So, Perdomo is re-working their Reserve line to celebrate their 10 year anniversary. Our Perdomo Rep (who I will not name, but I hope that she will read this and marry me!) stopped by the shop and left me a few smokes to try... one of them being the new maduro. I do not know anything about the tobacco blend, but I thought I'd write up a little review anyways. This will be a puff-by-puff review, so my comments may not flow very well...please bare with me.
Cigar: Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro
Vitola: Torpedo (very similar to the current "X" size of the Reserve)
Wrapper: I would guess this is a Nic puro. Our rep said something about a Triple Maduro, but I have no idea if this is it or not. Like I said, I do not know what the blends are in the remodeled line. Some of the Reserve line is getting re-blended, some are just getting new labels and boxes.
Appearance: This is a very pretty stick. Nice smooth, dark wrapper with little to no imperfections. The new label is very attractive as well. All black, brown, and gold with "10th Anniversary" on the bottom of the label.
Pre-Light: Draw is very tasty. it has that sweet Maduro flavor with a little bit of leather.
First third: Initial puffs are very sweet. A nice amount of spice and a really rich leather flavor. I am not getting a huge volume of smoke, but the smoke I get tastes very good. After about an inch, the draw opens up a little and I am getting more smoke. The flavor is still very sweet, creamy, and leathery. Very little spice...just a touch on the finish. Beautiful grayish-white ash that is holding strong at an inch so far. I am picking up a little bit of a cedar flavor through the nose that is accompanying the leather very nicely. The spice is almost gone now...but I am guessing that it will come back out to play a little later. The burn as flawless so far. The ash just plopped off at a little over an inch. As I near the end of the first third, the only word I can think of is RICH. I am really enjoying this cigar so far. The flavor is drastically changing to coco now.
Second third: The flavors of this cigar are changing more than a sixteen year old girl before her first date. I swear every puff is something new. Switching from coco, back to leather, then a touch of coffee, going to something I can not identify, then back to coco...but always keeping that yummy maduro sweetness. No spice...just beautiful creaminess. The volume of smoke is decreasing again...much to my dismay. I am finding myself puffing faster on this cigar trying to get more smoke out of it...and my excessive dragging is causing it to get a little bitter =( If this cigar goes south on me now, it will be the biggest let down since that issue of Playboy with Jessica Alba on the cover and no nude pictures of her inside. Ok, I think I saved it. I took the torch around the edge of the foot and I am getting much more smoke now. The smoke is not as rich as it was now, but I am still enjoying the currently consistent coco flavor. Still, surprisingly, no spice.
Final third: The flavor has locked in to coco. It reminds me of a Camacho SLR Maduro at this point....nice and chocolaty. The cigar still has not been the same since I had to touch it up...but I'm still diggin it, just not as much. As I work my way towards the end of the stick, my enjoyment is steadily decreasing. The flavors are now much more subtle to the point of almost being bland.
Final thoughts: When I first started smoking this cigar, I was ready to sell by car, move into the streets, and spend all the money I had buying every last one of these cigars ever made...now I feel kinda like crying. I thought I found my new favorite cigar...but now it's just mediocre at best. I know that pre-release cigars rarely taste the same as standard production sticks, so we'll wait and see how they taste after they are readily available....but I'm not keeping my hopes up to much. Don't get me wrong...this is a good cigar. It just didn't stay up the standard that I put it at for the first half of the smoke. I have one more of these that I'll smoke later. Who knows.
~Bobb
Cigar: Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro
Vitola: Torpedo (very similar to the current "X" size of the Reserve)
Wrapper: I would guess this is a Nic puro. Our rep said something about a Triple Maduro, but I have no idea if this is it or not. Like I said, I do not know what the blends are in the remodeled line. Some of the Reserve line is getting re-blended, some are just getting new labels and boxes.
Appearance: This is a very pretty stick. Nice smooth, dark wrapper with little to no imperfections. The new label is very attractive as well. All black, brown, and gold with "10th Anniversary" on the bottom of the label.
Pre-Light: Draw is very tasty. it has that sweet Maduro flavor with a little bit of leather.
First third: Initial puffs are very sweet. A nice amount of spice and a really rich leather flavor. I am not getting a huge volume of smoke, but the smoke I get tastes very good. After about an inch, the draw opens up a little and I am getting more smoke. The flavor is still very sweet, creamy, and leathery. Very little spice...just a touch on the finish. Beautiful grayish-white ash that is holding strong at an inch so far. I am picking up a little bit of a cedar flavor through the nose that is accompanying the leather very nicely. The spice is almost gone now...but I am guessing that it will come back out to play a little later. The burn as flawless so far. The ash just plopped off at a little over an inch. As I near the end of the first third, the only word I can think of is RICH. I am really enjoying this cigar so far. The flavor is drastically changing to coco now.
Second third: The flavors of this cigar are changing more than a sixteen year old girl before her first date. I swear every puff is something new. Switching from coco, back to leather, then a touch of coffee, going to something I can not identify, then back to coco...but always keeping that yummy maduro sweetness. No spice...just beautiful creaminess. The volume of smoke is decreasing again...much to my dismay. I am finding myself puffing faster on this cigar trying to get more smoke out of it...and my excessive dragging is causing it to get a little bitter =( If this cigar goes south on me now, it will be the biggest let down since that issue of Playboy with Jessica Alba on the cover and no nude pictures of her inside. Ok, I think I saved it. I took the torch around the edge of the foot and I am getting much more smoke now. The smoke is not as rich as it was now, but I am still enjoying the currently consistent coco flavor. Still, surprisingly, no spice.
Final third: The flavor has locked in to coco. It reminds me of a Camacho SLR Maduro at this point....nice and chocolaty. The cigar still has not been the same since I had to touch it up...but I'm still diggin it, just not as much. As I work my way towards the end of the stick, my enjoyment is steadily decreasing. The flavors are now much more subtle to the point of almost being bland.
Final thoughts: When I first started smoking this cigar, I was ready to sell by car, move into the streets, and spend all the money I had buying every last one of these cigars ever made...now I feel kinda like crying. I thought I found my new favorite cigar...but now it's just mediocre at best. I know that pre-release cigars rarely taste the same as standard production sticks, so we'll wait and see how they taste after they are readily available....but I'm not keeping my hopes up to much. Don't get me wrong...this is a good cigar. It just didn't stay up the standard that I put it at for the first half of the smoke. I have one more of these that I'll smoke later. Who knows.
~Bobb