Wrapper: Honduras
Binder: Connecticut
Filler: Nicaraguan, Honduran, and Dominican blend
Lets start with the beautiful Honduran-grown Viso Rosado wrapper which was cultivated from the Jamastran Valley. Its reddish-brown, toothy, and visually beautiful. Now I reviewed this cigar once before back in early 2008. I really enjoyed this cigar back then, consuming quite a few of them if memory serves me correctly. So a month or so ago I was back in a large humidor at my local B&M and saw this cheap but loyal old friend and figured I’d fire up some more of these.
Boy, what a difference a year makes. And for those of you who would ask, “is it the cigar that changed or your palate?” I honestly don’t know. But the experience was not a good one. The cigars sat in my humidor for about four weeks prior to smoking. They had no visual flaws or otherwise. The reviewed cigar looked perfect. But the experience was far from it, and has been consistently so.
First Third: Very tight initial draw, no real aroma off this cigar except ammonia, it is faint, but its never been a pleasant smell in my book. Touch of spice, medium tobacco notes. Nothing really jumps off the palate here at all – even with Fernet con Coca as the drink of choice.
Second Third: Draw finally opens up. Plenty of smoke. Good helping of roasted nuts and medium tobacco flavors. Very flat on the flavor profile. Tickles of spice on the back palate. Aroma is stronger and more ammonia coming through now. Very disappointed in the aromatics of this cigar. I don’t remember it being like this.
Final Third: Gets very toasty. Roasted nutty flavor almost becomes too overpowering. AMMONIA MONSTER shows up and really takes over here. Needless to say this is not a cigar I burned my fingers on.
In the end, I was supremely disappointed. I don’t believe my palate to have changed this much in one year and so I am curious as to whether or not the leaves in these ‘09 Tradicions are just not up to par. The ammonia is a good indication of young leaves. Has anyone else noticed the quality of the newer Hoyo de Tradicions slipping? DM me.
This pen has been completely restored by Thomas Bickham in Baton Rouge, LA (FPN: ThomasB) I purchased this pen from him on ebay a while back and decided to write up a review on it.
Put simply, it writes like a dream. Better than most “new” fountain pens. In fact, I personally believe many of these older pre/post WWII pens from Parker and Sheaffer still write better today (restored of course) than most new pens. The ink flow is consistent. It lays down a fine line with just the slightest hint of tooth, which for me is just how I like it. It soothing to be able to hear your pen strokes as they move across the paper. Now this is a small pen, make no mistake. But it fits comfortably in my hands and being a vacumatic, it holds tons of ink.
I believe I bought this pen for $70 USD in late 2008 and I still believe it was a steal of a deal. I have many $150-$300 pens that don’t write half as good. If you’ve never tried an old pen like this, please do yourself a favor and try one out. Thomas still sells on ebay under the moniker ‘tbickiii’. I know I’m plugging him heavily, but honestly he did a fantastic job and I know many on FPN who bought from someone else and weren’t as pleased. These pens are everywhere, good restorers are not as easy to come by.
You really don’t know what you’re missing. Neither did I, until a recent trip to Argentina opened my eyes to what has to be one of the best marriages of drink and smoke ever. Late one night in a smokey club in Neuquen, a city in the south-west region (Patagonia, some call it), my brother in law orders us two drinks. Fernet con Coca. “Dos, por favor.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“It’s the drink.” He replies utilizing 80% of his english vocabulary in one sentence. And he’s right, in a way. It is the drink. In Argentina, it is the national alcoholic beverage of choice. It is made with two simple ingredients: A shot of Fernet-Branca – an italian herbal digestif seriously high in alcohol content – and Coca-Cola. You start with a tall collins glass, fill to the brim with large ice cubes. Fill 1/10th with Fernet and the rest with Coke. The combination, for some reason unknown to me, creates a much thicker head of fizz than usual. Fernetis a type of amaro, a bitter, aromatic spirit. It is made from a number of different herbs and spices including myrrh, rhubarb, chamomile, cardamom, aloe, and saffron, with a base of grape distilled spirits.
The taste the Fernet imparts to the Coke is uncannily smokey. You can taste wood, especially cedar, along with tea leaves and dry earth. This is delicately framed by the sweetness of the Coke to create, in my opinion, a great addition to a smoke. Because the flavors of the Fernet are very broad, they don’t distract from the flavors of the cigar. In fact, they almost force your palate to get into the “zone” where you start to taste those nuances you read about in Cigar Aficionado. Abbiritions of orange peel, currant, wheat, honey; things many of the smokers I know say they have yet to taste, begin to appear on your tongue as bright and clear as day.
Of course, when I got back to the states, the first thing I went looking for was Fernet-Branca. Can it be found easily? Hell, yes. In fact the very first liquor store I visited had it. It is also easy to find at online retailers. The going price is around $24, which is fine considering you only need to use very little at a time. Check back soon, as I will soon be doing a video-blog tasting of an old favorite, a 2007 Illusione cg:4 that’s been cooking in my humidor and tasting it without, and then with Fernet con Coca. Hopefully we will see it enhance the flavors. Maybe it wont do shit. You’ll have to tune in to find out.
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
First off, I feel bad not having reviewed a bad cigar (or what I would consider a bad cigar) on this blog yet. Frankly, since I started it all the cigars I have been smoking have been really fantastic. The only real poor rating has been the Romeo y Julieta Vintage III cigar, and even that cigar didn’t drop into the 7 point category.
This cigar is not going to change the trend though. Not by a long shot. This cigar was once rated Best Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado, and after smoking several of these both before and after that rating, I would say it was a no brainer. The Padrón’s are unlike any other cigar makers out there right now. As far as I am concerned, they are the bar at its highest. They are the only company who make consistently great cigars, and not just in taste, but also in construction. Their box pressed 1926 and 1964 Series are always of impeccable quality. I have yet to have a single draw or burn problem with a Padrón cigar, and I’ve smoked at least sixty of them by now. That is astonishing!
This particular size is my favorite. Not too short, not too long, but just right. And unlike the more infamous 80th perfecto, the price is just right too. At $18 MSRP (and God knows what in your local B&M, I paid $23 a stick for my recent acquisitions) it’s certainly not cheap. But for what you get, it’s right on the money. You simply can’t get a better smoke for less. Hell, you’d be hard pressed to get a better smoke than this AT ANY price.
The cut, light, and draw of this baby was perfect; so lets just move on to what you really want to know about, the taste. To me, Padróns have a very distinct flavor profile and no other cigars come close. Pre-light tastes of good-ol-fashioned aged tobacco, maybe tea leaves as well. It’s cedary and a tad spicy out of the gate, but then mellows down within the first inch to open up to some beautiful black cherry, roasted nut notes. Halfway brings on espresso, coffee bean, and dark chocolate flavors, all notably sweet, but in that subtle Padrón way. The finish is a mile long and holds strong with a dryer, cocoa-like note. Spices are dusted throughout the smoke, framing and balancing it perfectly.
This cigar doesn’t disappoint. And if it does, email me and I will happily take any extras you might have off your hand. To José and Jorge: Well done guys. Well done.