Padron 1964 Anni HON/NIC

[SuperT]

Originally Posted by SeanGAR

So who is lying?

1. "I'm selling Mexican wrappers to Padron".

2. "Padron doesn't use Mexican wrappers".

Something ain't clicking here...

I agree, it ain't clickin'. But, they could have tried as late as this summer and decided it wasn't for them. I'll dig deeper. . .

To be continued. . .

[OpusEx]

Originally Posted by SeanGAR

So who is lying?

1. "I'm selling Mexican wrappers to Padron".

2. "Padron doesn't use Mexican wrappers".

Something ain't clicking here...

One thing that is continually "clicking" is the Padron bank account and in their eyes what ever needs to be done to continue that is what gets done. "I'll take "who's lying" for $1000 Alex" Answer: This cigar manufacturer doesn't like to admit it uses any raw material from the country of mexico, due to the perception that mexican tobacco is not of high quality. Question: Who is Padron. ding ding ding

[3x5card]

Great info SuperT. Thanks for sharing. BTW, what's that hanging out of the bottom of your split tights...or do I wanna know?

[plexiprs]

Originally Posted by 3x5card

The only thing that concerns me is that in the latest JR Cigars catalog, they showcase the new Camacho Negro line as a knock-off of the Anniversary. The wrappers on these sticks look very much like the PAMs. And they are Mexican origin.

[SIZE=3]From: Christian Eiroa [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]E-mail: ceiroa@camachocigars.com [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Date: Friday, 6 January 2006 [/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Subject: Re: Selling at JRs [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Yes, the Camacho Negro is a new product that will be arriving the U.S. this January. It is a cigar that was made for J.R. [/SIZE][SIZE=3]The blend was made especially for the Camacho Negro and the packaging was developed by Mr. Rothman. We promise you that the Camacho Negro has no comparison and when you smoke it you will understand what we mean. The blend is something like we have not tried as of yet but are happy with the results. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Please do get back to us when you have tried them. We are dying to hear what the response is.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Thank you for the post and please take care of yourselves.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=3]Christian Eiroa [/SIZE]

...on that subject

[Thurm15]

Who's to say what kind of Tobacco any Cigar Manufactuer uses?

[SuperT]

Originally Posted by 3x5card

Great info SuperT. Thanks for sharing. BTW, what's that hanging out of the bottom of your split tights...or do I wanna know?

Move along, nothing to see here!

[SuperT]

[SIZE="4"]It's a bird. . . it's a plane. . . it's SuperT!!![/SIZE]

Okay, I haven't slept since this thread got interesting. I've been wandering the globe, trying once and for all, to put this to bed. Searching high. . . searching low. . . under rocks and around trees. I know the answer is out there. . . somewhere. Because you, my friends, NEED TO KNOW THE FACTS!

Well, in an email response from none other than the Grand Poobah of Padron himself, the answer we have all been so patiently waiting for and loosing sleep over. . .

Dear SuperT: (name changed to protect the innocent )

Thank you for your questions and for your support of our cigars. It is my pleasure to respond to them and please do feel free to share this information with whomever you deem appropriate.

Your first question is regarding our operations in Honduras. In 1979, there was a civil war raging in Nicaragua which was then followed by a communist take over of the country. The US promptly established an embargo against Nicaragua and the goods exported from that country. That is why we moved our operations to Honduras, but we always used raw material from Nicaragua. We have continued doing that throughout all this period of time. Many of our original employees from Nicaragua fled from the war and resettled in Honduras where they continued working for us. The civil war in Nicaragua lasted over a decade and many of them formed lives and families in Honduras which is one of the reasons we have kept that factory operating. The label of “Nicaragua” or “Honduras” found on our boxes simply identifies where the cigars were rolled, but the tobacco leaf used in making the cigars comes from Nicaragua.

In relation to what was published in Cigar Magazine and then written by the author of that article in an internet chat room, he was simply not accurate in writing that Padrón Cigars buys 80 hectares of tobacco from the Turrent Family, and furthermore, he does not mention other manufacturers who have bought tobacco from them in larger quantities. For your information, in Nicaragua, the term we use to measure land is manzana, which is equivalent to 1.7 acres. This crop year that just begun, we have reduced our crop on the field to 204 acres, or 120 manzanas because currently in inventory, we have six years worth of raw material tobacco, which we use in our blend.

And to give you some accurate facts and figures, we plant 27,000 tobacco plants in each manzana. From the lower part of each plant, we harvest filler leaves and two or three natural wrapper leaves. From the top part of each plant, we harvest maduro filler and the top two or three leaves are used for maduro wrapper, all sun-grown tobacco.

In reference to my response in the Cigar Aficionado article by James Suckling that we have used 2% Mexican tobacco, I was referring to maduro binder. I did not clarify in that article that in the past we tried and have not liked the taste of the natural wrapper leaves which some other companies use in large quantities. Since 1968, we use sun-grown tobacco for wrapper, binder and filler, from three zones in Nicaragua.

Something else you should know is that we have had to combat counterfeiting of our cigars and that has forced us to invest in anti-counterfeiting and additional advertising so that our clients are not duped.

Another piece of information you can pass on, is that when I was seven years-old, my father would put me to work in the first stage of the tobacco process which is taking care of the seedbeds, so that I would learn to know and love the tobacco plant, a tradition passed on from my grandfather. First, green tobacco goes to the curing barns. The next phase is to take it from the cuje (where the tobacco leaf is hung to dry) to the pilón (rectangular bales of tobacco leaves where fermentation and aging occurs). At that point, my father would rest the leaves against his chest and he would stroke it repeatedly, saying that a tobacco leaf was like a woman and…the more you stroke it, the better it gets. The reason I give you all this background information and share some personal anecdotes from my childhood, is to explain to you why I love and respect this industry and its traditions and defend our brand and our name aggressively.

I think it is important that you and our customers have this information, so that you don’t believe all the things you read written in certain publications. And so as not to lose the Padrón family tradition, my sons today, continue to follow the example of our forefathers, and they too are dedicated to making a product that conveys our commitment to our industry and our clients.

We will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I send warm regards to you and your group of friends.

Sincerely,
José Orlando Padrón