Padilla Series '68 cigars are made in Honduras by Tabacalera Aguilar for Ernesto Padilla. The cigars are made with Nicaraguan Cuban-seed filler tobaccos along with Corojo wrappers. The Robusto size measures 5 inches long with a ring gauge of 50. This particular line of cigars was created in honor of Ernesto's father, who was a poet in Cuba back in 1968.
Flavor
The cigar began with a very satisfying fresh, sweet, and slightly spicy tobacco flavor that was mild-to-medium in strength. However, the initial taste lasted for only a couple of minutes, then the cigar became somewhat bland while the strength kicked up a notch to medium. If the initial flavors had only lasted throughout the entire cigar, the Padilla Series '68 Robusto would have been a most excellent smoke.Draw and Construction
The cigar smoked great during the first two inches, then the problems began. The cigar initially had a great draw and even burn, but then required a touch-up light. At the half-way mark, a relight was required, but the cigar was not worth smoking beyond that point. It took about 35 minutes to smoke the cigar down to 2 inches remaining.Value
Padilla Series '68 Robustos are sold in boxes of 20 cigars for about $100. At $5 per stick (even more when purchased as singles) for cigars that taste good only for a couple of minutes or so, I am sorry to say that these cigars are not a very good value. Considering the favorable reputation of this premium boutique brand, I thought that maybe I just got an unusually inferior cigar. But after smoking a second one, my initial impressions were, for the most part, confirmed. The second stick did not require any relights, only one touch up, and the initial pleasing flavor lasted for just a couple minutes longer than the first smoke, before the taste became bland with a slightly bitter aftertaste.
