Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan (4 Year Condega Seco, 5 Year Jalapa Viso, 6 Year Ligero)
Size: 5 x 54 “Double Robusto”
Body: Medium/Full
Price: $6.25

This is one of my favorite Perdomo cigars. It made its debut at the 2011 IPCPR Trade Show. Every now and then I pull out my wallet and buy either a 5 pack or a box. The price is right so how can I complain?

This cigar comes in three different wrapper possibilities and uses the same binder and filler for all three:
Ecuadorian Connecticut Shade, Nicaraguan Sun Grown, and the Nicaraguan Maduro I am reviewing today. These cigars all come in identical four sizes:
Double Robusto: 5 x 54
Toro Grande: 6 x 54
Churchill: 7 x 54
Torpedo: 7 x 54

The cigar for today has been marinating in my humidor for only a month. I never have the patience to let them last more than a few months. They mature quickly in my humidor.
The cigar has some visible seams, very toothy, lots of veins, and the cap is mounted fairly well. It has a nice oily sheen.

I clip the cap to get the best aroma added to the body of the cigar and at the foot.
The aroma is basically hay and barnyard. Even at the newly clipped cap. No matter.
I light up.

The first puffs are full of spiciness, coffee and tobacco sweetness. The draw is very nice and the char line close to perfect.

Right off the bat, this cigar is delicious. The spice is red pepper and potent. A toasty component enters early. And a wood flavor comes through loud and clear. It is an oaky flavor of wood. The singer in my blues band owns a successful BBQ joint outside of Milwaukee and last night at rehearsal, he was late because he was smoking the meat. He uses primarily oak and when he came in, the rest of the band and I were dying from the gorgeous smell all over his clothes. And this oak is what I taste in the cigar.

The cigar size of this cigar hits the boundaries of what size I prefer to smoke. It is packed solid with tobacco and is burning very slowly. 10 minutes, or so, to get to the first half inch. But already, the cigar is finding its complexity center.

The coffee is the most predominant flavor followed by the sweetness and spiciness. Behind that trifecta, comes the oak, and now some citrus…

This cigar line of blends goes to show that a bloody cigar doesn’t have to cost $12 and up to be a fine performer. I often wonder about the hype that comes with a cigar product. This business is full of marketing geniuses that know how to make you want a cigar, an expensive cigar…that you talk yourself into liking. Why? Because they told you so. You need to make your choices based on what you like, not what a cigar company’s marketing strategy decides is best for you. I could name off a dozen well known cigars that are overpriced, over hyped, and are mediocre. And yet the sheep flock to them like its Bozo giving out free candy.

Enough of my bitching, back to the cigar. Halfway through the first third, creaminess enjoins the group….smoothing everything out and emboldening some of the flavors; like the coffee and sweetness.

The body is classic medium at this point. The full body portion of this event comes across a bit down the line.

The creaminess causes a treacle-like sweetness. A syrupy finish. I hate to use this word, but it brings with it a caramel-like flavor as well. I don’t know if it is the process or the leaves, but something brings the similar flavors to Nicaraguan cigars beside the soil. Or is it the soil? Is that the key to the equation of flavors most common to Nicaraguan leaves?

There is a very important factor I haven’t mentioned yet. Each of the tobaccos is aged 4-6 years in charred oak bourbon barrels. And now as the second third begins, there is a wonderful smoky flavor emitting from the cap. Almost meaty. This turns the flavor profile on its head. The oak leads the charge…and the spiciness has calmed down and moved to the back of the line. The coffee and, now the toast, flavors are given a delightful twist. The creaminess picks up on this and tastes like smoky honey.
This has become a very complex cigar, indeed.

Perdomo could have charged more for this blend. But they didn’t. They are a big company and can afford to control their spending and access tobaccos in huge quantities; unlike the boutique brands. This gives them a leg up that really benefits the consumer. A small batch for Perdomo is not the same thing as a small batch for Viaje.
My wife asks me what that smell is? She is a great wife of almost 28 years and not only encourages me to smoke in the house, but likes me to sit next to her on the couch where I smoke my cigars and we watch TV. One in a million.

I explain to her about the oak charred bourbon barrels and tells me she loves the aroma filling the living room. An unlit cigar, to my wife, smells like poo poo. I can’t get her to try one.

At the halfway point, I remove the huge band. It is removed without a hitch.

While I would ordinarily consider this a flavor bomb, the aging has produced a horse of another color. The flavors are great but subservient to the oak bourbon barrel aging. The ancillary flavors aid the smoky bourbon flavor into becoming bolder.

The cigar is very smooth. It is so well balanced and has a long finish. This was my last one and I want more.

The last third begins and every bit of flavor becomes bigger and better. Strangely, the body is still at medium. The cigar is advertised as full bodied, but when I’ve smoked them in the past, I did not pay that much attention to the gradation of strength in the cigar.

Coffee moves ahead of the pack alongside the creaminess. The spiciness is barely there. The citrus flavor has become stronger. The tobacco and treacle-like sweetness are prevalent but not powerful.

It is difficult to explain a complex cigar when flavors move about like pieces on a chess board.

The smokiness becomes even stronger. It makes me want a glass of bourbon with some smoked brisket. Mmmmmm.

This is one of the best morning cigars I’ve smoked.

The cigar is all about flavor now. The strength is increasing. And I’m listening to my 27 year old daughter scream as she washes the 2nd degree burns on her arms from falling into a bonfire a few nights ago. I wish I could take her pain away…she is really miserable. Thank God her EMT job has great health insurance.

The caramel flavor is long gone, replaced by the sweetness of the smoky bourbon. The body hits the full button with a couple inches to go.

The cigar finishes out very cool and without a hint of harshness. I cannot believe the flavor profile at this point.
This is an excellent cigar, as are the other two blends, and for the price point of around $6 a stick, this is a must have.

Categories: CIGAR REVIEWS