Padilla Cazadores

This past week the new director of sales for Padilla cigars reached out to me to place an order for a cigar shop in the Bronx, NY that I consult for. During our course of conversation I mentioned how I feel that Padilla cigars are one of the best newer companies out there. I brought up my website and he offered to send me some samples of their new sticks.

So in an attempt to hold on to the summer I headed down to the Jersey shore where I met up with friends for a BBQ. As luck would have it the rain began to fall so we moved the party to the man-cave. So with a porterhouse in my belly  I kicked back and lit up the Padilla Cazadores which is a new value stick from Padilla.

Cigar: Padilla Cazadores
Size: 7 x 49 (Churchill)
Wrapper: Ecuador
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Strength: Medium

Appearance and Construction (17/20): The wrapper on this stick has an incredibly rich looking chocolate appearance. The wrapper has some veins which slightly detract from this toothy cigar. There are no soft packs and there is a nice weight to the cigar. The band is incredibly regal looking with colors of red, gold and black that really stands out. This does not have the appearance of a value stick

Flavor & Notes (26/30): The stick offers an incredibly well defined cedar on the foot. The prelight draw offers the same notes of cedar with a touch of mocha. The first third of the new Padilla offers that old Padilla spice that makes Padilla something special. The spice quickly fades and what remains is notes of cedar, and mocha and coffee. The second third of the cigar I picked up some incredible almond notes albeit it briefly at the beginning. The notes continues to be slightly wood with coffee. As I finished the final third of this stick the notes of coffee and wood picked up some chocolate as well.

Burn/Ash/Draw (23/25): The cigar started with a perfect burn for the first half of the stick, although at the half way point it became jagged and needed to be touched up. The ash held for each third only losing the ash when I chose to do so. The draw offered a slight resistance which is what I look for in a stick

Overall (22/25): The cigar seems to be a toned down version of what I have come to expected from Padilla. The notes were there but they weren’t in your face.This does not make it a bad stick, but for a person who loves Padilla I was able to tell this was a value smoke. It is something however that I will recommend to others looking for an inexpensive stick.

Rating: 88
Price: $5.00 MSRP