Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro

By Tony Casas | October 27, 2014

The Padron Family Reserve 50 Years is one of this years more sought after releases. This week, I take a look at the Maduro version of this celebratory blend.

The Good Stuff:

As noted, the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years is created to celebrate Jose Padron, and the rest of the Padron family’s 50 years of success in a very tough cigar industry. The Family Reserve release made it’s debut 6 years ago, with the 44 Years and has since been one of the more talked about cigar releases each year. You can read Daniel’s review of the 44 here, and my review of the 46 here. This year, the 50 Years, carries an all Nicaraguan blend using 10 year aged tobaccos. The Family Reserve 50 Years comes in two different blends, the Maduro wrapped version that I’ll be smoking today, and the Natrual wrapped version. Both come in boxes of 20 and will run you the steep, yet expected price tag of $25 a stick. I picked a few of these up from the good guys of at 2 Guys Smoke Shop.

Size: 5 x 54 Box Pressed
Wrapper: Nicaraguan Maduro
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Body: Full
Strength: Medium/Full
Price: $25.00
Pairing: Ommegang Three Philosophers (Belgian Style Quad 9.7% ABV)

Prelight:

The Padron Family Reserve 50 years is an absolutely beautiful looking cigar. Let’s start with the wrapper. It’s incredibly toothy in texture. It feels a lot like some thick, stony sandpaper only it’s coated with some really thick oils. The wrapper on the Padron 50 is very deep, dark brown and while it’s very consistent there are a few darker spots, as well some some noticeable reddish tinted areas throughout the leaf. The wrapper is laid over itself seamlessly as it coats the wide, box-pressed body of the cigar. The Padron Family Reserve 50 Years is finished off with a wide, round, double cap. The cigar’s wrapper is very thick, and almost rock-like while the cigar itself is very heavy, yet a bit spongy to the touch. Especially around the foot area. The Padron Family Reserve 50 Years is finished of with a double band ensemble. The first is the standard Padron Family Reserve band that we all know. Maroon in color with a beige and green under-band sporting the cigar’s manufacture number. The second band is beige and red with “50 Years” embossed in gold metallic across the front. The Band designs are just as elegant as the cigar, and it’s history.

The wrapper on the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years gives off a whole ton of sweetness in it’s spicy aroma while the foot of the cigar showcases more spice and tobacco scents. The cap took a bit of extra effort to clip, but cut very cleanly once it sliced through the wrapper. The cold draw feels a bit loose as it produces a whole mess of sweetness, lots of chocolate, spice, and natural tobacco flavors.

First Third:

The Padron Family Reserve 50 Years starts of with a massive pepper boom. I wasn’t expecting it to be as powerful as it was. After the pepper began to fade a bit the cigar revealed it’s flavor profile leading off with lots of black cherry backed by lots of sweetness, chocolate, spice, and cedar. It’s a very sweet cigar with a nice pepper/spice bite and I really enjoy the way Padron’s cigars always seem to find a perfect balance. The draw is perfect despite being a bit loose in the cold draw. Each puff kicked out an insane amount of thick smoke. The stationary smoke is incredible as well as this cigar just keeps pouring it out as it sits in my ashtray. The burn line is a bit wavy, but not too concerning leaving behind a trail of nicely compacted medium/dark gray ash. The has held on for an inch before falling into my ashtray.

Second Third:

Into the second third of the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro and there is no letting up on the body here. While the strength is still in the medium range, the flavors are still pouring out of this thing. The black cherry, sweetness and spice are still leading the way and the chocolate and cedar are still there. The pepper has completely dropped out and there are some soft floral and honey notes started to sneak in. The retrohale is incredible in this cigar coating my nasal passage with lots and lots of sweetness and cedar. The burn line has been completely even, and razor thin since about an inch into the cigar and remains burning perfectly. I close out the second third feeling only a tiny bit in the nicotine department.

Final Third:

The body and strength have start to ramp up into the final third of the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro. The main flavors are still that sweetness, black cherry, and chocolate but some awesome espresso flavors have joined in the the cedar has really increased in intensity. The pepper came back a bit, but only enough to tease my palate. It took me about an hour and a half to take this cigar down and I loved every second of it. There was no harshness, and in Padron tradition the cigar finished so incredibly smooth and creamy. The burn line was flawless after the first inch and I never once had to reach for my lighter. The final third finished just barely into the medium/full range leaving me with only a very slight nicotine kick.

Overview:

Less be honest here, the only drawback in this cigar is the price. Well, I guess I’d like for it to burn a bit slower. Actually, I wish it would just burn forever and ever and never go out. That being said, the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro is an exceptional cigar delivering most notably in the flavor department. As any of you who are familiar with the Family Reserve releases would expect, the flavors were quite complex, yet very smooth and balanced. Not to mention they are ideal for beer pairing especially with the early winter seasonal releases. This probably isn’t a cigar that I’d suggest novice cigar smokers to jump right into but if you are a seasoned cigar smoker, not afraid to drop a bit of cash on an amazing cigar, this would be in your sights. Would I buy it again? Oh I absolutely will. I know what to expect from the Family Reserve Padron lines and it delivers exactly that. While the price is very steep, I will definitely keep a few of these on hand for special occasions.

Pairing:

The first time I smoked the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro I knew the exact beer I wanted to pair it with. This beer goes hand in hand with the cigar and makes for a perfect match. Ommegang’s Three Philosophers is a Belgian Style Quad brewed with 98% Ale and 2% Ale with Cherries added. Coming in at 9.7% ABV this Cooperstown New York beer isn’t to be taken lightly. The Three Philosophers is very complex. Leading with some nice bitterness, cherry, grape, spice, and malt with a medium mouthfeel and a zesty citrus and sweetness on the finish. It’s not hard to see why it paired in perfectly with the Padron Family Reserve 50 Years Maduro. Especially in terms of the sweetness, spice and cherry. This beer is found year round, and actually one of the more easier to find beers in my inventory. You can find these between $9 – $11 and it’s something I always want to have on hand.