A Brief Cigar Review - Padron Damaso

gregm (67)in #cigars • 8 years ago (edited)

The Padron Damaso takes on a new path from standard cigars coming out of the Padron factory. Three differences will pop out if you are at all familiar with the Padron line. Firstly, the Connecticut light shade wrapper. Padron uses a Nicaraguan wrapper, in maduro and natural, on every other cigar. Next is the shape, it is round, all other cigars in the line have a slight box press. Finally, the cellophane, Padron rarely uses cellophane on their cigars, When they do it is usually in sampler boxes.

Wrapper: Connecticut
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Size: 6 x 52 (toro)

The cigar is named after Dámaso Padrón, who was the grandfather of Jose Padron who founded the company. In 1890, Dámaso grew tobbaco in Cuba in the late 1800's. Jose recently celebrated his 90th birthday.

As always, a punch cut is the best choice for a Padron, because of the loose draw. If you do not have a punch cutter, make a very small cut with a regular guillotine cutter. Or you can always punch with something sharp if you don't have either.

I like to toast my cigars before lighting them. I place a lighter or a match underneath the foot of the cigar, without touching the flame to the tobacco. This act heats up the tobacco gradually, and will provide a smoother smoke at the very beginning. Of course this isn't necessary. I find this ritual beneficial as it relaxes my thoughts and forces me to slow down. The same goes for lighting, the flame need not touch the tobacco and char it, slowly rotate the cigar for an even light while taking gentle puffs. Maybe your cigar will "heart" you like mine above ;-P

The first part of the Padron Damaso produces a creamy and cloudy smoke. There is a very distinct coconut note. Roasted hazelnut, and sweet vanilla are heavy in the finish. I find there is very little spice, which is quite different for Padron, not that they are super spicy cigars, but there is always the pepper element.

You may notice some patches on my cigar. I accidentally dropped it 15 minutes before smoking. A little cigar glue and some doner leaf from a plugged useless cigar, fixed up the cracks nicely. If you do not patch a cracked cigar you will not enjoy it. The smoke and flavors will be very sparse. Think of a cracked straw in your favorite cold beverage, you get some liquid, but not much.

The Damaso burns very fast. Padron's aren't the slowest burning cigars, but this turns it up a few notches. I don't mind a fast burning cigar, it doesn't change the flavor profile, but if your cigar is expensive, it can be a let down. Slow burning cigars bother me more, they usually burn uneven and need touch ups with flame. The flavors can also get concentrated.

The flavor profile changes only slightly as you get down to the end. There is a little pepper involved now, however not very much. The coconut turns a little more herbal or floral. I love the Damaso, however the biggest downside is the price. They priced the cigar in the class of their mid teir line. This size is $14.99, and while I love it, realistically it should be priced at their standard line price range of $7-9. What makes me buy them on occasion, even with the high price, is how unique it is for a Padron. It is a mild cigar, compared to their typical full body smokes. Overall with the price factored in, I rate the Padron Damaso a 8 out of 10.