Padron Series – 2000 Natural

First off, in case you’ve been under a rock this past week make sure to check out Tony’s review on the Macanudo 1968. He’s also running a CONTEST there for a full box of cigars. Read the rules and sign up! As I was browsing through my humidor today I came across and old favorite that I still enjoy.  When I took a look at our past reviews I was actually surprised to see that I haven’t reviewed this cigar before.  I think it was probably one of my first full box purchases that I ever made and continues to be a staple in my humidor.  I still rarely buy boxes as I like to try lots of different cigars so I stick to samples or 5/10 packs.  I’ve also bought a couple more boxes of these since my original purchase.  The cigar for today is the Padron Series 2000 Natural.

Let’s clear something up first.  Everyone seems to have their own name for this cigar.  Its equivalent to the music industries “Self-Titled” albums.  Remember back when Metallica released their self titled album?  Everyone had a name for it and it eventually became known as “The Black Album”. (Random example I know, but work with me here!)  I seem to see a similar occurrence with this line. The two most common names seem to the “The Padron Classic Line” or “The Padron Thousand Series” (obviously coming from the fact that most of their vitolas are numbers in the thousands). The actual name for this line is simply the “Padron Series”.

Padron is well known for their two more popular lines, the “1926 Serie” and the “1964 Anniversary Series”.  You can also check out my review of the 1926 40 Years or the 1926 No. 35 and the 1964 Anniversay Series Principe.  Those two popular lines often carry a fair hefty price tag whereas this line can be had at very valuable pricing.  It’s a diverse line coming in 15 different sizes and offered in both Maduro and Natural.  One thing to note is that the two different wrappers are usually very hard to tell apart.  The Natural wrappers tend to have a very dark color to them in my experience.

Although this is a much less expensive line, the cigars are still all hand rolled and are made using quality tobacco.  All of the tobacco included in the Padron Series is Sun Grown Nicaraguan and they are aged a minimum of 1.5 years.  The cigar I’m smoking today has also been in my humidor for close to 2 years.  So let’s see how Padron’s more budget friendly line stands up:

Cigar: Padron Series 2000 Natural
Drink: Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer
Vitola: Robusto (5 x 50)
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Price: About $4
Burn Time: A little under 1.5 hours

Construction:
• The wrapper is rough and has quite a few veins along with a dark cinnamon brown color
• The top is finished with a single cap, not terribly applied but a little messy
• The cigar has some slight give when squeezed but it’s mostly firm throughout
• Foot appears moderately packed, a bit of a gap in the middle which I’m hoping doesn’t cause a tunnel
• The band is fairly minimal and simple, comparably almost to some Cuban Montecristo bands
• The cut was nice and easy, leaving a clean end
• I made sure not to cut too much off the cap since experience tells me these can have open draw.  If you take care to make a shallow cut you’re greeted with a perfect draw

Burn:
• Toasting was nice and easy, the whole foot glowed evenly with minimal effort
• The burn is amazingly razor sharp through the first inch, almost no wave at all
• This Padron 2000 is staying lit easily without the need for me to keep drawing on it
• Through to the halfway point I’ve had absolutely no problems with the burn, razor sharp the whole way
• No burn issues right down to the nub, I never had to take my lighter out after the initial light. That’s the way I like it!

Smoke & Ash:
• Right from the first draw I’m getting a ton of smoke from this cigar with very little effort
• The resting smoke is also fairly prominent and gives off a nice cedar aroma
• The ash here is very good, has some very bright white spots accented with some darker grey areas
• Ash appears tight and neat but also seems a bit weak
• After a little more than an inch, I tapped the ash off into my ashtray
• The second ash fell off on it’s own into the ashtray after about an inch

Tasting Notes:
• Wrapper aroma is a mixture of hay and some coffee beans
• Pre-light draw brings more hay and a ton of earthiness, almost felt like I had dirt in my mouth for a second
• Initial draws have a very strong appearance of delicious coffee and some cedar notes
• The cigar starts off fairly mild and the retrohale has a nice light bite and a very smooth coffee finish
• As we get through the first third, I’m also picking up some mild cocoa notes here and there
• The finish on this cigar is very smooth and the whole profile is well balanced
• The coffee flavors are developing very well as I smoke this Padron 2000
• The cocoa notes are making a strong appearance near the last third and I’m also getting a nice nuttiness
• The body hasn’t changed much at this point, just a slight increase
• Retrohale has stayed nice and consistent with a tiny bite and smooth coffee finish
• The coffee flavors continue to get more intense, now more comparable to a stronger espresso
• The more intense coffee flavors along with woodsy, cocoa and nutty continued to the nub with very little bitterness, allowing you to enjoy it until your fingers burn

Final Thoughts:
Well I think the fact that I’ve ordered a few boxes of the Padron Series cigars may have already given up the fact that I really enjoy them, and this Padron Series 2000 Natural is no exception.  I think that’s easy to see from my notes above. I’ve always been met with great burn and flavors in all of the vitolas I’ve had from the Padron Series. They are also more on the mild side which make a great first cigar at a herf or an early day cigar. It’s also something you can pass out to new cigar smokers without hurting the wallet and you can be sure they will enjoy it. If you haven’t had the chance to smoke one of these or you are part of the group who thinks all Padrons are expensive, then you definitely need to track some of these down and give them a try. Considering the cost of these, especially if you find them on sale, you can’t go wrong.

Pairings:
For the pairing today we have one of my favorite summery blonde brews from one of my favorite breweries. It is the Innis & Gunn Oak Aged Beer. It’s a wonderful Scottish brew which is aged in Oak casks for a minimum of 77 days. I also paired this brew with Man O’ War Virtue a while back. Don’t let the lighter color of this beer fool you, it is full of flavor and surprising more bold than you would expect. You get the obvious oak flavors in every sip which make a wonderful layer on this brew. Along with that, you get some smooth caramel and slight malty flavor with a fresh and crisp finish. The pairing with the Padron Series 2000 was a pretty good one. The oak flavors in the beer accented the woodsy flavors in the cigar although I think the brew would pair better with a Connecticut. Coffee seems to be my favorite pairing with any of the Padron Series or a coffee flavored porter/stout.