Padron 1964 Anniversary Natural/Maduro Principe (49SRW)

[saltbox]

I figured I'd keep the Principe theme going from the San Cristobal and go through the Paduro 1964 Anniversary Principes I had. I had one of both the maduro and natural, as I had previously only had the maduro and was curious how the natural stacked up, given how consistently people seem to prefer Padron's maduros.

Maduro

First third: opens with a blast of peppery spice with a hint of burnt cocoa on the finish. A quarter inch in the pepper starts to fade and sweet cedar and hazelnuts start to come through. Cocoa starts to appear on the retrohale, and dark cocoa with a powdery texture on the palate.

Middle third: the nuttiness turns into walnuts, with coffee on the finish. Cocoa begins to become more prominent halfway through.

Last third: cocoa fades and the walnut nuttiness really becomes the primary note, with a touch of burnt sugar on the finish.

Overall: not bad, but the dessert-like cocoa notes seem to be less prominent in the smaller ring gauge Principe than some of the larger ring gauges. It's been a while, but I've got some Diplomaticos (50 ring gauge) I'll have to smoke to compare. 90/100

Natural

First third: again, opens with a blast of pepper, both red and white, over cedar. Again, the pepper fades shortly and leaves mostly cedar with some walnuts.

Middle third: more of the same cedar and walnuts, with some faint herbal/vegetal notes. There are occasional faint notes of coffee and cocoa powder on the finish, but the lack of the subtle sweetness of the maduro is definitely noticeable.

Last third: more of the same cedar and walnuts through to the nub.

Overall: Padrons are generally pretty one dimensional, but the flavor profile of the natural is, in my opinion, less pleasant and made this smoke somewhat boring in comparison. The subtle sweetness and stronger cocoa notes of the maduro really give that one the edge for me. 87/100

[kalibratecuba]

I literally received a 5-pack of both yesterday. I plan on doing the same test, except start with the natural first.

Do you think your review could be different if you had smoked the natural first?

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[saltbox]

4 hours ago, kalibratecuba said:

I literally received a 5-pack of both yesterday. I plan on doing the same test, except start with the natural first.

Do you think your review could be different if you had smoked the natural first?

Sent from my GM1917 using Tapatalk
 

They were actually smoked on different nights, the maduro on Thanksgiving and the natural the night after. I usually try to reserve trying new cigars out for when I have a fresh palate and I had picked these two up specifically to compare 1.) the maduro principe to other maduro vitolas, and 2.) the maduro to the natural.

[guideright]

I have a box of maduro diplomaticos that are 10+ years old - you make me want to bring those out ----

[SmokyFontaine]

I'm burning a 1926 that's a couple years old and it's light leather, a cocoa bomb, and less pepper. I adore the natural for 26 and Maduro for 64