Padilla Hybrid Robusto
7 x 50 robusto

Wrapper: Ecudorian Connecticut Seed/Cuban San Andreas Negro hybrid
Binder: Dominican
Filler: Dominican, Nicaraguan, Honduran

Storage: 63 – 65 RH at 63 – 68 F.

Construction: Oily khaki wrapper with a few veins. Solid and even roll.

Prelight: Strong cedar and sweet tobacco aroma. Wood, cedar and toast prelight flavors. Medium-firm draw.

Burn: Lit evenly, very sharp burn throughout. Light gray ash tinged with darker gray.

Drink: Ice water.

Smoking Notes: Starts out very cedary with some nutty and sweet tobacco notes. About ¼ in, the smoke turns intensely cedary (a strong overtone note that will remain for the rest of the cigar) with some nice black pepper and an interesting vanilla-like sweetness along with some floral on the finish. The smoke is thick and surprisingly oily given the intense cedar notes. About 1/3 core sweet wood and toasty tobacco notes of good Dominican kick in and the sweet finish becomes a bit more pronounced. Halfway, the cigar really goes into overdrive on the cedar, sweet wood, and toasty tobacco. Despite the intense cedar notes the smoke remained very smooth and creamy.

Overall Impression: A very good smoke. I rate it strong B. It distinctly reminded me of a cuban RyJ Cedros de Luxe sans the cuban “fresh-plowed field” earthiness – overally it was a very good N/C take on a Cuban-style smoke. With all the buzz about the newer Padilla smokes I’d been looking forward to trying one. The local got these in a while ago, so I bought a couple and dropped them in the humi for a few weeks to even out. I wasn’t disappointed. Next up is the Nicaraguan corojo/criollo blend Padilla Miami, which is reportedly even more habano-like.