Padilla Vintage Reserve Review
Cigar: Padilla Vintage Reserve
Size: Double Robusto, 5.0”x54 (box-pressed)
MSRP: $12.00
Strength: Medium-Full
Wrapper: Pennsylvania Broadleaf
Origin: Nicaragua
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Prelight: A gorgeous cigar from Padilla. The smooth and oily wrapper is a deep chocolate color, and is sweetly floral and woody, while the foot smells similarly to the wrapper – sweet and woody – but with hints of powdered cocoa. There is a sizeable vein, however, distracting from the otherwise solidly rolled cigar. The ornate wrapper sports a serial number reminiscent of higher-end Padrons. I use a v-cut and the cold draw has perfect resistance and the flavor oddly reminds me of seasoned meat.
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1/3: After cleaning the ash tray for
@Shemp Jizzle
, I light up the cigar and get a good blast of pepper. The pepper dominates the cigar, but I can just barely make out some sweet, heavy cream underneath. As the first third progresses, so do the flavors, and a slight chocolate flavor and wood are introduced. The pepper fades, and by the end of this third, the profile is a charred wood and sweet cream with hints of grass.
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2/3: With the ash still hanging on and the burn line sharp, I begin the second third and am welcomed by oak, baking spices, and a strong anise flavor on the finish. The smoke is creamy and is coating my mouth and lips with a sweetness. About the halfway point the profile is oak, earth and baking spices, with chocolate reemerging. There is also a leather taste in the finish that begins to come to the forefront of the flavors as I reach the final third, and as I transition, all I taste is leather and chocolate.
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3/3: Leather, earth and oak. Quite a delicious final third to a cigar. I am also still tasting hints of chocolate, but it is on its way out. I decide to give the cigar a good purge to make sure I am getting the most out of the flavors, and I’ll-be-damned, after the purge I get a lovely floral flavor added to the mix that continues until I put the stick down.
Overall: This is quite a good cigar, even for the MSRP. I really enjoyed the subtle complexities (or is it complex subtleties?) and the construction was amazing. This may be my favorite of the Padilla marca. Two thumbs up!
