Country: Nicaragua
Wrapper: Cuban-Seed Criollo
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Size: Robusto 5.0″ x 54 ring
Courtesy of CigarsDirect.com
Celebrating 10 years of the Perdomo Reserve line of cigars, Tabacalera Perdomo released the 10th Anniversary Edition sometime last year (if memory serves). Dressed in a smooth and oily cuban-seed Criollo wrapper the 10th Anniversary is a good looking cigar. They are available in five sizes:
- Figurado 5.75″ x 56
- Robusto 5.0″ x 54
- Epicure 6.0″ x 54
- Churchill 7.0″ x 54
- Torpedo 7.0″ x 54
Today I am smoking the beefy little robusto. The ring gauge is a little large for my tastes and feel awkward to smoke, but the draw was excellent. I don’t normally think of a five inch cigar as being all that short, but this one felt shorter than it was because of the HUGE 10th anniversary band. It was so big I had to take it off before I started smoking it. Luckily it came off very easily and did no damage ot the wrapper. Upon lighting the cigar I am greeted by a creamy and decadent aroma the goes perfectly with the smooth, creamy, and buttery flavors of toasted almond, cafe au lait and wood. The flavors were a contradiction, rich yet at the same time mild in body. All this was nicely balanced with a light spice on the finish. The smoke builds in body as I progressed through the cigar. Eventually the creaminess subsided replaced by more woodsy flavors and spice. Disaster struck in the last third when I heard a “crack” and the saw the wrapper begin to fall apart. I don’t know what happened because up to this point the smoke was perfect in almost every way, draw, burn, ash, flavors, you name it. I did what I could to hold the cigar together so I could finish it. I was really enjoying it and I managed to keep it smokable until I was done with it. I have smoked my share of Perdomo cigars and construction has never been an issue so I’d just chalk this incident up to a bit of bad luck and I consider it a fluke.
There have been a few occasions lately where I have found myself very pleasantly surprised by Criollo cigars and I can add this one to that list. I thought it was an excellent, very smooth and enjoyable cigar that starts off mild and builds into a nice medium bodied smoke. This one is definitely worth a try.
