CigarRants.com

Padilla Cazadores

Ring Gauge: 6×50

Tobacco: Ecuadorian Habano wrapper with long-fillers grown throughout Nicaragua

Bought: November 4th 2009

Smoked November 11th 2009

Price: $2.49 a stick purchased during a special at CigarsInternational.com (reg. $5.25)

Beverage: Water

Smoke Time: 1 hour 30 minutes (+ or -)

Initial Thoughts:

Being honest here and will admit I have never smoked a Padilla before, so this will be a new one for me. Anyhow, I picked up this cigar and noticed it was firm, somewhat veiny, and a consistent medium brown color.  The wrapper had a nice oily sheen to it.  I noticed no obvious imperfections and the cap quality was seamless.  Overall the construction seemed competent.  I must apologize for the picture, the cigar kept wanting to roll on me and thus the cigar itself is a little at an angle (just in case if you were asking yourself why it looks bent).  Since I have never smoked this cigar before I did some reading and learned that Padilla is well known for making great cigars.  The Cazadores I guess, would be his “Kia Line”, or in other words, his affordable version. We are about to see if affordable can translate into excellent or brand name hype attached to a cheap cigar.

The Smoke…

The cap was a little stiff on the cutting, but not too bad. The light went smoothly and the first draw was pleasant.  The draw was a little on the tight end and stayed that way throughout the smoke.  The cigar, if not full body from the start, absolutely became full-body by the end.   The ash on the cigar stayed together pretty well. The cigar was spicy on the tongue, and hints of leather were apparent.  The cigar began to burn a little uneven and some minor corrective lights were required (for those of us who insistent on a perfectly round burn).  Now I have read other reviews which included “sweetness” in their description.  I never really detected any “sweetness” but there was a smoothness and at times an underlying hint of Cinnamon.  No wrapper malfunctions occurred nor did any other construction issues pop-up.  The cigar burned ok unattended and did not require a relight.

Overall, and keeping with my car analogy, I wasn’t blown away by the ride, but it got me where I was going safe and sound.  It isn’t quite a Kia, maybe more like a Ford.  In other words, I would label this particular cigar as decent.  Now I will admit the second half was relatively better then the first half.  The aroma and taste did improve. I would smoke it again but maybe while doing yard work, or at a BBQ when doing other things.  Nothing about this cigar really stood out and the entire time I was smoking it one word kept popping into my mind over and over again – “Average”.

The Results are in!

Did I mention the word average yet?

Rating: Ok