At the 47th annual Tobacconists’ Association of America (TAA) meeting in April, Padrón offered the retailer members an exclusive cigar for the third time. The newest exclusive is the Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47, a 5 1/2 x 50 vitola that is known as the Exclusivo in the company’s 1964 Anniversary line.

Like the other sizes in the 1926 line, it is a Nicaraguan puro and is available in both natural and maudro wrappers, both of which carry an MSRP of $18 and are sold in 24-count boxes.

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Vitolas

  • Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 Natural (5 1/2 x 50) — $18 (Boxes of 24, $432)
  • Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro (5 1/2 x 50) — $18 (Boxes of 24, $432)

Currently, there are five different regular production vitolas in the Padrón’s 1926 Serie line:

  • Padrón’s 1926 Serie No. 1 (6 3/4 x 54)
  • Padrón’s 1926 Serie No. 2 (5 1/2 x 52)
  • Padrón’s 1926 Serie No. 6 (4 3/4 x 50)
  • Padrón’s 1926 Serie No. 9 (5 1/4 x 56)
  • Padrón’s 1926 Serie No. 35 (4 x 48)

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro Box 1

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro Box 2

Padron 13926 Serie No. 47 Maduro Box

In addition, with the addition of the Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47, there have been three different limited releases in the 1926 Serie line:

  • Padrón 1926 Serie TP40 (6 1/4 x 60) — 2013 — Tobacco Plaza 40th anniversary
  • Padrón 1926 Seri Holt’s 110 Legacy (6 x 48) — 2008 — Holt’s 110th anniversary
  • Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 (5 1/2 x 50) — 2015 — TAA Exclusive

This is also the third time an exclusive vitola has been offered to TAA members, after a 5 x 54 toro in the 1964 Anniversary Series line and the 2014 release of a 5 x 52 belicoso, also under the 1964 Anniversary Series brand.

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro 1

  • Cigar Reviewed: Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacos Cubanica S.A.
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Size: 5 1/2 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 50
  • Vitola: Robusto
  • MSRP: $18 (Boxes of 24, $432)
  • Release Date: June 2015
  • Number of Cigars Released: n/a
  • Number of Cigars Smoked for Review: 4

The cigar looks like a typical Padrón, with an obvious box-press and a light mocha brown wrapper that has some tooth to it when you run your finger over it. There is very little oil visible, and the cigar is fairly hard to the touch. Aroma from the wrapper is a combination of barnyard, manure, leather, hay, espresso and a touch of sweetness while the cold draw brings flavors of strong peanut butter, orange citrus, cinnomon, earth and some slight spice on my tongue.

The first third starts out with a strong combination of leather, earth, cedar, creamy peanuts, cinnamon and some indeterminate citrus. There is a very obvious graham cracker sweetness on both the retrohale and finish that is almost strong enough to be dominant at points, and it mixes nicely with some spice on my tongue and black pepper through the nose. Construction-wise, the Padrón has both an excellent draw from the first puff and a burn line that is close to razor sharp, while the smoke coming off of the foot is both plentiful and dense. The overall strength is well-integrated coming close to the medium mark without going over at the time the first third ends.

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro 2

While the graham cracker sweetness is still quite strong at the start of the second half of the Padrón, it begins to recede noticeably after the halfway point, leaving other flavors of bitter espresso beans, rich dark chocolate, toast, cedar and leather to take its place. There is still quite a bit of black pepper on the retrohale, but the spice from the first third is long gone. Both the draw and burn continue to impress, and the overall smoke production seems to be increasing slightly while almost becoming a bit more dense. Strength-wise, the Padrón easily hits a solid medium early on in the second third, and continues to rise, hitting a point just above medium at the end of the second third.

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro 3

The final third of the Padrón continues the trend of the second third, with a still receding graham cracker sweetness that seems to become less and less noticeable with every puff. A combination of creamy nuts and cedar is easily the dominant flavor, with other notes of coffee, dark cocoa, leather, earth, hay and cinnamon coming in close behind. There is still a very slight citrus bite present on the finish, but it is not strong enough to identify and remains that way until the end of the cigar. The retrohale still has a good amount of black pepper that combines well with the rest of the profile, although it has decreased from its high point in the second third. Neither the burn nor the draw are giving me any issues whatsoever, and the smoke production remains above normal. The overall strength seems to stall out before getting much above the medium mark, and ends the cigar just slightly above where it was at the end of the previous third.

Padron 1926 Serie No. 47 Maduro 4

Final Notes

  • The box we photographed had much lighter wrappers, almost to the point of looking Natural, than the cigars that were used for smoking.
  • As has been the case in recent years, there are multitude of exclusive TAA releases from different manufactures this year, including the Rocky Patel 15th Anniversary TAA Exclusive Robusto Grande, Drew Estate Acid Big Bang TAA Exclusive, Ashton VSG Robusto Especial TAA Exclusive, Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47, the  Por Larrañaga TAA En Cedro, a new The Angel’s Anvil from Crowned Heads, a modified La Antiguedad from My Father, the Casa Magna D. Magnus II Hadrian, the La Flor Dominicana TAA 47, the Nat Sherman Panamericana and Asylum Nyctophilia lines and the return of Tatuaje’s TAA 2011 release.
  • The Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 is named after the fact that it is the TAA’s 47th anniversary. Interestingly, another 2015 TAA release uses the same moniker, the  La Flor Dominicana TAA 47.
  • There is significantly more sweetness in the first third of the Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47 Natural than most 1926 vitolas I have smoked.
  • Other than one sample that had a bit of an open draw—and even that one was well within normal limits—both the burn and draw were beyond excellent for all four samples, and I find it hard to imagine that they could have been any better.
  • The final smoking time for all four samples averaged one hour and 15 minutes.
  • Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • If you would like to purchase any of the Padrón 1926 Serie No. 47, site sponsors Elite Cigar Cafe (972.661.9136) and Serious Cigars have them in stock.
89 Overall Score

I have long said that I prefer Padrón's 1964 blend over the 1926, especially in the Exclusivo vitola, but the Padrón TAA has made me consider otherwise, at least in this size. The profile of the first half is rich and complex, with quite a bit more sweetness present than in other 1926 releases I have smoked, particularly in the first third. Yes, the profile gets a bit more monotonous in the second half, but even at its worst it is a very good cigar, and an easy one to recommend, especially if you are looking for a sweeter Padrón in a great vitola.

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Brooks Whittington

I have been smoking cigars for over eight years. A documentary wedding photographer by trade, I spent seven years as a photojournalist for the Dallas Morning News and the Fort Worth Star Telegram. I started the cigar blog SmokingStogie in 2008 after realizing that there was a need for a cigar blog with better photographs and more in-depth information about each release. SmokingStogie quickly became one of the more influential cigar blogs on the internet, known for reviewing preproduction, prerelease, rare, extremely hard-to-find and expensive cigars. I am a co-founder of halfwheel and now serve as an editor for halfwheel.