A Brief Cigar Review - Padron 1964 Family Reserve, 50th Anniversary

I added this beautiful stick to my New Years celebration cigar lineup, but I didn't get around to puffing it until now. Holidays give me the excuse to dip into my "special occasion humidor." I try and keep it stocked with some of the more rare and/or expensive sticks that I own.

Wrapper:  Nicaraguan maduro
Binder:   Nicaraguan  
Filler:   Nicaraguan  
Size: 5 x 54 box press
MSRP: $25 

The Padron 50 year is a Nicaraguan puro. Puro means every part of the tobacco in a particular cigar comes from the same region, the most well known being Cuban cigars. Most Padron cigars are 100% Nicaraguan tobacco. 

Before lighting I had to admire the lovely cigar. It has a deep, dark brown wrapper with a gorgeous red and gold band. Perfectly box pressed, it reminds me of a little snickers candy bar. The scent is the usual Padron-like cocoa, spice, and hickory. A little punch cut produces an open draw. I recommend making the smallest cut you can with any Padron, they are always rolled fairly loose.

After toasting, lighting, and letting the cigar wake up, wonder flavors dance over the palette. Chocolate almond bark with black cherry notes, a little hint of cedar, and a nice cinnamon spice. This flavor profile has a wonderful balance.  The Padron Family Reserve produces a good amount of smoke that is creamy and smooth. 

Sometimes it is hard to put into words how great a cigar is. Sure there are flavor nuances, but there is another level with very high quality tobacco. This is one of those. Perhaps silky smooth smoke, perfect balance, or just WOW this is amazing!  

The tobacco in the 50 year is aged a full 10 years. Padron uses much of the same blends for their cigars ranging from baseline to flagship, often the only difference is the age and selection of the tobacco. For the higher end cigars, Padron also cherry picks the cream of the crop tobacco leaf from their bundles. A little like when you make brownies..., those center of the pan perfectly square brownies vs. the edge pieces. Jose Padron and his colleagues select the best in their inventory not just by eye, but also taste-testing. They do this by wrapping a sample leaf around a cigar they are already smoking. 

The flavor profile changes throughout the cigar, but mostly revolves around the nuances described above. These flavors fade and then come back again and again at different intensities and different times. Other faint notes of fruit, sweetness, and espresso make an appearance as well. 

The Padron Family Reserve 50th Anniversary Maduro is truly an amazing cigar. Yeah the price is high, but it is worth every penny. The complexity and depth of flavors was phenomenal, there was nothing lacking from this smoke and not a thing I would want to change about it. Having said that, at $25 I would be more inclined to buy two "regular" Padron 1964's at around $13 each, but the Padron 1964 Family Reserve 50th is a cigar worth experiencing. I cannot recommend it enough.  9.7/10

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