Pre-light Experience

The Padrón 1926 Serie No. 90 Maduro is not the best rolled cigar I have seen and there are imperfections present throughout. In my opinion, the cap is not applied well but it is in line with your standard finishes for cigars from the Padróns. There are some medium sized veins present throughout and it is slightly bumpy, here and there. There is some tooth as well and some small white sparkles with that. The wrapper has a coloring that is a solid maduro, not overly dark, and I am getting a rich earthy and leather aroma off the wrapper. The foot is showing a little bit more spice to it, and it has that earth quality as well. It is firm throughout though and has a loose cold draw.

First Third

The first third opens up by delivering a plethora of red pepper flavors. The focus is on those pepper qualities and in the background are some subtle cocoa and earth qualities. It is not overly complex, and it definitely does not deliver those typical Padrón flavors, but it is still a solid cigar. The strength of the cigar is right between a medium-full and full level and the body is there as well. It is one of the strongest Padróns I have had in sometime, and in many ways it is not smoking like your typical Padrón. I am picking up that aged tobacco though, so with the strength present and the age of the tobacco, I would be interested to know what the tobacco was like when it was younger.

Second Third

I am finding that the second third is really a continuation of the first third in the flavors that are being presented. It is predominately showing those red pepper notes with some subtle leather, earth and cocoa qualities on the finish. I don’t expect all Padróns to be the same, but it is not showing that consistency and flavor profile that is present with a clear majority of Padróns. You can taste the aged tobacco, and it is a stronger flavor profile, but it is lacking that complexity and depth that I am looking for. The body and strength have come down some, they are more medium-full than full, but it is still between those two areas in my opinion. It’s not a bad flavor profile, it’s just lacking.

Final Third

The final third begins to show more of what I expect in a Padrón and it is fairly balanced. It is still delivering a more red pepper focused flavor, but it is not as peppery as it was in the first two thirds which is a big improvement. There are those cocoa and earth qualities present on the finish still, and they are slightly more noticeable than before. As I have said throughout though, the flavor profile is still lacking some complexity and depth and I am personally disappointed. The strength in this third has come down to a level between medium and medium-full, and the body is right there as well. It delivers those flavors to the finish and the finish is cool with some earth and toast notes.

Burn

From beginning to end, the cigar burnt perfectly. There was never an issue with how the cigar was going to smoke, it required no touch ups and thus made the smoking experience much more enjoyable. If I had to relight several times or correct the burn, I would have stopped smoking the cigar all together. With a great burn throughout though, the cigar smoked quickly.

Draw

I find that most Padróns have a loose draw to begin with, but this one was very loose. I like a little tightness so there is more resistance on the draw, so I am always critical of Padróns because of that. With a loose draw comes a quicker smoking experience and this cigar smoked fast. Fortunately, because of the price and my feelings on the cigar, I did not feel the need to grab another one to smoke after the quick smoking experience already.

Overall

I am not a fan of when the Padrón Family releases a round cigar. Their round cigars show a lot of imperfection and they need to stick with pressing their cigars. The flavors were lacking throughout and there was no complexity or depth. If you want a really strong Padrón though with a lot of focus on red pepper flavors, this is your cigar. I personally think it is a disappointment to the 1926 line and I won’t reach for it down the road. It is still better than a lot of other stuff out there, but disappointing in the sense of what this cigar could and should have been. When it comes to the Natural or Maduro option for this cigar, I don’t have a preference on the cigars as neither blew me away. I do prefer the red tubo though as I think it looks better.

Seth Geise

SCORE

5.60

Cost/Point

$3.48

Scoring System