Padron Anniversary Presidente Maduro Cigar Review

My Friday’s are spent with one of the softest spoken, nicest gentlemen around who serves as the producer for The Cigar Authority podcast. Upon walking in to the office, Ed Sullivan announced that today we are smoking the Padron 1964 Anniversary Series Presidente Maduro. Not being one to argue, I graciously accepted his offer and the decision on what to smoke today was made.

Cigar Review: Padron 1964 Anniversary Square Tube
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Length: 6″
Ring Gauge: 50
Size: Presidente

The Look:  In a word, elegant. The pardon square tube has a satin like finish on the top half, with a raised gold divider for the lower half of the tube which features the signature of Jose Padron worked into the cream finished lower portion of the tube. The Maduro cigar gets a red maroon stripe, while the Natural features a tan stripe. Inside the cigars are packaged in cello, which seems like overkill to me. As for the cigar it is as you would expect from Padron. Perfectly box pressed, dual-bands to protect against counterfeiting which was once an issue for the company, and a oily wrapper on a near perfect cigar.

The Notes: I decided to use my new Colibri SV Cut which is a 2 in one cutter. On one side is a straight cut, and the other uses a V cut which is what I opted to use today. The cold draw of the Padron is sweet with notes of cocoa and a fruity sweetness. The cold draw seems more intense than the non-rube version, and it lacks cedar which is an interesting twist. The foot of the cigar mimics the cold draw of the cigar, and once again it lacks the cedar quality that I get from the non-cello non-tube version of the Padron.

Once the cigar is toasted and lit the first note is chocolate. As we dive into the first third of the there is some nice notes of red pepper especially on the retrohale, with some sweetness on the palate. I’m still amazed by the lack of cedar and it changes the cigar up. There is a cookie dough like note, with hits of apricots, prunes and mocha with a long finish.

The second third has continued red pepper notes through the nose, but some hints of cinnamon and coffee begin to emerge after you retrohale. The sweetness remains with hints of apricots and mocha and a relatively long finish.

Moving on the last third of the Padron Presidente, the red pepper notes remain constant on the retrohale, and the cigar continues to serve up notes of cinnamon and mocha with a prolonged coffee note on the finish.

The Finish: Smoking a Padron that comes in the square tube is a different experience as the core flavors of he Padron are considerably different. I’ve noted it throughout the review, but the absence of any cedar component makes the experience very different. It is a good change of pace, and while the tube isn’t the Padron I’ll reach for on a regular basis I often question myself as to why why once I complete the experience. It’s definitely box worthy as Ed Sullivan alluded to last weekend on the show.

Score: 94
Price: $15.50 / $231.99