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
Tags: 45 Year, Family Reserve, Padron
First SmokeScore Contest Coming Monday
Oct 11, 2009 Contest
Be sure to check back on Monday for our first contest at SmokeScore.com
We will be giving away a rare Padron Family Reserve Cigar.
These hard to find smokes were made to commemorate the 45 years the Padron Family has been in the cigar business. They are produced in very limited quantities and are getting stellar reviews.
Check in on Monday to find out how you can win one of these gems.
Tags: 45 years, Family Reserve, Padron
