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Padilla Signature 1932 Robusto
5 x 50
Nicaraguan Puro
Cuban-seed w/b/f with the Corojo wrapper aged 5 years.
Comparisons
Side by side, the first noticeable difference is the cello. Pepin's came with cello, Padilla's come without cello.
Pepin on left, Padilla on right. The bands are similar in style but there are some major differences in fonts, words, and some colors. There are also a lot of subtle differences if you look closely.
Pepin's has the line "Little Havana Miami" on the side, and Padilla's has "Cuban Seed Corojo."
With the cello removed, here is another comparison. I tried my best to get the same lighting... but it's hard in my computer room on two different nights. To the naked eye, the wrappers are almost identical, but in these two particular smokes, the wrapper on the Pepin-made was just a tad darker even though the picture doesn't show that.
Reviews
Pepin-made
Purchased for $12 from C.I.
The beautifully dark wrapper has a nice oily sheen to it. Taking a dry smell is like opening a fresh box of chocolates. I punched the cap and took a draw... a bit tight. Not plugged by any means, but I hoped it would loosen up with some torching. Upon toasting, I was surprised by the lack of Pepin spice. This particular smoke has been sitting in the Vinotemp for about 9 months. I was immediately hit with the dark chocolate and cedary notes I usually get in the second half of these smokes.
The burn was good, no touch-ups the whole way down, and the light gray ash held steady and didn't fall until I wanted it to, about every inch or so.
Approaching the halfway point, the smoke was much more creamy and the draw loosened up a bit. The chocolate notes were still there but I could pick up much more wood, leather, and coffee. The finish is very long lasting and very pleasing on the palette.
Even though this is a full-bodied smoke, it's an incredibly smooth smoke. This cigar has never given me a bludgeoning over the head, never left me woozy or dizzy. There is always lots of complex, delicious flavors coming from this high quality smoke.
If I had to compare it to anything else, I'd say it's fairly close to a Tatuaje J21 for me, which by the way has also become one of my all time favorites.
So naturally I'm looking forward to smoking the new batch of 1932's coming from Padilla's factory....
Padilla-made
Purchased for $10.40 from C.I.
The wrapper looks about the same as the other one as far as quality and construction, but the bunching in the foot looks looser. I punched the cap took a draw and immediately noticed the draw was pretty loose. Taking a whiff, I didn't get any chocolate, but it was a fresh woody smell.
Fired it up and the draw was indeed loose but not so much that I couldn't get some good flavor and smoke. I noticed a little spice, but mostly cedar, even hay? Any of the chocolate or sweetness the Pepin-made smoke had was not present in this one and it had a much dryer taste. It was a very tasty tobacco flavor on the palette nonetheless. The burn and ash were about the same.
A bit of sweet kicked in around the halfway point, with lots of wood... cedar.
Overall I have to say I noticed a definite difference with these two smokes. There could be any number of reasons for this even though Padilla is using the same exact tobacco... but more of these will have to be set on fire for me to get a better idea. This smoke was less complex, and more on the medium-body side than the rich Pepin-made cigar.
For comparison, if it makes any sense... this one seemed less like the J21, more like a Series '68... another favorite. I look forward to smoking the rest of this batch... trying to put a couple down for a while. Based on these two particular cigars I admit I liked the old one better, but would still recommend the new one. If the new ones all smoke like this one did... chances are I would still buy some from time to time... but it would however drop severely in my personal rankings. But that judgment can't be made just yet.
