87 Rated on Cigar Live - Padilla 1948 Corona Gorda Review

[tekeeladude-cl]

[SIZE=3]Padilla 1948 Corona Gorda[/SIZE]


CigarLive Rating: 87


Tasting Notes:

John: 87
The Padilla 1948 varied dramatically from stick to stick. Sometimes spicy, sometimes much less spice and much more leather. Overall, I enjoyed each of the cigars peculiar traits and found it to be a high quality smoke. I can’t explain the variability in flavor profile as the five cigars sampled were smoked in relatively short order with sometimes a day or less separating them.

Russ: 89
The flavors present in this cigar made for a great combination and provided a very smooth and extremely satisfying smoking experience.

Bill: 88
This cigar is a nice afternoon cigar. Its a medium bodied flavorful smoke. It had some burn issues, but those could be overlooked by its spicy leather hints and its long finish.

Chris: 84
This is a good solid smoke and well constructed. For those looking for a lighter cigar with a hint of spice, this cigar just may be for you.

Click here for more information about the Padilla 1948.


Cigar Live Rating Scale
1. 95-100 - Perfection
2. 90- 94 - Exceptional/Superb
3. 85-89 - Excellent
4. 80-84 - Impressive
5. 70-79 - Mediocre to Good
6. below 70 - Dog Rocket

[JohnRider]

[SIZE="4"]Padilla 1948 Corona Gorda[/SIZE]
July 21, 2008

Padilla 1948 Corona Gorda (5.6 x 46)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Corojo
Probably manufactured in Tabacalera Cubana de García y Fernández in Estali, Nicaragua. In late February 2008, I understand that Padilla moved the production of this cigar from Pepin Garcia’s Nicaragua factory to the new Padilla factory in Miami. It is unclear to me exactly where these cigars were produced.

The Padilla 1948 varied dramatically from stick to stick. Sometimes spicy, sometimes much less spice and much more leather. Overall, I enjoyed each of the cigars peculiar traits and found it to be a high quality smoke. I can’t explain the variability in flavor profile as the five cigars sampled were smoked in relatively short order with sometimes a day or less separating them.

Appearance and Construction
This cigar actually comes banded with two bands at the head – one laying over the other. The combined width of the two bands is about 1 and 3/16 inches wide at its widest point on the face. The outer band is one inch wide and printed on white paper with gold and burgundy printing. An ornate letter P appears in gold lettering with a burgundy background and Padilla appears twice, once on each wing of the band. The second band is ¾” wide and I believe its primary purpose is to serve as an anti-counterfeit device I believe. A (presumably) serialized batch number appears on this band.

The wrapper is a medium brown color with a lot of small virtually flat veins that criss-cross the entire length of the cigar. (On some of the cigars sampled, these veins were a little bigger and a little more prominent.)

The wrapper feels smooth to the touch and has a nice oily sheen. The triple cap is expertly applied and very well formed. I noticed only very slight variations in the firmness of the cigar from top to bottom. Overall, this cigar is firmly packed and has a very well constructed appearance. The cut head of the cigar reveals two small to medium-sized stems – neither of which seemed to effect the pre-light draw negatively.

The pre-light draw is nearly perfect – perhaps just a tad on the tight side for my taste. The pre-light flavor contains a hint of black licorice. I didn’t pick up any sweetness on the pre-light draw. One of the cigars had a tight draw at the beginning, but even so produced a satisfactory amount of smoke with just a little more effort.

Nose
The wrapper aroma is slight, but I am getting a small amount of hay, a small amount of sweet molasses, and maybe even a hint of barnyard aroma. Some samples had a more pronounced amount of barnyard aroma.

Burn and Aroma
The cigar produces an adequate quantity of smoke. For its ring gage, it did pretty well at producing an amount of smoke that satisfied me. (I am one who really enjoys a lot of smoke.)

The burn of this cigar overall was excellent. It tended to burn evenly without demonstrating any systemic problems. This cigar tended to stay lit. No re-lights or touchups were needed. It would tolerate being put down for several minutes. The mascara line varied from stick to stick. Sometimes it was fairly broad and consistent, other times it was thin and inconsistent. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the corojo wrapper may have been the source of the variability of this cigar. A thicker mascara line usually coincided with a spicier cigar.

The cigar produces very little visible smoke while resting. Ash color is light gray and not flaky. This cigar would probably pass the car test. The ash tends to fall off at around the ½ to ¾ mark.

The room aroma was very light, woody, and aromatic. Very pleasant room note.


Flavor and Strength
The cigar typically began with a nice savory leather note and a medium amount of cubanesque or white pepper spice and pleasant cedar wood tones. I must emphasize that there seemed to be quite a range of flavors among the sticks I received. Some sticks seemed to exhibit more spice, others had a more pronounced leather character and less spice. Overall, I noted that even the spicy ones started off fairly tame and well-mannered for a Don Pepin Garcia blend. Often, the Nicaraguan spice was there, but the volume knob was set at less than half what a typical Pepin Garcia or a fully revved up EO 601 might crank out. For those sticks that exhibited early spice, the spiciness took a steep nose dive after the first ¾ inch and became more like background elevator music from there to the finish.

I usually ended up setting this cigar down at about the one inch mark. At that point, with the band removed, the wrapper would usually split and separate from the binder and filler.


Finish
I found the cigar to have what I would characterize as a fairly long finish. Some samples that had the more leathery characteristic had a shorter finish.

This cigar did not dry me out. I might even prefer to smoke this one alone without libation as it was definitely enjoyable all by itself.


Recommendations
Like the 601 Connecticut, this is an excellent introduction to the Don Pepin Garcia blended cigar. Often, the spice was present but not over powering. I would recommend this cigar for those mild to medium cigar smokers who are interested in transitioning to a more spicy cigar.

Unfortunately, like a box of mixed chocolates, it was tough to know what to expect from this cigar. It was all over the board with regards to the flavors.

Pairing Recommendations
My first instinct was that this should be a good bourbon cigar. This time, my instincts proved to be very wrong. Some element of the cigar’s flavor clashed with all the bourbons I tried (including Old Crow, Makers Mark, Gentleman Jack, and Knob Creek). None of these paired well. Scotch? No clash, but the scotch was too light bodied. How about Tequila? Ah, well now we are making progress. My Don Julio Anejo Tequila was definitely a step in the right direction. Its sweetness paired much better with the Padilla 1948 than bourbon or scotch. The tequila flavor didn’t necessarily go well with the cigar, but its sweetness definitely did.

Knowing that this cigar seemed to pair better with something on the sweet end of the scale, I figured my next choices should be either rum, brandy, or port.

For rum I first tried the Ron Matusalem Gran Reserva Rum from the Dominican Republic. Yes, much better, but the flavor of the rum was a bit too light to hold up to the cigar’s flavor. (This rum would go much better with something more along the lines of the new Ted’s Handmade Maduro). Still no match. How about a darker, sweeter rum? The Zaya rum from Guatemala held up much better to the fairly strong long finish of the cigar. That proved to be a fairly well-balanced pairing, but I still wasn’t completely satisfied.

Next up, the Christian Brothers VSOP brandy. Again, the sweetness of the brandy works well with the cigar, but the delicate fruit flavor of the brandy is lost in the flavor of the cigar. That left port as my final option.

For my final pairing choice, I chose the extremely economical Osborne ruby port from Portugal (about $15 a bottle). Yes, this works pretty well. It is the best pairing I can come up with for this cigar. The bold fruit flavor of the port stands up very well to the strength and finish of this cigar. The contrast between the two is pleasant and for the most part very complimentary.

John’s Ratings Summary

Characteristic Rating
Appearance and Construction 89
Nose 85
Burn/Aroma 88
Flavor/Strength 87
Finish 85
Overall 87
New scale for Cigar Live Expert Panel:
• 95-100 - Perfection
• 90- 94 - Exceptional/Superb
• 85-89 - Excellent
• 80-84 - Impressive
• 70-79 - Mediocre to Good
• below 70 - Dog Rocket Excellent

[tekeeladude-cl]

Appearance and Construction
This cigar has a medium brown colored wrapper with the slightest hint of reddish color to it. All had a light oily sheen. There are some small veins running the entire length of the cigar – with none being very prominent. A few of the cigars sampled had some small color blotches, but as with the veins, these were not prominent. The cigars are all firm, but not hard, to the touch with this being consistent from head to foot. Several of the cigars had some splits near the foot and one had a crack just about the top third point. I can’t say whether this was caused by construction or handling as I didn’t pay attention when received shipment of these cigars. As such, I am not counting this against the rating of the construction. I would like to point out these cigars do not come in cello and having cello on these cigars maybe could have prevented this from occurring, if it was in fact, the damage was due to handling. The draw on 4 out of the 5 sampled were terrific. The very first cigar I lit up did have an extremely tight draw and I was unable to smoke it. These cigars cut very cleanly and I did not experience any issues with the cap.

Nose
All of these cigars had a terrific nose of sweet tobacco, sweet hay, and some earthy leather. The pre-light draw exhibited flavors of light cinnamon, some nutmeg and some cloves.

Burn and Aroma
The cigars lit up very quickly and easily. The salt & pepper-to-white-colored ash held on well until the ash was tapped off at one inch intervals. The combustion of the tobacco was excellent and when the ash was tapped a near perfect cone-shaped tip was revealed. These cigars did not require any touch-ups with my lighter.

Flavor and Strength
The flavors were very consistent throughout all the samples. The initial flavors were always a blend of leather and dark tea leaves. Heavy tones of woody-nuttiness and dark roasted coffee beans dominated the flavor the rest of the time. There was some light spice from time to time also. The flavors present in this cigar made for a great combination and provided a very smooth and extremely satisfying smoking experience.

Finish
The finish of this cigar seemed a little dry and left wonderful flavors of roasted nuts and coffee.

Additional Comments
Throughout this whole review process I was battling some very annoying sinus problems. As such, there may have been some flavor characteristics I might have missed. I will get my hands on more of these cigars and if I found I missed something, I will update this review.


Russ’ Rating Summary
Appearance and Construction 86
Nose 91
Burn/Aroma 89
Flavor/Strength 89
Finish 88

Overall 89 (edited from 88.6)

[mrgatorman]

Padilla 1948 Corona Gorda
5.6 x 46 - COROJO/CRIOLLO , MEDIUM-FULL , NICARAGUA

Cigar Information

The 1948 is the second addition to the Padilla trilogy started by Ernesto in honor of his father, one of Cuba’s most accomplished poets. 1948 marks the year his father published his first book. The filler consists of Cuban-seed Nicaraguan Criollo and Corojo tobaccos secured by a Criollo binder, immediately producing subtle notes of pepper and spice over a wood base. The blend is then completed with an incredible looking Nicaraguan Corojo wrapper, adding even more layers of spicy notes, without overwhelming the palate. The Padilla 1948 is full-flavored, yet medium-bodied and balanced.

Appearance and Construction

Interesting looking cigar. It’s a nice milk chocolate with a reddish hue to it. The construction is a little rough. There are a few veins running through it and it has a nice gold beige band that is prominent on the cigar. Its pretty firm to the touch with very little give, however its very consistent through the cigar. Ironically, the cigars were not perfectly straight. They had a very subtle s curve to them. I don’t know what to attribute that to, but it gave it a less than professional impression. There seemed to be no tears or patches on it and looked to be a nice looking stick in spite of its drawbacks.

Pre-light

Pre-light draw was perfect. I tend to give a lot of weight to the burn and draw and so far this is impressive. The initial flavors were barnyard and wet grass. There was a hint of wood, leather and musk. There was little flavor from the wrapper to my lips so the experience will be entirely from the lit tobacco. My first flavors were definite sweet and chocolate. I picked up some subtle wood and nuts. And a small hint of spice. The scent was more of a barnyard and hay scent. I really like this cigars smell and pre-light flavors.

Burn and Aroma

The aroma on the first light was nice, barnyard and hay. The smoke was plentiful and nice grey smoke. The burn was my biggest concern. I usually smoke in my car, but these were on the beach and in my backyard the breeze was minimal, but the burn was not impressive at all. I had to even it out a few times and that was consistent for each cigar. Though the ash didn’t flake too much and was a nice grey color, the mascara line was all over the place on all of these.

Flavor and Strength

As I lit the cigar, I tasted some nice spice and the barnyard flavor subsided a bit. The flavors seemed a bit individualized and distinct.
There is some definite spice and peppery flavors on the onset, but they smoothed out a bit as the burn continued. Half way through the cigar, I had consistent burn issues, but the smoke was nice and full. I had to relight the cigar once on the last one and occasionally on earlier cigars. On one of the five I had some tunneling. This took away from the experience, but one bad apple. The rest were fine as far as the tunneling but I had burn issues. The Cigar started off a solid medium strength. It was a nice daytime cigar. As the flavors smoothed out the strength leveled off a small bit too. I will still call it medium strength though.

Finish

This Cigar had a lot to say. Even after the smoke experience was long gone, this boy continued to remind me of some of its qualities. Nice finish. There were hints of leather and small amount of spice. I liked the flavors of this smoke and the finish gave me more of the best part of this smoke. Decent smoke…decent finish

Final Notes

Overall, not a bad cigar, getting over the burn problems, a pet peeve of mine, was my biggest concern. The cigar was a nice Peppin, but not as powerful as some of his line. This is a nice medium bodied smoke with some good flavor qualities. Peppins tend to have burn issues on some of his that I’ve had, but it takes a back seat to the flavors and enjoyment of the overall smoke. I drank water with each smoke and kept them at a lower than normal RH…about 64. I have had the last few cigars with tighter draws and wanted to see if it’s my humi.

Bill's Ratings:
Appearance and Construction 86
Nose 92
Burn/Aroma 84
Flavor/Strength 89
Finish 89

Overall Rating: 88

[Ceedee]

Appearance & Construction

A lovely looking, coffee-colored Corojo wrapper. Some small veins and a little "toothiness" make this naturally-wrapped cigar look classic. The cap is a triple cap and finishes-off the stately nature of the rather nice looking double-band. There are no soft spots present, and the wrapper has no chips, cracks or holes. I enjoyed the Corona Gorda size as well - looks very stately and refined.

I kept the cigars sampled at a temp range of 66-69º F and at a 64-68% RH level before I smoked them.

Nose

Pre-light seemed fine, though I did have an issue with the draw being a bit tight for my preference. The draw did produce some sweet hay/grassiness and a bit of woodiness as well. The "nose" was a cedary-leather and grass. I did notice that a couple of the sampled cigars were not 100% straight - they were a couple of degrees from straight actually - bent ever so slightly and perhaps this was the reason for a slightly tight draw.



Burn & Aroma

The Aroma of the smoke was enjoyable but I didn't find it to be overly impressive. I liked it, but just didn't make one of those "OH MY GAWD" impressions, if you know what I mean. Burn for the most part was solid and good. I had a couple of issues with unevenness but I was able to easily correct any such issues with my torch lighter. The ash was mostly very light gray and held on well - usually an inch before I tapped it into the Stinky. A good sign there construction-wise.


Flavor & Strength

Flavor. Hmm. Well, flavor on this cigar was for me, a bit bland. I had some high expectations, especially after recently sampling a Padilla Hybrid that was very tasty and spicy, but this cigar was really not... well, not my cup of tea. I found it to be enjoyable as a morning "cuppa joe" cigar, but pairing it with anything other than a latte, really would overpower it. It tasted good and was a solid smoke, but not really one component stood out for me over any other. There was some spice in the first inch or so, but after that the cigar was more muted. Enjoyable, but not stellar. Strength I would put on the LOW side of medium.


Finish

Finish was dry and short. I liked the sort of dry almost oaky finish as it did not over do it. Simple and short I would say - it left my palate with little need to go scrub my tongue later A good early afternoon or morning smoke for that reason.

Final Notes/Comments

To summarize, I would say that while this cigar did not "blow me away" it was a good solid smoke and well constructed. For those looking for a lighter cigar with a hint of spice, this cigar just may be for you. Nothing overpowering, but not a CT shade dupe either. Super smoke to keep on hand for parties or for when you may have to introduce a new buddy to enjoying a cigar. Worth the $$ and I just may keep some on hand for the "any occasion" that I may have!

CD

Here's my numbers:

Size - Corona Gorda (5.6 x 46)
No. of cigars reviewed - 5

Appearance Construction - 88
Nose - 82
Burn & Aroma - 84
Flavor & Strength - 80
Finish - 84

Overall Rating - 84

Cigar Live Rating Scale
1. 95-100 - Perfection
2. 90- 94 - Exceptional/Superb
3. 85-89 - Excellent
4. 80-84 - Impressive
5. 70-79 - Mediocre to Good
6. below 70 - Dog Rocket