Vitola: No. 200- 5.75” x 56 ring gauge
- Part of CRA Freedom Sampler, MSRP $200
- Purchased at Burns Tobacconist
Background
When I saw the lineup of this year’s Cigar Rights of America “Freedom Sampler” I decided two things: first, I had to buy a sampler; second, I needed to review some of the sticks in it, if only with shorter “cigar extra” type looks that featured pairings with beverages of some sort.
If you aren’t familiar with them, the Cigar Rights of America (CRA) is an advocacy group modeled on the National Rifle Association. The goal was to inform the public and politicians on the facts about premium cigars, the people who smoke them, and the people who make and sell them. Part of the fundraising efforts every year are the assembling of samplers from a variety of the companies that are part of the CRA into a “mega-sampler” of 10 cigars, along with a year’s membership for the buyer of the sampler.
These samplers used to run about $100, which was an outstanding price for 10 quality sticks, making them end up around $10 each and the membership voucher a freebie. At some point the price increased to $150, which wasn’t nearly as good a deal…and the 2020 sampler rings in at $200 (although I’ve seen retailers offer it for $150). That means the $30 annual membership voucher isn’t really an added freebie anymore and the cigars average $17 per stick besides…which is a fair price for a couple of the ones included, but is way overpriced for the majority of them. Therefore it becomes more of a “I want to give my money to efforts to protect the cigar industry!” rather than “I’m getting a great deal…oh, and I’m helping fight for cigar rights in the meantime.” You’ll have to choose for yourself how you feel about that.
I chose 5 of the cigars from the pack of 10 and will be taking notes while smoking them over the next few weeks, starting off with the Padron Black Label #200. I’ve smoked plenty of Padron “Black Label” cigars in the past, all in the No. 89 size which was created for Jose Orlando Padron’s 89th birthday and then released as a Tobacconist Association of America exclusive a couple years back. I have found that No. 89 to smoke very similar to the Family Reserve line for me…specifically because I find the Maduro expressions of both to be just “okay” while the Naturals are fantastic, which is exactly the opposite of my preference in the Padron 1000s and Anniversary 1964 lines (the 1926 Serie is one that I can smoke either Natural or Maduro with equal enjoyment). Whether this is actually a Family Reserve blend, I don’t know…and Padron is really tight-lipped with that kind of information. There is some question as to whether this Black Label is even the same as the No 89 Black Label. I won’t be able to answer any of those questions today with any real authority…but I will tell you if I like this stick!
Notes
I’ll start off with one thing I don’t like…the ring gauge. When I saw the 56 ring gauge Padron in the pack, I wasn’t thrilled. But I’ve had some larger Padrons that I enjoyed, so I decided to put it out here as my first installment of the series anyway. I’m going to assume that this is like most other Padron Natural blends…Nicaraguan fillers, Nicaraguan binder, Nicaraguan wrapper. The Natural wrapper on this was impressively oily, something that doesn’t happen with a lot of Padron Naturals…but that may be because most of them aren’t cellophane wrapped, so they lose their oiliness pretty quickly. This one felt oily and had aromas of clean earth and fresh-cut cedar, with just the slightest sweetness. The foot had a richer earthiness with a little milk chocolate aroma mixed in. After clipping, I had an excellent draw that had sweet hay, natural tobacco, and earth flavors, with hints of cedar and chocolate.
Fired up, the Padron No. 200 Natural was mildly sweet with earth and wood notes up front along with black and red pepper on the back end. The retrohale had a fiery red pepper heat.
I paired the cigar with a rather stiff pour of Four Roses Single Barrel. The bottle looked like it just had a good 2 ounce pour left in it…by the time I finished pouring it measured closer to 4. Good thing I don’t have to go anywhere soon.
The Padron was brilliant, which is about what I expected, although a little stronger than anticipated. It continued to be mildly sweet with earth, cedar, and chocolate notes in abundance. The bourbon went as well as you would think with it…which is to say it was great.
