all time. The Padron family has been involved in the tobacco industry since the late 1800s, when Jose Orlando’s grandfather, Damaso Padron, emigrated from the Canary Islands to Cuba and began growing tobacco in a small agricultural town called Las Ovas in the province of Piñar del Rio. Born and raised there, Jose was trained at an early age in the ways of tobacco cultivation and the fine art of hand rolling cigars. Just like his father and grandfathers before him.

The political tensions in Cuba following Fidel Castro’s rise and the confiscation of the family’s tobacco plantation in 1961 forced Jose to flee with his wife and young children in tow to the land of his ancestors in Spain. Less than a year later, they came to the U.S. through New York and finally settled in Miami, penniless but full of desire to rebuild their lives and to live in freedom.

For over two and a half years, Jose worked an assortment of odd jobs - anything to keep his family fed. One of those jobs was carpentry. You can read an interesting story in the February 2008 edition of Cigar Aficionado about the “little hammer” gifted to Jose and put to very good use in those early days. He managed to set aside a little cash over time, and on September 8, 1964 he launched Padron Cigars with a meager $600 in savings. Jose put everything he owned into his dream: planting the tobacco seeds he managed to secret away from Cuba. Renting a small warehouse in Little Havana, he and a single employee began producing cigars by day, which Jose then sold at night. In 1965, they sold 66,000 cigars. Today, Padron sells more than that every week. Meanwhile, the Padron grandchildren are being trained in the ways of tobacco cultivation and the fine art of hand rolling cigars. Just like the generations of Padrons before them.

Jose Orlando Padron is the Chairman of Padron Cigars, Inc. and Jorge Luis Padron is the President of the company. They operate two production facilities in Central America. Tabacos Cubanica, S.A. in Esteli, Nicaragua, and Tabacos Centroamericanos, S.A. in Danli, Honduras. The difference between the two factories is size and the functions they perform. The Honduran facility functions strictly as a production plant. The Nicaraguan facilities serve many purposes such as warehousing of raw material, sorting and deveining, and fermentation as well as production. There was a rumor circulating early in 2007 that the Danli operation was closing but I have been unable to corroborate that as fact.

Padron Cigars is one among a handful of companies that control every aspect of the manufacturing process from seed to smoke. Emphasis on quality rather than quantity, is one of the keys to the company’s longevity. Jose says, “We’ve never fallen on the trap like other manufacturers that produce, produce and produce to respond to the growing demand, as if we were making churros.” Production is modest, some four million cigars a year, and Jose has no intention of growing into a cigar giant. He says, “We will follow our family traditions and remain faithful to the course we set years ago, continuing to focus all of our efforts on producing quality and not quantity.” Jorge is quoted as saying, “Our philosophy has always been that it takes years and years to build a strong loyal customer base but it only takes a few bad cigars to lose it. With this in mind, we do not lose sight of what it is that has made Padron successful… our products… not a fancy marketing campaign or story.”

From the Padron website …..
We deliver only the finest, handmade, complex cigars with the flavor of the Cuban heritage out of which the Padron recipe was born. Our primary mission is the exceptional quality of our product, not the quantity produced. As a vertically integrated, family-owned company, we pay personal attention to every detail throughout all steps of our tobacco growing and cigar manufacturing process. Because we strive to give you, the smoker, the confidence that each cigar is the same ….. perfect.

Battling Counterfeits

As with many popular products, counterfeiting for the Padron’s has been an issue. More so with the Anniversary and 1926 lines but they deal with it across the board. In June 1999, the first fake Padron Anniversary cigars surfaced in Nicaragua. In January 2000, police seized more than 3,000 counterfeit Anniversary cigars and 5,000 fake bands from a Los Angeles warehouse. Two months later, a seizure in Miami forced the Padrons to send a letter to retailers warning about the surge in counterfeiting. Undercover agents seized more than $60,000 of fake cigars in a September 2000 raid that took place in New York City.

“We have to make it as hard as possible for someone to counterfeit our cigars,” says Jose. “We’ve been working on new ways to make the band more difficult to counterfeit and to make consumers feel more secure that they are getting a genuine Padron.” The company has modified its Anniversary boxes with special engraving on the hinges and tey have added an additional numbered band. Padron representatives inform us there was a system to the numbering to help track possible fakes, but it won’t be revealed to the public. Additional measures to hinder counterfeiters are anticipated. For the traditional Padron line, the signature of Jose O. Padron was added, running at a diagonal across the backside of the cigar band.

Cigar Aficionado has published several articles on the Padron’s troubles with counterfeit cigars. They take counterfeiting very seriously and are doing all they can to combat the problem.

The Padron 4000

The Nicaraguan blend in all of the traditional Padron line is the same. The difference is in the size and shape which interestingly yield some distinctly different flavors. All are available in both Natural and Maduro covers. The Padron’s listen carefully to their retailers and consumers. As I understand it, the 4000 (and the 5000) released late in 2000 was due directly to customer feedback and requests for larger ring gauge cigars and the 6000 in answer to requests for a torpedo shape. All tobacco used in the line is sun-grown habano, aged for a minimum of two and one-half years.

Just a note of caution. The Natural and Maduro versions of the 4000 are quite difficult to tell apart visually. I have to put them in separate humidors so I don’t get them confused (not that confusing me is so difficult to do).

Bottom line up front …..
For a line of cigars that gets such little attention, the traditional Padron is a quality cigar at quite the affordable price. Rich and flavorful, it makes for an easy smoke anytime. This is regular “everyday” rotation stuff for me! As George E from the Stogie Guys says, “If your Padron smoking experiences haven’t included this line, you should change that. Soon.”

Pre-light
The 4000 feels quite fat in the hand but nicely balanced. It is well packed with no soft spots but just a bit lumpy. The Colorado brown wrapper has a very dull sheen and a few darker brown spots mottled in. There are a few minor veins but they are pretty small. Aroma from the wrap is a very faint barnyard and from the foot, sweet tobacco. The head is slightly flattened with a single cap which I found unusual since they are hyped as “the heritage of Cuba.” Isn’t that where the triple-cap is tradition?

The Padrons claim to fame is quality and consistency but on the smokes I had for this review, one had a double cap and the other two had single caps. Not really consistent or Cubanesque IMO. One had a spot where the wrapper was not very well smoothed at the head (pictured above). None of these things caused anything but visual distraction.

After the clip, a very nice pre-light draw leaves a touch of sweetness on the lips. Now I’m ready!

The Smoking Experience
The toasting and light come off without a hitch. Very nice aroma for standers by. First couple pulls are a bit raspy, then settles in to a smooth raisiny tobacco flavor with a little twang on the nose. As the stick warms, the core of earthy sweet tobacco continues and yields notes of toasted cedar, leather and spice. Not allot of pepper here. Not allot of flavor complexity either but there is enough rich flavor and aroma to keep me puffing. At the halfway mark, flavors take on a little darker complexion of the same core with the addition of some light coffee bean. The aroma is not unlike the flavor profile and has a slight “twang” to it all the way to the nub.

The 4000 carries a moderate finish with a sweet raisiny edge. Maybe gets a little longer in the last third.

Ash is medium gray and held to about 2 inches. Burn is good with no corrections required. Draw was fantastic throughout. Smoke is cool and lots of it.

Although the first couple tugs may have you wondering, what have I got myself into, I’d say this cigar starts in the medium column and only edges past medium-plus right at the nub. No real nicotine kick that I could detect.

Smoketime was about 80 minutes.

My take …..
Consistently tasty and aromatic at an affordable price. Fits me like a glove. I like these gars and plan to experiment with the other sizes to see what they are like. I am a “robusto” kinda guy and the 4000 is a pretty big stick for me!

MSRP is $6.75 per stick. Online they run between $4.75-$6.00 a stick when you purchase a box. Best online price at the moment is the members price at Little Anthony’s Cigar Store. They run 108.45/26 or $4.17 per stick. An incredible price for this premium cigar. You cannot get the members price until you have an order from the site under your belt. They send you the members login (user/pswd) with your first order. I can vouch for the vendor. Quite the conscientious group down there at LA’s.

Like it … Yes
Buy it again … Yes
Recommend it … Yes

What others are saying about the traditional Padron line …..

3 June 1999 thru 31 December 2007
Famous Smoke Shop Reviews - Padron

28 August 2000
7 reviewers - Cigar Weekly Magazine
CW Review: Padron 2000

22 November 2005
fletchman - Cigarzilla
Padron 3000 Maduro

5 January 2006
Matt’s Cigar Journal
Padron #5000 Maduro

23 April 2006
cigarfan - Keepers of the Flame
Padron 5000

18 June 2006
Walt - Stogie Review
Padron - Delicias

9 December 2006
Walt - Stogie Review
Padron Londres

21 December 2006
Kyle Hammond - Club Stogie
Padron 4000

23 March 2007
cigarfan - Keepers of the Flame
Padron Panatela

8 June 2007
Brian - Stogie Review
Padron Londres Maduro

17 August thru 28 October 2007
Cigar Inspector
Padron

3 January 2008
George E - The Stogie Guys
Padron 5000 Maduro

As of 4 January 2008
Top 25 Cigar Ratings (26 reviews)
Padron 4000 Natural
Average Rating 7.72 out of 10

Top 25 Cigar Ratings (41 reviews)
Padron 4000 Maduro
Average Rating 8.46 out of 10

Date Unknown
ProCigars
Padron Cigar Reviews
(a good baseline for all traditional Padron vitolas)

Publications

July/August 1997
Jim Daniels - Cigar Aficionado
The Padron Family: A Nicaraguan Legacy
Seeds of Survival
Despite Wars in Nicaragua and Bombings in Miami, Jose Padron Has Built a Thriving Cigar Business

7 June 1999
David Savona - Cigar Aficionado
Fake Padrons Spotted in Nicaragua

5 September 2000
David Savona - Cigar Aficionado
Fake Padrons Seized In New York

2 March 2001
Mike Marsh - Cigar Aficionado
Padron Adds Second Band To Anniversary Line

April 2001
Top25Cigar Interviews
Jorge and Orlando Padron Interview with Top25Cigar

10 December 2001
Jordan Russin - Cigar Aficionado
Padron Cigar Counterfeiters Sued for $146,000

November/December 2002
CA Staff - Cigar Aficionado
Movers and Shakers II

12 March 2003
Rob Shibata - Top25Cigar.com
Saturday Morning with the Padrons

1 June 2004
David Savona - Cigar Aficionado
Q&A: An Interview With Jorge Padron

13 December 2004
Daniel Shoer-Roth of the Miami Herald - Havana Journal
Little Havana Padron Cigar History
(Padron’s Little Havana Factory is Bombed!)

27 October 2005
Rob Shibata - Top25Cigar.com
Visit The New Padron Cigar Offices

Winter 2005
thecigarWRAPPER.com
Padron Cigars

15 February 2006
James Suckling - Cigar Aficionado
An Interview With Jose Orlando Padron, Chairman, Padron Cigars, Inc.

18 October 2007
David Savona - Cigar Aficionado
Smoking a New Padron (Padron Reserva de la Famila No. 44)
(only available at special Padron cigar dinners - &!@#^&*^$!@#)

RTDA 2007
Video - 0:40 seconds
Jorge Padron
(I think he was really taken with the lady interviewer; watch his eyes; wonder if they hooked up?)

Date Unknown
Cigar Nexus
An Interview with Jose Padron Sr., Padron Cigars - Part 1

Date Unknown
Cigar Nexus
An Interview with Jose Padron Sr., Padron Cigars - Part 2

Why even Rush Limbaugh recommends Padron Cigars!

---

… lucky7

“It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep,
and never to refrain when awake.” (Mark Twain)

Comparison of the Rosado/Maduro Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ Belicoso (White Label)

 

Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: El Rey de los Habanos, Inc. - Miami, FL
Factory: Rosado Corojo - El Rey de los Habanos - Miami, FL
Factory: Maduro Corojo - Tabacalera Cubana de Garcia y Fernandez, S. A. (TACUBA) - Esteli, Nicaragua
Model/Vitola: Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ (White Label) Belicoso
Size: 5.75 x 52 (torpedo)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo (Rosado & Maduro)
Binder: Nicaraguan Criollo
Filler: Nicaraguan Corojo & Criollo

Other vitola sizes available
Rosado

• Selectos 5.0 x 50 (robusto)
• Sublime 6.0 x 54 (toro)
• Salomon 7.25 x 57 (perfecto)

Maduro

• Selectos 5.0 x 50 (robusto)
• Sublime 6.0 x 54 (toro)

All sizes are offered in cedar boxes of 24 with the exception of the Salomon which comes in boxes of 5 - Rosado Corojo wrapped cigars are shipped naked and the Maduro with cellophane sleeves

El Rey de los Habanos (ERDLH) in Miami and Estelí

Being a lover of Pepin Garcia’s cigars, I follow events surrounding their production with great interest and, like many others, have a little concern about the volume of labels this man is producing. Not that I have experienced any degradation in quality but at some point, common sense would tell you something’s gotta’ give. There was some negative buzz surrounding new production at Pepin’s Tabacalera Cubana de Garcia y Fernandez, S.A. (TACUBA - co-owned by Garcia and Eduardo Fernandez) in Estelí, Nicaragua, which opened mid-2006. Most aficionados were concerned about maintenance of production quality and the availability of tobaccos but honestly, as a consumer, I have not detected any problems. Products are readily available (relatively speaking) and the quality seems to be improving IMHO. TACUBA will pump out 2 million-plus cigars in 2007 and the Miami facility, will achieve ~700,000. Jaime says, “The company will grow, but not at the expense of quality.” I believe him.

—Some of the cigars produced at TACUBA

Don Pepín García Serie JJ (White Label) Maduro
Don Pepín García Cuban Classic (Black Label)
El Centurion by Don Pepín García
EO Brands 601 (United Tobacco)
Tatuaje Havana VI (Pete Johnson)
Tatuaje Havana VI - Exclusivo Verocu (Pete Johnson)
Tatuaje Series P (Pete Johnson)
Old Henry (Holt’s)
Fumadores (Holt’s)
Holt’s Connoisseur Selection
Padilla Edicion Especial Achilles (Cigars International)
Legends Pepín García – Yellow Label (Cigars International)
Troya Clasico
Cigar.com Corojo Label
Ashton San Cristobal
5 Vegas Miami (yes this is made in Nicaragua)

Tabacalera Cubana Factory in Esteli, Nicaragua
Video — 10:56 minutes

A side note — Please do not confuse Tabacalera Cubana de Garcia y Fernandez, S. A. (TACUBA) owned by Garcia/Fernandez with Tabacalera Cubana Corp. (a cigar manufacturer) and Tabacalera Popular Cubana, Inc. (a cigar retailer) both of which are owned by Pedro Gomez and his sons Edel and Joel. Back in 2003, Altadis won a law suit against the Gomez family for violating Altadis trademarks by selling “Cuban replica” Montecristo, H. Upmann and Romeo y Julieta cigars. A federal judge ruled the Gomez’s were personally liable for the damages and awarded Altadis $900K. An expensive mistake. In addition, there is another factory in Estelí, Tabacalera Cubana Nicaraguense, S. A. (TACUNISA) also totally unrelated.

Pepin has been rolling cigars since the age of 12 and aside from 2-years in the military, has not stopped. He received the rank of Tabequero Maestro while rolling and blending cigars in Cuba. He can make just about anything out of tobacco leaves. He personally specializes in those extremely difficult large figurados called diademas or salomons. A torpedo head and supple curves as you get toward the foot, which has a big bulb then a small nipple. It takes a lot of cuts to make that work, and Pepin makes it look simple. He always seems to smile as he rolls. Watching him, you can tell he really enjoys what he’s doing. He trained rollers in Cuba, and now he’s training them in Miami and in Estelí.

Don Pepín García Cigar Rolling Demo @ RTDA 2007
Video — 2:27 minutes

El Rey de los Habanos Booth @ RTDA 2007
Video — 1:52 minutes

When Pepin Garcia left Cuba for Nicaragua, he worked with Fernandez in the Jalapa region, and then opened El Rey de los Habanos (Little Havana) in 2003. High ratings in Cigar Aficionado soon followed. But the Garcia’s could only do so much in Miami. Given the tiny factory had a total of 12 rollers, expansion was inevitable and I believe the addition of 36 pairs of rollers in the TACUBA factory learning from Pepin is a boon for cigar smokers everywhere. There are differences in rolling approach at the 2 factories. In Miami, the cigars are made by one person, who bunches and wraps. In Estelí, the bunching is done by one worker, the wrapping by another, thus the “pairing” of rollers.

To help bring TACUBA up to speed Pepin’s son, Jaime, now spends much of his time there: one month in Nicaragua, followed by a few weeks in Miami, then back to Nicaragua. His father does a similar rotation to ensure that one of them is at the Estelí factory on most days.

It’s amazing to think that, with so many cigar making operations out there collectively employing tens of thousands of rollers, probably 50-60% of the cigars I regularly smoke are made by the same 12 rollers in one tiny little factory in Miami and 72 rollers in one slightly bigger factory in Estelí. That’s right, I am a Pepin whore and proud of it!

Don Pepín’s Dream Cigar

In an interview Pepin was asked what tobaccos he would use to make his finest cigar. Would it be all Cuban? All Nicaraguan? He replied, “The wrapper would be Cuban. The binder would come from Nicaragua, as would two leaves of ligero filler. The seco and viso filler would come from Cuba. That cigar,” he says with confidence, talking about his dream smoke, “would score perfectly in anyone’s rating system.” Jaime Garcia claims, “Cuban tobacco is the best in the world, when worked properly. Nicaraguan tobacco is very close to the quality of the best tobacco in Cuba.” I think the Garcia’s tried to create that incredible “dream cigar” when they blended the Serie JJ, or come as close to it as possible sans the Cuban tobaccos.

It is arguable that Don Pepin is currently making some of the best smokes in the world today. His secret family recipe for blending and fermentation has been handed down generation to generation since his family’s beginnings in old Cuba. I for one am oh so glad he left the island. Thanks Jose for all these fantastic smokes. Keep em’ comin’ big guy!

Don Pepín García Serie JJ (White Label)

The Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ, a medium to full-bodied Nicaraguan puro, was blended by Jose in collaboration with his son and protégé, Jaime—thus the name “JJ”. It debuted in 2005. The tobaccos are rich Nicaraguan leaf that rivals the flavor, character and experience of the finest Cuban cigars. Exquisitely made with the careful construction that has become a DPG hallmark. This amazing cigar, which Pepin proudly called “his masterpiece”, was one of the highest rated and top selling cigars of 2006/2007. Because it is so popular, he has blessed the cigar world with a delicious Maduro version of this world-class blend, released at this years RTDA in August. Although it is not the first Maduro created by Don Pepin, it is the first with his name on it.

Also a medium to full-bodied smoke (ERDLH calls it 3/4 to full); the Serie JJ Maduro is an exquisite cigar sporting a luscious Nicaraguan Maduro Corojo wrapper leaf. It is a smooth smoke building in complexity as it is enjoyed and the aromas are truly mouth-watering. I have mentioned to several buds that I think the Serie JJ Maduro could be serious competition for the PAM. Not quite as strong but has all the other attributes one looks for in a special occasion cigar and comes in at less than half the price.

Both Cigarfan and I have sampled the Serie JJ and the following review represents a combination of both of our observations.

Bottom line up front …..
Both the Rosado and Maduro versions of the Serie JJ are not to be missed for anyone who enjoys complex full-bodied smokes. These are some serious good smokin’. The core blend is clearly evident in both while the different wrappers impart a unique experience. Son magníficas y deliciosos!

The Serie JJ is said to be one of Don Pepin’s favorite smokes. It ranks up there for me as well!

Pre-light
Both the Rosado and Maduro appear a bit ruddy with a few veins but the construction is solid with no soft spots. The belicoso’s are beautifully triple-capped in a large swirl. There is a very small tooth over the entire wrap. Pre-light draw is excellent with perfect resistance and the belicoso feels balanced in the hand, like it belongs there.

Rosado
The wrapper is a light-brown Rosado Corojo which is not as dark as regular Corojo and is a bit creamier on the palate. There is very little pre-light aroma from the wrap though the pepper did tingle my nose, even unlit.

Maduro
A thick, oily dark-brown wrapper with a deep red hue in the background envelopes this stogie. The aroma from the unlit wrap is hay with a touch of barnyard. The pre-light draw leaves an ever so slight sweet taste on the lips.

The Smoking Experience
Both versions of the JJ toast and light very easily for a large ring gauge and draw is superb end to end. Both burned well with the burn line getting a little bumpy but self correcting.

Both exhibit lite bite for the first half inch and then hold medium strength until the halfway mark where they begin to ramp up. The last third of each fit squarely in the full strength category. Doesn’t make you dizzy though. The nicotine is not overpowering. Just enough to let you know that you have smoked a fine cigar!

Both had a good volume of cool smoke and time to nub was around an hour fifteen minutes. Each provides a long smooth finish with a pleasant aftertaste of dark coffee or mocha.

Ash on both is a light to medium gray and holds well. First ash for me would hold until about the halfway mark. The Maduro ash did a little flaking but nothing obtrusive. I did find it interesting that both cigars seemed to have better flavor if I kept the ash short. Unusual.

Rosado
Starts with a little pepper on the back of the throat and some sharp pepper on the nose. That lasts about 1/2 inch, and then warms to a creamy and smooth core of toasty wood and leather with very distinct notes of vanilla, cherry and cinnamon. Some hints of coffee and toasted nuts (maybe roasted cashews) in the second half. Aroma is of sweet tobacco and has a “Corojo twang of pepper” pretty much through the entire cigar.

Maduro
Start is similar to the Rosado but has a little sweet edge to it I attribute to the Maduro wrap. It settles into a darker earthy core flavor of sweet wood and bittersweet chocolate with notes of espresso and cinnamon. The flavor and aroma is so buttery you might think you were in the theater for a movie. The aroma from the Maduro wrap is remarkably strong—that’s one serious leaf. You may want to have a handkerchief close by for the aftermath. What starts as a little pepper on the tongue and the back of the throat continue through the entire cigar. Pepper really ramps up in the last third.

My take …..
I read that Don Pepin Garcia feels cigar aging is not necessary, in fact, he says Cuban cigar makers pitch product if it hangs around the humidor too long (love to dumpster dive in that neighborhood). I find that intriguing since I am sitting on about 350 Pepin sticks that just seem to get better and better the older they get!

Both Serie JJ varieties are top notch and near the top of my favorite cigar list. You won’t find me without some these in the humi unless I’m pushing up daisies and my wife has thrown them away or, perish the thought, Pepin stops making them.

Both Cigarfan and I are hoping a little age will temper the pepper in the Maduro version. I like a little pepper, but in moderation.

MSRP on the Corojo wrap is $210.00/24 or $8.75 per stick. MSRP on the Maduro wrap is $238.00/24 or $9.92 per stick. Best online price at the moment is Cigar Place at $149.99/24 or $6.25 per stick. A steal for this kind of quality. These cigars compare to stogies that cost 3 times as much in some cases.

  Like it … Love them
  Buy it again … As many as I can afford
  Recommend it … Strongly

What others are saying about Don Pepin Garcia Serie JJ (White Label) …..

29 May 2007
cabaiguan - Cigar Live
Don Pepin Garcia SERIE JJ ROBUSTO

29 May 2007
Jerry - Stogie Review
Don Pepin Garcia (Series JJ)

27 September 2007
Jerry - Stogie Review
Serie JJ Maduro by Don Pepin Garcia

Top 25 Cigar - As of 1 November 2007
Don Pepin Serie JJ Cigars (Rosado)
9 reviews
7.96 out of 10

Publications

Rich Perelman - Author of Cigar Cyclopedia
A New Star In The Sky (Don Pepin Garcia)

Wikipedia on the Don Pepin Garcia (cigar brand)

El rey de los Habanos, Inc. - Don Pepin Garcia Cigar Selection

---

… lucky7

“It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep,
and never to refrain when awake.” (Mark Twain)

MATASA 30th Anniversary Toro

Manuel Quesada established MATASA (Manufactura de Tabacos, S.A.) in Santiago in 1974, at a time when the Dominican cigar industry catered mainly to domestic consumption. Around this time the Dominican Republic established tax-free export zones which attracted entrepreneurs like Quesada to a country not really known for producing cigars. Baseball players, yes, but not cigars.

MATASA is best known for producing the Fonseca brand (and all its offshoots) but Quesada’s family has been in the tobacco business for generations, going back to pre-revolutionary Cuba where they were primarily leaf growers and brokers. The companies founded by Quesada’s great great grandfather, Sobrinos de A. Gonzales, and his great uncle Constantino Gonzales, were the largest leaf brokerages in the world before the family was forced out of Cuba at gunpoint.

The Quesada family left for Miami, where Manuel Quesada Sr. was able to secure a loan– with no collateral– from a bank the family had done business with since 1907. They invested in warehouses and machinery and soon a fledgling leaf brokerage was started in the Dominican Republic, selling leaf to many of the same customers they had in Cuba. One of those customers was Juan Sosa, whose Miami factory was struggling with labor issues. Based on their previous business relationship, Sosa and Quesada joined forces in Santiago and in 1974 MATASA was born. During the same year, MATASA bought the Fonseca label from Antillian Cigar Co. in Miami.

The MATASA 30th Anniversary by Fonseca, created to celebrate the founding of the company, was introduced in 2005 in only two sizes: a 5 3/4 x 54 perfecto, and this 6 1/2 x 52 toro. The binder and filler were selected from bales of Honduran, Dominican, and Nicaraguan leaf aged over ten years. When this cigar was chosen as the Robb Reports’ “Best of the Best 2006” cigar, Quesada told Richard Carleton Hacker,

…we used the finest of old, noble leaf so that we would have the depth of some of the choicest aged Cuban-seed tobaccos, but without the hardened strength. What we got was a strong yet smooth cigar that reminds one of chocolate pudding.

The wrapper is a high priming Olor Dominicano grown by the Reyes family in the Cibao Valley. The limited number of cigars produced was determined mostly by the amount of wrapper produced. “We said we’d make cigars as the wrapper for the project came about,” Quesada told Smoke Magazine. “You’d like to have 100 percent yield from the wrapper crop, but you never do… If you get 60 percent of usable wrapper out of any given crop, you should go to church and thank God.”

In the end, only 30,000 cigars were produced.

The wrapper on this Anniversary Toro is rich and oily, though as it turns out it is also quite thin and delicate. The roll is solid and the head is finished with a triple cap. The prelight scent is of sweet tobacco and hay.

From the first puff the flavors that pour forth are dark and rich — coffee bean and cocoa, with chocolate making a lasting appearance after an inch or so. Beneath the overarching sweet bean flavor is a grassy or green wood flavor which makes the overall impression something like light-roasted coffee. Meanwhile, the aroma is complex, adding an incense-like quality to the smoke.

The body builds strength after the first half, about 45 minutes into this supersized toro. The flavors gradually veer away from cocoa and enter spicier country, with pepper on the tongue and baking spices on the nose. At one point I thought I detected cinnamon, but after an hour of chasing scents my palate might have been a little fatigued.

Part way into the last third I heard the dreaded crack of wrapper splitting; I looked down and my cigar had suddenly unraveled. Thankfully I was nearly finished with this ten dollar Anni, but I was still a little disappointed. (Sadly, this is the second one that has finished in this fashion for me. Other reports are more favorable, so maybe I just pulled from a bad box.) Otherwise the construction here is very good — a fine draw and a slow cool burn.

If you’re a Fonseca smoker, be aware that the MATASA 30th Anniversary is a much heavier cigar than your standard Fonseca, but don’t let that dissuade you — it’s not a giant killer either. This is a limited edition cigar, but it is still available and doesn’t appear to be selling out anytime soon. Part of that may be due to the price, which is in the 8 to 11 USD range. Not your everyday cigar, but a special treat for maduro lovers. Just be extra careful with that wrapper!

-cigarfan

Olde World Reserve Torpedo (Maduro) by Rocky Patel

Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: Rakesh Patel
Tabacalera: El Paraiso - Danli, Honduras
Model/Vitola: Olde World Reserve Torpedo (Maduro)
Size: 5.0 x 54 (figurado — box-pressed)
Wrapper: Costa Rica (Maduro) — Nicaragua (Corojo)
Binder & Filler: Nicaragua (rumored a little India too)
Cigar Aficionado Rating: 88 —2007 (I think this is way to low)

Other vitola sizes available

• Robusto 5.5 x 54
• Toro 6.5 x 52

All sizes are offered in cedar chests of 50 with a choice of Corojo or Maduro wrapper

 

Some background on Rocky ….. 

Rocky Patel is a shining example of what passion and hard work can achieve. He uses what he calls the shoe-leather express, his arduous but successful way of getting out the word on his cigars. He started in LA but now home and headquarters for the energetic 45-year-old is in Naples, FL but you rarely find him there. His road shows began in 1998, and they never seem to end: in both 2001 and 2002 he logged more than 300 days on the road. His travel schedule never seems to get any lighter.

Rocky is a natural born salesman. He sold china and cutlery door-to-door in high school, participated in Junior Achievement, sold grapefruit by the case and raised money in college for muscular dystrophy research. He moved to Green Bay, Wisconsin, as a teenager, where he developed a lifelong love of the Packers to rival that of local born Cheeseheads. (In one proud moment he presented members of the team with his cigars.)

Patel, an entertainment and product liability lawyer turned cigar salesman, had a cigar-smoking girlfriend who “made him” join the Grand Havana Room in Beverly Hills. He went to his first cigar trade show in 1996 and was mobbed for business. This was the beginning of his strong relationship with the cigar industry as a major player.

Rocky says, “The problem with practicing law was it was like taking a final exam all day long. You’re always stressed. In this business I’m always thinking about cigars and how to make them better — but I’m excited about it. I’m a perfectionist and I live to win, not just play. The cigar business is the same thing: acquiring the best leaf, creating the best packaging — it’s constantly on my mind.”

Per a quote on his website, the Hollywood lawyer turned cigar maker loves the quality of Padron, the construction of Davidoff, and the consistency of Fuentes. Patel wants to incorporate all of these admirable qualities into his cigars and make them affordable. His are definitely great cigars, so it would seem he is succeeding.

Patel’s original Indian Tabac brand has nothing to do with his heritage (he was born in India, and his real first name is Rakesh) but everything to do with the on-again-off-again Indian Motorcycle brand. Patel, who owns the Indian Tabac Cigar Co. with a silent partner, has to pay Indian Motorcycle a licensing fee on the brand. In 2003 he put aside the Indian Tabac brand name he worked so hard to build to create another — Rocky Patel Vintage Series. It was risky, but a huge success.

Since both still exist, a point of clarification on the relative importance of the Indian Tabac and Rocky Patel brands to each other. As of the end of 2006, Indian Tabac sales were steady but made up only about a third of their revenue. The Rocky Patel branded lines made up the rest. When Rocky introduced the Vintage 1990 and 1992 Rocky Patel lines at the 2003 RTDA, it was a calculated risk. He wanted to change the direction of the products and marketing but felt it would be too difficult to do with the Indian Tabac brand. His intuition proved correct as the Vintage brands were a run away success. The Vintage 1990 and 1992 cigars are still the company’s flagship lines today. The Rocky Patel lines with their extensions now represent 70+% of company revenues.

Patel’s cigars are currently manufactured in Nestor Plasencia’s El Paraiso factory in Danli, Honduras. Rocky works with Plasencia to develop and refine the blends they want to offer. In fact, Rocky spends 60-70% of his time in Honduras working with the factory. The rest of his time is split up between marketing and running the operations.

The Old World Reserve (”Master Blend 7XX” as it is designated on the box) was introduced at the 2005 RTDA in New Orleans, LA. That initial iteration, Rocky’s first attempt at the OWR, never made it out of New Orleans, and was ‘re-introduced’ at RTDA 2006 in Las Vegas, NV. This uniquely delicious and buttery smooth blend of tobaccos is actually quite mellow yet very deep in flavors. Olde World Reserve is Rocky Patel’s most expensive creation so you would certainly hope it has “the right stuff” and IMHO it definitely does. It is masterfully blended using top-quality tobaccos, extensive fermentation and aging processes, and the highest of quality control standards. Doesn’t matter if you are part of the Rocky Fan Club or not, you should give this cigar a try.

Exhibition Floor — RTDA 2005

I have read folks who compare the OWR to the Padron Anniversary blends (1926 and 1964) but I think they are potatoes and grapefruits, with dissimilar profiles and therefore, not really a “better or not” situation. Both brands are top notch!

Some of the hype and buzz claim the OWR to be Rocky’s Vintage and Edge lines on steroids. Although you can pick out some similar characteristics with the other RP lines, I think the flavor depth of the OWR sets it apart.

Please note, the three sizes of the OWR are very different, each offering a unique smoking experience. That is another interesting thing about this line of cigars. The combo of size and wrap makes for a different experience, and variety is the spice of life, right? This review is based on the Torpedo size wrapped in a Maduro leaf.

Bottom line up front …..

I am a big fan of full flavored cigars which is why I like many vitolas Rocky has to offer (Vintage, Sun Grown, Edge jump to mind). Seems crazy to say, but the Olde World Reserve is a cut above. All of Rocky’s magic is realized in this cigar. Overall, an exceptional example of blending that is extremely well-balanced and surprisingly smooth. Don’t let the hype descriptions of power and strength scare you off! Even if you are a mild to medium cigar buff, try this cigar. I think you will be very pleasantly surprised. The Olde World Reserve is an eventful smoke that fully satisfies the palate of even the most discriminating aficionados. A very rich smoking experience!

Pre-light

Although it is a bit of a stump for a torpedo, these sticks are gorgeous to look at. The band is sophisticated and the foot is sleeved in a gold speckled brown tissue paper with the “RP circle-o-dots” logo in gold at the center. The sleeve is easily removed revealing the dark mottled wrap, smooth and oily. In the sunlight, a rosado hue in the background color is evident.  The cap is a little ruddy looking but well constructed nonetheless. Tightly packed, the stick is firm to the touch but fairly light in the hand. The wrap has very subtle sweet tobacco scent and the foot, soft earthy wood. Clip was very clean, no stragglers. Draw was perfect and tasted of strong southern sweet tea. As I toasted the foot the exquisite aroma wafted around my head and I began to salivate. It did take some effort with the torch to get this one lit but once there, no more external fire required.

The Smoking Experience

Right out of the gate, the flavor is spectacular with earthy wood and leather rolling over the palate and a tinge of sweetness on the nose. After a few pulls, a nice thick volume of cool smoke and in between puffs, beautiful curls of blue smoke from the foot. As the blend warms it settles to a creamy smooth base of toasted nuts, leather and wood with notes of sweet fruit on the nose (kind of raisiny). During the last third, an enjoyable espresso and bitter chocolate flavor develops and becomes more definitive toward the nub. Initially, the finish is nutty and rather short but evolves to a longer intense toasty espresso in the second half with a bit of pepper on the tongue. This cigar has an awesome aroma similar to “The Edge” but not quite as sharp and consistently sweet to the nub. Draw remained perfect from light to nub and the burn was clean.

The ash was medium gray and held on well. Curiously, the stack of quarters effect common to most cigar ashes was present but began to swirl. Unusual looking to say the least. I only ashed this cigar once at the band. The nub carried the rest to the ash tray.

In terms of strength, the first half rests squarely in the medium column and then it begins to intensify. The last inch and a half are definitely full strength. I would say it carries a mild nicotine kick but definitely not overpowering in any way. I suggest you do have something on your stomach for maximum enjoyment.

Short in physical stature but long on smoking time, this gar took me an hour fifteen minutes to smoke. And time well spent I might add!

2006 OWR (top) and 2007 OWR (bottom)

I have always been curious about where these cigar makers get the volumes of tobacco required to make consistent stogies year after year. Like the Vintage 1990 … where is all that 1990 tobacco stored. It’s certainly gotta be bigger than a warehouse (or 100 warehouses for that matter), the number of those cigars that have hit the street since 2003. Just as an experiment, I retrieved a 2006 OWR Maduro that has been resting in my humi since September 2006 and one I purchased for this review. As you can see above there is a definite color variation in the wrap but I’ll be doggone, I smoked ‘em both and couldn’t taste a bit of difference. Rocky is good … I mean real good at what he does.

My take …..

I’ve tried a healthy share of both corojo and maduro wrapped OWR and come to the conclusion that, while both are good, I enjoy the maduro most. IMO it’s richer in flavor and offers a very nice sweetness from the wrapper leaf. The maduro is also very (very) smooth in character with an earthy backbone that’s deep and rich. Overall, this is a great cigar, one worthy of the highest of ratings from those who know cigars best.

MSRP on the Maduro Torpedo is $525.00/50 or $10.50 per stick. Best online price at the moment is Cigar Place at $39.95/5 or $7.99 per stick. My local B&M charges a whopping $11.12 per stick which is outrageous (and I told him so). Expensive, but if you want the finer things in life you have to pay the price. Definitely a exquisite cigar. If I were you I would try at least one and then decide if wallet dipping is in order. For me $8 is an easy decision!

Initially released as a limited edition cigar, the Olde World Reserve was only available in traditional brick and mortar tobacco shops. That is no longer the case as they can be found online just about everywhere. I began compiling a list of online vendors but it became so lengthy, I gave up. Just Google it! It pays to shop around on this one. They are a challenge to find in stock but the hunt is well worth it!

 

Like it … Yes
Buy it again … Yes
Recommend it … Absolutely

What others are saying about
Olde World Reserve by Rocky Patel …..

15 July 2006
Jerry - Stogie Review
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve - Corojo (Toro)

17 July 2006
The Stogie Guys
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Corojo Toro

19 August 2006
cNote - Cigar Utopia
RP Olde World Reserve Maduro Review

September 2006
Smoke Magazine Taste Test - Volume XI, Issue 4
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Toro Maduro
9.25 out of 10 Average Rating

December 2006
Smoke Magazine Taste Test - Volume XII, Issue 1
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Torpedo Maduro
9.15 out of 10 Average Rating

28 January 2007
lanshark - Cigarzilla
Rocky Patel - Olde World Reserve

March 2007
Smoke Magazine Taste Test - Volume XII, Issue 1
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Robusto Corojo
9.15 out of 10 Average Rating

11 June 2007
CigarMonkey - Cigar Beat
Olde World Series by Rocky Patel

18 June 2007
mongkut - Epinions
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Maduro Toro - A Good Cigar, But Not My Favorite

August 2007
Cigar of the Week - Cigar Aficionado
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Maduro Torpedo

24 September 2007
Gary Korb - Cigar Advisor
My Weekend Cigar: Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Toro

Cigar Aficionado Forum Discussion - Olde World Reserve by Rocky Patel

Top 25 Cigar - As of 2 October 2007
Rocky Patel Olde World Reserve Cigars Torpedo Maduro
10 reviews
8.04 out of 10

Publications

1 May 2005
David Savona - Cigar Aficionado
Rocky II
Rocky Patel built his Indian Tabac cigar with endless trips to American tobacconists and Honduran cigar factories. Now he launches a self-named brand. PDF

March 2006
Thor Nielsen - Cigar.com Magazine
Interview: Rocky Patel - Indian Tabac

September 2006 - Smoke Magazine Online
Rackish “Rocky” Patel of Rocky Patel Cigars
The Long Road

11 January 2007
James Suckling - Cigar Aficionado
Havana Corner: Factories, Pigs and Politicians

2 April 2007
Gregory Mottola - Cigar Aficionado
New Sun Grown Sixty From Rocky Patel

August 2007
Video - CigarTV.com
Rocky Patel at RTDA 2007 talking about his new releases

Official Rocky Patel Website

---

… lucky7

“It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep,
and never to refrain when awake.” (Mark Twain)

Gran Habano 3 Siglos Gran Robusto

Over the years Guillermo Rico has been a tobacco grower, a leaf broker, and an accomplished catador, or cigar taster, who reportedly can distinguish five different leaves in a single blend. He was born to a family of tobacco growers in Cubita, Columbia, and with his son George is currently the owner of GR Tabacaleras Unidas and the Gran Habano line of cigars. The Ricos have farms in several countries, including Columbia, Costa Rica, and most importantly Nicaragua.

The Ricos established their Danli, Honduras factory, “La Perla Hondureña” in 1996, where they produced cigars for private labels such as Alec Bradley. But with all the experience and knowledge at hand it was inevitable that they would soon turn out their own brands.

The Ricos take great pride in the blending and production of their cigars, starting with Habano and Corojo seeds and finishing with draw testing individual cigars for quality control. All of their cigars are bunched using the traditional “entubar” method and are finished with triple caps. These are truly beautiful cigars — I had to get a close up shot of the cap on the 3 Siglos above because it’s really a work of art.

The first three Gran Habano blends — the #1 Connecticut, the #3 Habano, and the #5 Corojo — were introduced in 2003 and gained ground quickly due to their very high quality to price point ratio. These are great cigars regardless of price, but affordability is always attractive. Following on this came the V.L . (Very Limited) line in 2005, and last year the 3 Siglos was finally unveiled.

The Tres Siglos cigars use three types of ligero from three different countries — Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Columbia (Cubita) — in its filler blend, bound up in a Nicaraguan Habano leaf and capped with a Nicaraguan Corojo Shade Grown wrapper. Cuban style cigars often have a flattened rather than a rounded cap, but this one is almost as level as the foot. The wrapper is deliciously oily and and the stick weighs heavily in the hand.

The Gran Robusto is an imposing and impressive looking cigar with a 54 ring gauge; at six inches long it’s really more of a toro size. Commercial vitolas have always piqued my curiosity — why gran robusto instead of toro? Why double corona rather than churchill? Why 3 Siglos and not 3 Ligeros? (I actually wrote Siglo III earlier and had to go back and correct it. Maybe there’s something subliminal going on here… ) But when it comes down to it, the cigar must speak for itself. Or smoke for itself. With my assistance, of course.

The broad flat cap invites a punch, though carefully shearing off the cap with a cutter might work in a pinch. A pre-light test draw reveals an easy pull — maybe too easy. There is no resistance at all. Checking the barrel for loose fill and soft spots returns a negative, so the frictionless draw appears to be by design.

I subjected the foot of this Gran Robusto to almost 30 seconds of the Blazer’s full-on torch blast until it could finally be weaned from the flame. This would seem to presage burn problems to come, but there were no major issues once it got going.

The initial flavor from the 3 Siglos is a little funky — it reminds me of the Gran Habano #5 with its musty earthiness for the first few pulls. Despite the airy draw this cigar produces nice clouds of medium-bodied smoke and burns very slowly. I budgeted an hour for this cigar but it demanded another 45 minutes after that. I’m glad I brought a book.

In addition to its unusual draw and burn, it leaves a streaky black and gray-brown ash. Very odd coloring. It’s flaky and a little messy, but the cigar burns so slowly that’s it’s nothing to worry about.

As the first musty shot fades into the background it is replaced with a leathery sweet aroma that is almost fruity at times — something like cherries. The smoke is smooth but by the mid-point I am also noticing its potency. This is not a heavy smoke, but it’s big — perhaps it is by virtue of its size that it packs the punch it does.

By the end of the cigar — which requires the peeling of two bands — the flavor is at its height of pepper and spice with a finish that has graduated from negligible to considerable. It isn’t a cigar with dramatic development, but there is enough complexity and idiosyncrasy here to keep my palate interested throughout the course of a very long smoke. And as a final epilogue I noticed it left a residual odor of graham cracker or gingerbread on my finger tips.

The Gran Habano 3 Siglos is in a class of its own and there’s only one way to tell if you’re going to like it — try it. The Gran Robusto is available for around 7 USD and for a great tasting cigar with good performance that lasts almost two hours, this is a pretty reasonable price. I’m not sure I’m ready to snap up a box — not in this size anyway — but I’ll certainly be picking up a few more 3 Siglos at the local shops.

-cigarfan

San Cristobal Fabuloso by Ashton

Cigar Stats
Brand Owner: Holt’s Company
Tabacalera: Tabacalera Cubana (TACUBA)

Click here for a short video (about 11 minutes) of the José “Don Pepín” García factory in Esteli, Nicaragua posted on YouTube by Cigar King.

Model/Vitola: Ashton San Cristobal Fabuloso (torpedo)
Size: 6.125 x 52
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua

 

Vitola sizes available (All in boxes of 22)

San Cristobal Vitolas (photos courtesy of www.ashtoncigar.com)

Ashton has held the trademark for the San Cristobal name for over 20 years and thanks to José “Don Pepín” García they now have a cigar suitable for the name. Ashton’s first new brand - since the 2002 launch of La Aroma de Cuba.

Released shortly after RTDA 2007, this is the long awaited new line of cigars Ashton has been working on for 2 years. It has been reported the first years release will total 300,000 cigars but Ashton says they will not be limited like the VSGs, ESGs or even the Aged Maduro (open ordering). It is blended and rolled in José “Don Pepín” García’s TACUBA facility at Esteli, Nicaragua. The San Cristobal is a Nicaraguan puro using a dark Nicaraguan wrapper, slightly veiny and mottled with a rosado hue. The cigar is medium to full-bodied with a hint of that now classic Pepín flavor. He always manages to get very different flavor profiles using all Nicaraguan tobacco. Truly a genius, he is able to produce cigar after cigar with its own unique characteristics.

Some have expressed concern that the new Ashton-JDPG connection may indicate a change in the Ashton-Fuente relationship. This quote from vice president Sathya Levin @ Ashton posted mid-June 2007 on the cigar family forum online:

… Nothing has changed between us and the Fuente family. The Fuentes are our partners, as well as our dear friends. We wish that every cigar we sold was made by Fuente, but their production capacity is currently maxed out. Carlito is not an envious or vindictive person. He knows that in order for us to continue to grow, we need to have cigars manufactured outside of his factory. He gave us his blessing on this project.

The reason we chose Pepin is that we believe he is making some of the finest cigars in the world today. His breadth of knowledge regarding tobaccos and cigar making is truly astounding. You need not worry [about tobacco supply]! Pepin does indeed have oodles and oodles of aged tobaccos all ready to be rolled up …

Bottom line up front …..
A little young but this is another really special cigar from Ashton and José “Don Pepín” García. Perfectly balanced between strength and complexity of flavors. Exquisite construction, burn and a long smooth finish. Like many who waited anxiously for this release, I am ecstatic to finally have a box and can’t wait to try the other sizes.

I heard that Carlito Fuente was quite upset when the initial Ashton Estate Sun Grown (ESG) was released. He felt the cigar was not ready and, having purchased and smoked one right away, I have to agree. They were not ready. Those who spoke with José “Don Pepín” García at RTDA said he was very excited about this release but my IMO the San Cristobal, although a good smoke now, is pretty young and needs another 3-4 months to be really good. With a year or two, these are going to be phenomenal.

Pre-light
A dark brown oily wrapper with a few veins and a reddish hue envelopes this beautiful torpedo. I read that JDPG said the wrapper was maduro during a conversation at RTDA but Ashton doesn’t mention it in their information. Who are you going to believe? Construction is solid and the stick feels very nicely balanced in the hand. An earthy tobacco aroma from the wrap and the foot with just a hint of barnyard and pepper. It actually tingled my nose and drew a sneeze. The band is a work of art and when it’s time, is removed very easily with no effect on the cigar. I used my Xikar and the clip was very clean. Draw was easy with just a slight resistance.

The Smoking Experience
The foot toasted and lit easily. The burn line got a little bumpy at times but always self corrected without the torch. Draw continued to be very good through to the nub. The ash was very light gray and held on well to about two inches each time. This cigar puts out tons of smoke.

Starts with the typical JDPG bang for about an inch then smoothes out to a core flavor of dark earthy espresso, dark chocolate and toasted cedar with notes of nuts, vanilla and black pepper over the length of the cigar. Definitely what you would call a full-flavored, full-bodied cigar. The finish is long and the aroma is special. During the last third I detected a little caramel on the nose.

I would say this stick starts and holds the medium category until about the halfway mark where it begins to build in strength to full towards the nub. Definitely has a nicotine kick. I had mine with a glass of port which complimented the cigar very nicely.

You can tell when a cigar maker is especially proud of the brand when they adorn the cigar and boxes with ornate bands and box design like the Fuente Fuente OpusX and the Ashton ESG. The band and box artwork for the San Cristobal are exquisite to say the very least.

Inside Box Cover

Cedar Cigar Separator

Wax Paper Logo

My take …..
Although a little young IMHO, I enjoyed this smoke immensely and will be looking to obtain more to age. My problem will be the ability to summon the patience when I get em’.

I am not sure of MSRP for the Fabuloso at this point. The Ashton folks are saying the entire line runs between $7 and $12. The online price has gone up since I ordered mine (pre-release). Right now they run $9.50 per stick if you buy a box ($209.00/22) and $9.75 for a single from Jack Schwartz Importer. Definitely a wallet reducer but I plan to get some more (They are that good!). I would have thought Holt’s would be the first online to carry them (since they own the brand) but they have no listing as of this post.

Like it … Very much
Buy it again … Absolutely
Recommend it … Yes, but age em’ for a few months if you can hold out that long

What others are saying about the
San Cristobal by Ashton …..

9 August 2007 - Cigar Aficionado Blog - David Savona
A Preview of Ashton’s New San Cristobal

12 August 2007 - John51277 of CigarLive
Ashton/Pepin San Cristobal “Classico”

25 August 2007 - Jay (aka Altercall) of BOTL Cigar Forums - Brothers of the Leaf
San Cristobal Review

Publications

29 June 2007
The Cohiba Club
The Many Faces of Don Pepín García

Wikipedia on José “Don Pepín” García

---

… lucky7

“It has always been my rule never to smoke when asleep,
and never to refrain when awake.” (Mark Twain)

Troya Clasico LXIII

Troya cigars were made in pre-revolutionary Cuba beginning in 1932 and are in fact still made today as a relatively obscure and hard to find machine made cigar. Despite their rarity they have a small but devoted following, as evidenced by the fact that they survived the nationalizing of the industry when many smaller brands were culled out. Like the legend of Troy itself, the brand has endured.

In 1985 a California company began production of a cigar for the American market and saw further opportunities for Troya as a brand name. The original Troya cigars were respected and sold well, but like many of the best cigars of that generation they were battered by the tempest of the 90’s Cigar Boom. But once again, they survived. In 2004 the blend was revamped and another line, the Troya X-Tra, was introduced to appeal to the heavyweight crowd.

The next stop on Troya’s path was at the door of Jose “Pepin” Garcia, one of the hottest cigar makers around. In early 2007 the Pepin-made Troya Clasico was unveiled in three sizes — robusto, toro, and churchill. I haven’t figured out why Troya names their cigars with the numbers they do — their robustos are called 18, toros are 54, and churchills are 63. (The individual digits all add up to nine. Hmmm…) The Clasicos are numerated in this fashion as well, but with the roman numeral instead. Nice touch.

Troya Clasicos are made in Esteli, Nicaragua at Garcia’s Tabacalera Cubana with all Nicaraguan tobaccos. The wrapper is a luscious and dark “corojo oscuro” and the filler is a blend of corojo and criollo from the Jalapa region. The churchill is a 7 inch by 50 ring double corona size, and these come packed 20 to the box. It’s a handsome cigar with an oily, rich looking wrapper and a perfectly triple-capped head.

The churchill starts up in an unusual fashion for a Pepin cigar: it’s buttery smooth. Bean flavors take the vanguard here — cocoa and African coffee (I’ve been roasting some Ethiopian Harrar that has an eerily similar aroma.) Following quickly on this initial impression is a bittersweet woody flavor that fans of Pepin will recognize immediately. The smoke for the first third is relatively mild compared to other Pepin made cigars — relative, that is, to the blast of pepper that introduces many of Garcia’s cigars.

The body picks up more weight into the second and third acts, and ventures into leathery territory. The finish is lengthy and the aftertaste retains the slightly bitter woody flavor that announces itself at the start. What remains the same throughout the duration of the smoke is the delicate caramel-coffee sweetness of the aroma from the wrapper, and I think this is what defines this cigar.

The last third builds, edging towards a full body, and the cigar exits with a tart smack. This is a hallmark of Don Pepin’s blends, and it’s what fans of his cigars appreciate. This is a long smoking cigar (about an hour and a half for me) and while there aren’t any major transitions it is consistently complex and very well balanced throughout.

I was lucky enough to receive a fiver of these from reader Lucky7 (thanks again!) and so far I’ve smoked three. One had a weak plug at the head of the cigar which I was able to bore through with a pipe tool. Other than that these burned quite well and had no serious construction problems.

Troya Clasico churchills are going to run in the 8 to 10 dollar range, and I do believe they are worth the expense. This is a medium to full bodied cigar that reminds me a little of Pepin’s Sancti Spiritus — it’s a less aggressive blend that leaves out none of the complexity or the basic character of his art. If you’ve smoked the Pepin Blue Label or Tatuaje or any of the stronger cigars from El Rey de Los Habanos and found them to be too heavy for your taste, do yourself a favor and try a Troya Clasico. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

A desert sunset and a fine cigar. Life is good.

Chateau Fuente King B

The Chateau Fuente King B is a large Belicoso — hence King B — but hiding quietly behind this name is a memory of a place in Ybor City, Florida, where cigar makers used to gather to smoke and play dominoes. Carlos Fuente, Jr. remembers when he was a child that the King B was a sort of tavern for the locals in the industry located behind his grandfather Arturo’s house. The King B no longer exists in Ybor City, having been lost to time and the development of a highway, but its memory has been enshrined in the name of this cigar.

The Chateau Fuente King B debuted at the RTDA in 2005 as a limited (though not really rare) addition to the Chateau Fuente line. All of these cigars are notable for their sun-grown Ecuadorian wrappers and distinctive black ribbons. The filler and binder are Dominican, but that’s all the detail we’re going to get about the composition of this coveted cigar.

This is the fifth entry in the Chateau Fuente series, joining the standard rothschild, toro, and double corona sizes. (There is also a smaller 5.75 x 52 Cuban Belicoso.) The King B is 6 inches in length by a 55 ring gauge and like the other Chateaus it comes in a cedar sleeve. They’re packed 18 to the box and sell for around 8 or 9 USD by the stick.

Beneath the cedar this torpedo reveals a smooth rosado wrapper with the widely spaced veins typical of Ecuadorian leaf. The roll is solid and the cap is a perfectly finished point. There are some small dots of what I think is sap from the cedar sleeve on the wrapper. They aren’t large enough to worry about though, so after a few moments of admiration I clipped the tip to an aperture of about half an inch.

The draw is excellent and the burn was even all the way to the band. I expect great construction from Fuente, and that’s what I got. No complaints there.

This sturdy belicoso starts up with a delicate and woody aroma that lingers for the duration of the cigar. At first it doesn’t seem quite as strong as the aroma of the rothschild size, but the King B takes a while to warm up. The intial flavor is unremarkable — mild straightforward tobacco, pleasant but nondescript. I was a little surprised by this, but I continued to enjoy the sweet cedary aroma rising from the foot and gave it some time.

About half way through the cigar it becomes a little more flavorful, slightly tannic, with very little aftertaste. The smoke is medium in body and has a pretty good nicotine kick, but so far is lacking the flavor to match.

At the two thirds point, the spice and pepper that I expected (based on the other sizes in the Chateau series) finally kicked in. It’s not what I would call complex, but it’s a little more than the simple nutty Dominican tobacco flavor I was getting up to that point. The tannins started to build in the last stretch so I removed the band and after a few more desperate puffs I put the butt to bed.

I have to say I was mildly disappointed in this cigar. I really enjoy the rothschild size in this line and I was expecting something along those lines but BIGGER. Instead what I found was a slow starter with a similar but flatter flavor profile. Same great aroma, perfect construction, but not the royal figure I expected to find. Not the King, in any case. Maybe the very amiable young Prince trying out the crown and scepter.

Padron Panatela

A panatela is a long, thin, and currently unfashionable cigar. The latin root of the term is “pan” which means bread. Panatela is a diminutive form of the word; in Italian it means a small loaf, or a thin biscuit. In Spanish it can also mean pound cake, which might cause some confusion if you’re looking for cigars in a Spanish bakery. In this case you may want to document your experience for a future BBC comedy sketch.

Panatelas can be from about 5 1/2 to 7 inches in length with a ring gauge from 34 to 38, sort of like a thin lonsdale. It is one of the historically “standard” sizes but in recent years it has become increasingly rarer due to the trend toward larger ring gauges. The long thin aspect lends it an elegant appearance which according to some people makes it more attractive to female smokers. That sounds to me like a stereotype, so I’m not going to give it too much weight; on the other hand I’m sure there are guys out there who would feel a little uncomfortable smoking this in the pub. I can hear the Virginia Slim jokes already.

The thin ring gauge makes this a difficult cigar to roll: the most common problem is a tough draw because there are so few leaves to work with. Aside from the annoyance of a bad draw, a tight roll will result in a bitter and tarry smoke. On the other hand, if the roller overcompensates and rolls the cigar too loosely, the burn will be too hot and the flavor unbalanced.

I am happy to report that the Padron panatela suffers from neither of these problems. The cigar is actually quite soft to the touch, which I thought might be an indication of a loose roll, but the roll turned out to be perfect. It had an easy draw and an even and fairly slow burn.

It isn’t the prettiest cigar in the world — the wrapper has a few large veins and a variegated black and brown appearance. The color is similar to the finish on my Gibson 335, now that I think of it.

The Padron panatela is typical of Padron’s Thousand series. It’s full flavored from the first draw with a long finish and a slight bite that mellows after the first inch or so. The flavor is predictably woody with some rich coffee bean flavors, graduating after the mid point to a milder roast.

Despite its delicate size factor this is a full-bodied cigar that means business. It is a little tempting to smoke this one too quickly because the small ring gauge results in a smaller volume of smoke, but don’t. Take your time with it and it won’t get hot or bitter.

There isn’t a whole lot of change or complexity in this cigar, aside from the mellowing effect after the first inch or so. The lack of complexity with smaller ring gauge cigars is often due to the fact that fewer leaves can be incorporated in the blend. And while the flavor here doesn’t span the spectrum, the part that it focuses on is quite tasty.

If you like the Padron Thousand series cigars, and you can appreciate the “panatela experience,” you will most likely enjoy this cigar as well. At two to three dollars a throw, it’s worth a try. And if you’re afraid to be seen smoking an overgrown Virginia Slim, you can always herf it up Cigarfan style: by yourself in the back yard, with the dogs. The dogs may laugh at you, but they won’t tell anyone.