Cigar Weekly

The "Perdomo Reserve", an extension of the cornerstone La Tradicion Cabinet Series brand, is a limited cigar collection box pressed Habano reminiscent of the cigars made in Cuba during the 1950's. The special, highly scrutinized blend is double-aged, Cuban-seed tobaccos that are specially commissioned to a private tobacco farm in the highly fertile region of Esteli, Nicaragua. Production of the cigar is limited to only the most experienced rollers, all grade seven tabaqueros that work in specially-assigned quarters at the Tabacalera Perdomo factory in Esteli. La Tradicion "Perdomo Reserve" is packed with complex flavors, rich spices with a long and earthy finish and is available in seven sizes: the "No.1" (4 "" x 54); the "No. 2" (5" x 54), "No. 3" (5 "" x 54), "No. 4" (5 "" x 55), "No.5" (6 ¾" x 54), "X" (7" x 54), and the "A" (9 ½" x 47). All five sizes are carefully packaged in cedar boxes of 25.

Pre-Smoke Comments

Clinton Davis (TexCigar): Start with a La Aurora Preferidos 1903 shape add a truly red wrapper box press the crap out of it and there you go. The cigar was filled to perfection and the wrapper was gorgeous. The foot came to the sharpest point I have ever seen in a cigar. You could put your eye out with it. Beware.

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): What a great looking cigar! A box pressed torpedo/perfecto shape with a closed head and tapered, open foot. It's covered in a silky mahogany maduro wrapper with only a vein or two. Looks like a stretched Perdomo Reserve figurado. Noticed a few lumps and soft spots, but no cause for alarm. A pass under the nose says Nicaraguan to me. I'm psyched!

Don Broad (DonDelMundo® £ÃžÃŸp): This 6.5 x 52 cigar had a very unusual shape, with a torpedo head and an open tapered foot. The middle was squared pressed. The wrapper was a very attractive smooth reddish brown, with no veins or defects. Interestingly, upon examination of the foot, I noticed a significantly darker leaf in the bunch. The pre-light aroma promised a flavorful cigar.

James L Wiley (JimnGA): #124 was an attractive box-pressed figurado w/a oily maduro (a little on the light side) wrapper with little or no veins. The wrapper had characteristic black speckling that makes me think this ones a Hoyo de Monterey brand. Pre-light draw was easy and there was a good tobacco aroma and flavor without a trace of ammonia detected when puffed prior to lighting.

Kevin Elder (nivek): It was a strange looking perfecto. Wrapper was loose in several places, not well made!

Steve Hurban (BigSteve): This cigar was a box pressed, blunt type perfecto measuring 6 3/4" X 50 ring. It had a beautiful silky smooth, brown wrapper with extremely fine veining and reddish highlights. It sported a smooth "pencil point" cap with nice, firm bunching. The pre-light draw was slightly tight and yielded flavors of sweet tobacco, cocoa and spice

Steven R. Case, Jr. (Jayhawk): A square pressed figurado, with a beautiful, smooth rosado wrapper. Nice and firm, no soft spots. Just screams Perdomo.

Smoke Comments

Clinton Davis (TexCigar): Tight white-ish grey ash that clung solid. Beautiful blue smoke and excellent flavors were produced during the entire length of both cigars. Adequate amount of "mouth smoke". No bitterness or sweetness were experienced but maybe that was a problem nothing really grabbed you in the flavor department. There was no burning on the tongue or in the throat.

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): Uh oh. The first few puffs were bland - not just mild, bland. Maybe some nut-like flavor and very smooth, but just not much there. Into the meat of the ring gauge things didn't improve much. It's still very weak on the palate, with an undistinguished finish. Both examples had uneven burn problems, a flaky ash and hollowed out coal. The smidgen of flavor did stay consistent, however, never getting bitter. The draw and aroma were excellent.

Don Broad (DonDelMundo® £ÃžÃŸp): The cigar lit easily but had a couple of runners, mostly where some soft spots were near the foot. The wrapper split a little during the first third of the smoke. The aroma on this cigar was superb! My non-smoking neighbor even commented on the pleasant smell. Flavors included lots of chocolate and cinnamon with hints of black liquorice.

James L Wiley (JimnGA): The cigar lit well-developed an uneven burn about half an inch into the smoke, easily corrected (however, correction had to be made repeatedly throughout). First third flavor-grassy w/a hint of sweetness. Second third-strong tobacco tastes with hints of wood, and dried fruit I noticed quite a tingle on my tongue and lips (potent nicotine hits). The last third it started to turn on me-got bitter and sour tasting-so I put it down just before where the band would be.

Kevin Elder (nivek): It started out ok but became harsh, very harsh! Maybe time would mellow it out, but i don't think so!

Steve Hurban (BigSteve): The cigar produced ample amounts of medium strength smoke with good balance and a well rounded, fragrant aroma from a near perfect draw. I had no problems with the burn, having the gray ash stay put for a good 1 3/4" before falling. At first I detected a slight bitterness on the lips. The 1st half of the cigar yielded straight forward flavor of tobacco and cocoa. The 2nd half picked up in strength maintaining it's solid tobacco core with more earthiness, sweet woods and white pepper.

Steven R. Case, Jr. (Jayhawk): Both samples had a perfect burn, with a firm, dark ash. One sample had a tight roll, but the other produced ample volumes of smoke. I would say it is a mild- medium smoke, with hints of spice, and leaves a slight tingle on your tongue.

Summary Comments

Clinton Davis (TexCigar): Medium to full body. Amazing to look at, the cigar's only failing was that it did not produce an acceptable flavor profile. Nothing offensive but nothing to grab you and hold you.

Dick Ulmer (croozertoo): I was really hoping my first review for Cigar Weekly would be a positive one, but unfortunately this cigar just doesn't do it. It's a beautiful looking stick, but the lack of body and flavor is out of sync with its promising exterior. Burn problems just added to the disappointment. In this case, what you see is not what you get.

Don Broad (DonDelMundo® £ÃžÃŸp): The unique shape, excellent aroma and wonderful flavors more than made up for the few construction flaws I ran into. The runners, soft spots and wrapper splits kept it from being a Superior cigar. I enjoyed this cigar immensely and would love to try one with excellent construction.

James L Wiley (JimnGA): I would definitely smoke this high side of medium to full flavored cigar in the evening with a good single malt scotch. Although I did enjoy the first two thirds of the cigar, I think some extra 'dor time would smooth it out to be a very good powerhouse worthy of some space in my humidor.

Kevin Elder (nivek): What can i say, I hated it! I hope to never smoke one of these cigars again!

Steve Hurban (BigSteve): I personally found the shape of these a little distracting, but all in all an excellent cigar having medium body and plenty of pleasing flavors. It seemed to want to give a little more in complexity, but never really did. At times it reminded me of the Padron Anniversario. The finish was short but pleasant. I found this to be a very enjoyable cigar and a fun smoking experience.

Steven R. Case, Jr. (Jayhawk): Overall, a very pleasant experience. I usually like a stronger smoke than this, but for a mild cigar, I really enjoyed it. It might be nice to have a few of these around, for those times when you want something a little lighter, but still want some flavor.

Scores

Review Results
Final Score: 35.7 out of 50

4 Star -- Excellent

This week's reviewers overall seemed to enjoy the Perdomo Reserve No. 5. The flavor nuances mentioned included earth, cocoa and spice, among others. The cigar has an obvious Nicaraguan flavor, but seems more refined. Burn problems marred an otherwise good construction score.