Perdomo Fresco Maduro

So it’s been a little while since I’ve had time to do a full review. With all the things happening lately it’s pretty much been a blur for the last few months, but a fun blur! lol. So now let’s get back into the swing of things and start off easy with a budget stick from Perdomo, the Fresco!

Now the first thing you notice when you pick up a Perdomo Fresco is the very bright and eye-catching band! This thing has all sorts of stuff happening, sorta like a retro 80’s look. I managed to grab these as part of a recent order. I got a few of the Toro size to try out in my hunt for a budget stick to add to the regular rotation.

I have to admit here that I’ve had a really good track record with Perdomo in the past. Their sticks typically don’t surprise me but they are solid, good smoking cigars that I tend to enjoy pretty frequently and they are usually very fairly priced. So I might be expecting more than normal from this stick due to my reputation with them.

As most of you know, Perdomo has been around for quite a while and churns out a lot of tasty cigars, most of them being Nicaraguan puros. The Fresco is no different on that front, it just comes at a very fair price and is still packed with premium long-filler tobacco. The leaves come the valley of Esteli and are available in 4 different sizes, all ranging from Robusto and up. No small vitolas in this bundle line-up.

As mentioned, these are bundle only cigars so you won’t find them packed in any fancy boxes. This obviously helps to keep the costs down and allows Perdomo to maintain the fair price they have these targeted at. Today’s pick happens to be the Maduro wrapped version but the Fresco line is also available in a Connecticut Shade wrapper. So let’s sit down and see what this Perdomo has to say!

**NOTE: For some reason my memory card got corrupted and I lost a bunch of these pictures, so sorry that there aren’t more pics while smoking it 🙁

Cigar: Perdomo Fresco Maduro
Drink: Waterloo Dark Ale
Vitola: Toro (6 x 50)
Wrapper: Nicaraguan
Binder: Nicaraguan
Filler: Nicaraguan
Price: About $2.00
Burn Time: 2 hours

Construction:
• The Perdomo Fresco is a rustic looking stick with an uneven medium brown color
• There’s lots of texture to the wrapper but no major veins that look to be problematic
• The foot appears to be very well packed with lots of tobacco
• One thing I noticed was that the wrapper looks fairly dry
• From top to bottom, the Perdomo Fresco is nice and spongy but not too soft
• The cap is finish cleanly with a double cap application, it’s visible but still well done
• The band is pretty wide but it came off very easily without damaging the wrapper

Burn:
• Toasting was quick and easy although there was still a bit of a dark spot in the middle
• The burn line started off a little lopsided but it quickly corrected itself and is coming along nicely now
• The cigar is allowing me to smoke it slowly and it has been staying lit very easily
• Through to the halfway mark I’m having a great razor sharp burn here and loving it
• I have to mention how super slow this stick is burning, I’m drawing on it quite a bit and still heading towards a 2 hour burn time!
• No issues all the way to the nub here, great burn for a budget friendly cigar!

Smoke & Ash:
• I was a bit concerned with the smoke after the first few draws, it felt pretty light but soon after that it filled in and I’m getting a nice amount of smoke off each draw
• There is a fine line of smoke off the cigar while it’s resting and it gives off a nice cedar aroma
• The first ash lasted a good inch before falling into the ashtray nicely
• It had some darker grey colors to it and a lot of ridges but it remained strong and clean till it fell off
• The second ash stayed consistently strong and clean, this time I tapped it off at the 1 inch mark but it probably could have help on longer
• All the ashes were nice and steady at 1 inch and stayed clean throughout
• Smoke volume kept consistently full to the very end

Tasting Notes:
• Prelight draw brings out a bit of spice, especially on the lips, and some nice woodsy and earthy flavors
• The initial draws bring in lots of woodsy flavors backed by a bit of tobacco and just the smallest amount of peppery spice
• There’s a bit of a burnt flavor I’m picking up now, but it’s not too prominent
• The retrohale has a pretty nice peppery bite to it but the finish is more of a smooth cedar
• So far the body has been on the mild side
• Now that I’m through the first inch I’m pretty much just getting some mild cedar and a lot of burn tobacco type of flavors, let’s hope this cigar can turn it around here
• The burnt flavor seems to be finally going away as I get near the mid-point mark thankfully
• In it’s place I’m getting some nutmeg and earthiness along with a touch of sweet coffee
• The body hasn’t really changed from mild and the flavors are fairly light too, nothing in-your-face with this cigar.
• The coffee flavor started becoming a little more prominent in the last third, even getting to an espresso type of flavor
• The ending flavors were a little more interesting with the espresso flavors working together with the cedar notes
• A touch of harshness as I hit the nub but nothing off-putting

Final Thoughts:
I came into this cigar with slightly high expectations. Even though this is branded as a budget bundle type of cigar, I still hold Perdomo in high regards for consistently good quality cigars. I have to say I’m on the fence with this one. There were some parts that had great flavor and others that left me wanting more. I do have to say that even for a budget cigar, the construction here was spot on with great draw and burn. It also has a great price tag for a mild cigar that I think a lot of novice smokers will enjoy. I think I may have to investigate some other vitolas in this line to be sure since all the samples I had for this review were the same size. Having said all that, I know for sure that there are people that will really love the straightforward flavors that this cigar offers, just don’t go looking for anything overly complex here. This might be a good candidate for one of the Quick Draws in the future. I’d love to hear some other opinions on this stick as well so post them up!

Pairings:
Tonight’s pairing is one you have seen before but it comes in a brand new can. It starts with a standard silver colored base but has a pretty near large black label. It’s the Dark Ale offering from the local Waterloo Brewery. The can might look different but its contents remain just as good as I remember them to be. This Dark Ale is a total classic, it doesn’t try to do anything fancy or different, it’s a solid straight up dark ale. In it you can find obvious notes of roasted hops and a touch of coffee backed by a sweet malty finish. It’s just a great all around brew that I always seem to keep in my fridge. It paired quite nice with the mild flavor of the Perdomo Fresco and neither one overpowered the other, allowing for a nice experience. This cigar would also pair very well with a nice cup of coffee.
**NOTE: Sorry, this was one of the ones I lost 🙁