Cigar review - Padron 1926 Series No. 9 Maduro (Robusto)

[Zeede]

Whew, that is a mouthful of a name! Does this 5.2" x 56 cigar live up to its name? Let's see! (thanks to @sparky426 for this one, yet again!)

The cigar starts off with a nice dark chocolate wrapper, toothy with no visible seams and minimal veins, as is expected with a cigar of this price point. The box press is nice.

Ever since I saw Jorge Padron just light up one of these without bothering to toast it, I've just done a minimal toasting. I like to use my double torch to toast and to correct burn lines, but otherwise I use cedar spills or my soft flame lighter to do the actual lighting.

First puffs yield a little spice, coffee and chocolate. On the retrohale I get a touch of spice. More puffs yield some cream. I note that the cigar has that signature easy Padron draw (but not too easy) and TONS of smoke. I also get some vanilla sweetness, and a touch of spice lingering on the back of my throat. I also get some tobacco notes and a burnt caramel note, kind of like the crusty sugar part of a creme brulee. All of that before the first third ends!

As the first third ends, I notice that the spice on the retrohale is now medium strength. The flavors just keep on chugging.

A little while later, at the halfway point, the spice has reduced down to a light-medium. Odd, that's never happened to me before. I also notice that the burnt caramel flavor is the most prominent one.

As the second third ends, the spice on the retrohale is back in force, going up to a medium-full in strength. I also note that the cigar is burning cool, which is a first for me.

Total time: 95 minutes

Final notes: A wonderful cigar. I'm not sure if it's worth the price point for me, but it was just a great experience. I could see splurging on one for special occasions, although it might be wasted on "only on special occasion" smokers.