Padron Family Reserve 45th Anniversary Maduro
Nov 11, 2009 Cigar
Tonight’s review is the Padron Family Reserve 45th Anniversary Maduro.
To celebrate the milestone of reaching 45 years in business, the Padrón family released the Padrón Family Reserve No. 45, a six-inch long, 52 ring gauge, box-pressed cigar made from very old Nicaraguan tobaccos. The cigars will be made in very limited quantities, and shipped at various times.
Most of the cigars in this initial shipment are maduro, but some have natural wrappers. “The tobacco inside is aged for 10 years,” said Jorge Padrón. The cigars will retail for $25.80. And now, on to the review.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Size: 6 x 52 (Toro)
Origin: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
APPEARANCE and CONSTRUCTION – (20 of 20 pts.)
The Family Reserve is a benchmark that all torcedores should be forced to study and understand. The stick is absolutely perfectly constructed. The dark chocolate wrapper simply glistens with oil. The stick is dark as night and has no visible veins, blemishes or imperfections. It is firmly packed, yet not hard. The Padron’s seem to take box pressing to another level with their cigars and the Family Reserve is no exception. It has almost sharp corners forming a perfect box press that’s a pleasure to hold. A work of art.
SMOKING CHARACTERISTICS – (25 of 25 pts.)
The wrapper has a faint aroma of cocoa and some spice. The foot has a more pungent nose of earth, cocoa and pepper spice that made my nose tingle. Cut the head with my usual punch cut. Cold draw was perfectly resistant and had notes of creamy coffee and some woody components. The Family Reserve lit flawlessly and burned like a dream. Box pressed cigars can sometimes present a burn challenge but this stick burned evenly, slowly and held a firm, tight ash. Smoke was dense and full-bodied. Overall the strength was medium bodied and very, very smooth.
FLAVOR – (29 of 30 pts.)
The Family Reserve took 4 or 5 puffs to really open up, but once it did…wow. The stick started off with some earthy cocoa flavors. After the initial 4 or 5 puffs I mentioned, it opened up into a mixture of fantastic flavors. Within the first third, I got flavors of cocoa, earth, wood, sweet spice and cloves. Around the middle third, the Family Reserve got meatier and offered flavors of dense chocolate cake and solid earthiness. Final third gained some spice. Not a tremendous amount, but just enough to balance this amazing stick.
OVERALL IMPRESSION – (24 of 25 pts.)
This stick is why I started smoking cigars in the first place and it reminded me of that. It’s everything you want in a cigar and more. Beautiful construction, amazing flavor profile and wonderful smoking experience. Other than the $26 price tag, this stick could be considered an almost perfect cigar. As it is, it gets the highest score we’ve ever give a cigar and is a lock to be on our Top 10 Cigars of the Year list.
TOTAL SCORE – 98
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Tags: 45 Year, Family Reserve, Padron
November 14th, 2009 at 8:20 pm
Jim thought this would be blog-worthy. First of all I had not found another cigar that has the complexity of the Padron 1926. So when I started reading the blogs about the Padron family reserve 45 maduro, it piqued my interest. I went to my favorite cigar shop to see if I could find them. As it turned out, they had one box tucked away in the corner of the humidor. The price was a little off putting. I usually don’t spend that much on a single cigar. But having such a great experience with the 1926, I couldn’t resist. I bought two and safely tucked them away for a special occasion. I was telling a friend, a member of my Cigar Therapy Group, of my find. He got very excited and wanted to share the experience together. As I was driving to meet my wife after work, he started texting me. How many can we get? Jim wants in …..Mike won’t spend the money…Mike wants in! I politely excused myself early from my wife’s function and rushed home to meet the guys. Dave generously brought a case of Guinness. It turned out to be a beautiful night to sit outside around a fire. I had already put my firepit and patio furniture in the basement. But this was an emergency meeting of the Cigar Therapy Group Dave and Mike insisted on pulling out my neatly stowed furniture. We sat around the fire anxiously awaiting Jim’s arrival. we could not wait to light up the highly anticipated Padron 45. Jim arrived with his copy of the latest edition of cigar aficionado and his travel humidor. The moment had arrived. Jim was reading aloud about the Padron 45 maduro as I brought out the box with the coveted cigars that the cigar shop have given me when I bought the last three. The box is beautiful. On the inside lid it bears the image and story of “the little hammer”. We passed the box around the circle as part of the ritual each of us smelling the box as we took a cigar. Initially we noticed the powerful spice that almost overwhelmed the palette. It didnt take long to notice the dark chocolate and coca undertones. As we smoked the flavors become more and more balanced. All of us smoked, until we could not hold the stub anymore. We all agreed that this is another great cigar from the Padrons!! Definately to be shared amoung friends. Highly recommended by the Cigar Therapy Group.