Showdown: Padron Ambassador Natural vs Maduro Thursday, Jul 10 2008

Country: Nicaragua Wrapper: Nicaraguan Filler: Nicaraguan Size: Lonsdale 6.875″ x 42 ring Lucky7 and Cigarfan over at Keepers of the Flame invited me to participate in their Padron Series Roundup. My second assignment in this project is the Padron Ambassador. My first contribution to the project was the Padron 3000. The Ambassador provided me with a different experience than I’ve had with other sizes of Padrons.  Padrons are the only cigars that I prefer the maduros over the naturals.  But this wasn’t the case with the Ambassadors.  I found the natural to be an excellent smoke, perhaps the best $5 cigar I have ever smoked.  The maduro was a good cigar but nothing special.  The natural was an excellent cigar.  See the full compiled review over at Keepers of the Flame.

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Showdown: Padron 3000 Natural vs Maduro Saturday, Jun 21 2008

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Natural or Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Robusto 5.5″ x 52 ring

Lucky7 and Cigarfan over at Keepers of the Flame invited me to participate in their Padron Series Roundup. My first assignment in this project is the Padron 3000. I have smoked both cigars and found them to be enjoyable even if they are bit ugly in appearance. I am not a big maduro fan but for some reason Padrons are the one marca in which I tend enjoy the maduros more than the naturals. To find out more about these great smokes, check out the full review at Keepers of the Flame.

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Padron 7000 Maduro Thursday, Mar 27 2008

Country:Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan long filler
Size: 6.25″ x 60 ring

Among most American cigar smokers these days, the large ring gauge is king. I’ll be up front. I am not a fan of large ring gauges. Quite often I find cigars with a 52+ ring to have muted flavors and iffy complexity. Not to mention they just aren’t very comfortable to have in your mouth. I consider Coronas, Lonsdales, and Lanceros to be the ideal cigar vitolas, and consider them connoisseur sizes. That said I am a fan of the Padron thousand series cigars. Further more, it is the one line of cigars that I feel are better in their maduro version then they are in a natural wrapper. That is significant because those who have read my reviews know I’m not a maduro fan as a rule either. So this particular cigar is a bit intriguing to me because I’m curious what will win out with me, the fact that I like Padron maduros or the fact I dislike huge ring guages.

I am able to sample this monster smoke thanks to my friends at CigarsDirect.com. Padron’s maduro wrappers aren’t very dark in comparison to most maduro wrappers. In fact, the maduro cigars in this line aren’t much darker than the naturals and it can be hard to tell the difference without putting them side by side. The wrapper looks like rough leather with a slight tooth and oily sheen. The large cap put my Palio cutter to the test as it barely fit inside the blades, but it clipped nicely. It has a very light draw which I find typical with this line of cigars. I toasted the foot and it took the light nicely producing a nice even burn. The excessively large ring gauge makes it a little difficult to draw on and it feels very awkward in my mouth. I find this stogie kind of hard to smoke. Flavor wise it is very much like it’s brothers but the flavors are more muddled compared to the 3000 and even the 5000. It is very leathery with a nutty undertone. The construction is typical Padron. A sloppy cap but otherwise perfectly made with a good draw, even burn, and a well formed ash. It is a good cigar, kind of easy going with a cool burn. Those that love the big fat stogies are going to really enjoy this stick. As for me, I find the ring gauge too large and as a result the cigar is an awkward smoke.

You can get your Padrons at CigarsDirect.com: Padron 7000 Maduro

Rating - B

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Padron #5000 Maduro 5.5×54 Thursday, Jan 5 2006

Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Filler: Nicaraguan Long Filler
Size: 5.5″x54 ring

This is a gorgeous cigar. The maduro wrapper is a dark leathery brown color. It has a beautiful oily sheen and it even looks like it’s leather. It is very toothy with small veins throughout, but no rib veins. It looks very well made with a perfect cap. This has got to be one of the most aesthetically pleasing cigars I have ever seen and it only gets better. The cap cut perfectly and the pre light drawn was smooth and easy. The cigar lit as if it knew that it was meant to do so. I have never had a cigar light so easily and perfectly before. The flavor was consistent from start to finish. I found it to be earthy and woody with hints of leather and nuts. The ash held firm but was a little papery on the edges. I smoked this one until my lips started to burn.

It’s a great time to be a cigar smoker. There are just a lot of really good smokes to be had and this is definitely one of them.

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