While Padrón isn’t known for releasing many new cigars, it certainly had the most talked-about new non-Cuban cigar of 2022. Or at least, one-half of them.

At last year’s 2022 PCA Convention & Trade Show, Padrón and Arturo Fuente showed off the two company’s collaborative project: Legends. Both amongst our readers and other cigar companies, Legends was very clearly the most popular topic of last year’s trade show. But that wasn’t the only new cigar Padrón showed off at last year’s PCA trade show.

 

As it did in 2021, Padrón created a pair of cigars—one maduro and one natural—under its Family Reserve line that was sold as exclusives for retailers that placed orders in Las Vegas during the trade show. The Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 is a 5 3/4 x 52 robusto extra vitola that is round.

While the cigars were shown off last July, they didn’t ship until this April. These aren’t one-and-done limited editions; retailers will be able to place another order for the No. 96 at next month’s 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show.

Padrón uses a lot of different numbers in its releases and it can be a bit tough to keep track of all of them, but here’s a primer:

  • 1926 — José O. Padrón’s birth year.
  • 1964 — Company founded.
  • 40 — Anniversary of the company (2004)
  • 80 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2006)
  • 44 — Anniversary of the company (2008)
  • 45 — Anniversary of the company (2009)
  • 46 — Anniversary of the company (2010)
  • 85 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2011)
  • 50 — Anniversary of the company (2014)
  • 47 — Anniversary of the TAA (2015)
  • 48 — Anniversary of the TAA (2016)
  • 89 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2016, released in 2016 though the birthday was in 2015)
  • 90 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2016)
  • 95 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2021)
  • 96 — José O. Padrón Birthday (2022)

  • Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Maduro (5 3/4 x 52) — $29.50 (Box of 10, $295)
  • Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Natural (5 3/4 x 52) — $29.50 (Box of 10, $295)

  • Cigar Reviewed: Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Natural
  • Country of Origin: Nicaragua
  • Factory: Tabacos Cubanica S.A.
  • Wrapper: Nicaragua
  • Binder: Nicaragua
  • Filler: Nicaragua
  • Length: 5 3/4 Inches
  • Ring Gauge: 52
  • Vitola: Robusto Extra
  • MSRP: $29.50 (Box of 10, $295)
  • Release Date: April 2023
  • Number of Cigars Released: Regular Production
  • Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

Color-wise, the wrapper is tan, with some darker colors breaking through thanks to mottling. With its pedestrian cap, plentiful veins and bumpy shape, this isn’t what I’d expect from most cigars near this price range. Then again, this is Padrón, and the company’s ethos seems to be focused more on how good the cigar smokes compared to what it looks like. The aroma from the wrappers is medium to medium-full with sweet milk chocolate leading brown sugar, chili flakes, ammonia and leather. I’ve begun sniffing the cigars for reviews all at the same time, which makes it much easier to compare and contrast them—the only consistent feature is that sweet chocolate is the strongest scent. The feet are a similar story, ranging from medium-full to full in intensity, with milk chocolate leading ammonia and red chili flakes. Cold draws have—you guessed it—sweet milk chocolate leading a sharp red pepper. They tend to be right around medium-full and pretty sweet compared to other Padróns I’ve smoked. Also a consistent feature: the draws are loose.

A loose draw is present on the first puffs of each of the three cigars I smoke. Flavor-wise, crispy cedar and earthiness leads nuttiness and a bit of toastiness. The profile is crisp from the first puff and it tastes like a cigar that has tobaccos that are properly aged for a longer period of time than most new cigars. Sweet generic white cake batter flavors edge out nuttiness for the top spot. Oak flavors are a step behind, and tertiary flavors include meatiness, earthiness and some spiciness. The overall effect is sweet and spicy, albeit more sweet than spicy. The finish is a tad more intense than the main flavors with nuttiness and a spicy wood mixture over black tea, sugar and mild toastiness. The gap between the two leading sensations and the others is massive. Retrohales deliver earthiness and some berries mixed with leather. Back-to-back retrohales can create flavors of freshly-baked bread and also add some herbal flavors. There’s not much change in the retroahle’s finish, just some added liquid smoke. Flavor is full, body is full and strength is medium-plus, though getting more intense. While the draws are loose, construction is otherwise fantastic outside of a touch-up for the first cigar.

About an hour in, the second third begins. Woody flavors edge out an intertwined mixture of nuttiness, potato chips, dry earth and some rice flavors. Unlike before, when I found the flavors easy to identify compared to one another, the profile is now extremely intertwined. It’s still got some spiciness to it, but it’s toned down significantly compared to the first third. When the cigar cools down, there are some bread flavors that emerge, though it also creates a slightly drier profile. The finish sees the woody flavors get heartier and more bitter, now joined by toastiness as well as a spicy accent. I can taste some remnants of the cold draw—sweet chocolate and pepper—but it’s not consistent and milder than other flavors. Retrohales have a pepper-laden earthiness, as opposed to the spicy mixture of the main flavor, along with meatiness, mineral flavors, red pepper and acidity. They finish with red pepper, earthiness, black pepper and meatiness—none of the flavors are consistently stronger than the other. Flavor is full, a touch milder than before, body is full and strength is full. The draw remains loose on each cigar, though smoke production is massive but not consistent. The first cigar needs another touch-up and the second cigar requires one as well, while the third cigar avoids any need for correction.

The woody flavors continue to be the strongest part of the profile in the final third, though they seem a touch brighter than before. Secondary notes include earthiness and creaminess, but just as those flavors emerge, the woodiness gets more intense towards the finish and overwhelms them. Gone is the spice quality that had been present for more than half of the cigar and long gone is the sweet and spicy mixture that characterized the first third. The finish eventually crowds out the woody flavors with toasty earthiness and peanuts over saltiness and creaminess. Retrohales have peanuts, damp earth, leather and black pepper. They finish with leather, then nuttiness and creaminess. Towards the very end, black pepper emerges. Flavor is full, body is full and strength is full. The first cigar continues to need a touch-up, though the second and third cigars I smoke avoid any need for a lighter.

Final Notes

  • This cigar is designed to be an incentive to get retailers to attend the PCA Convention & Trade Show. I find the concept to be implemented poorly. As of when I’m writing this—June 10—the 2023 PCA Convention & Trade Show is less than a month away. Padrón hasn’t said anything about whether it will have another PCA exclusive this year. If you are a retailer on the fence about attending and could be incentivized to attend by an exclusive Padrón, I’m not sure how the lack of information is serving as much of an incentive. This is a problem with the majority of the PCA exclusives; I believe only two PCA 2023 exclusive cigars have been announced to-date.
  • I also have no idea when Legends will ship. The plan was Father’s Day 2023, which would be next weekend.

  • Almost every cigar sold in America is packaged at the factory that makes it. Padrón is a notable exception, as it packages many of its cigars at its Miami headquarters. This allows for the company to offer a box reuse program where retailers can send empty Padrón boxes to the company and receive a credit. Padrón then reuses those boxes. This helps to explain why sealed boxes of Padrón cigars can sometimes look like they’ve been used.
  • These cigars come in cellophane, something Padrón has used for newer releases.
  • Unless I’m forgetting about something, this is the strongest cigar I’ve reviewed this year. I didn’t need to lie down afterward, but I needed 15-20 minutes to get over the nicotine.

  • I don’t think that looking at the unlit bottom of the cigar can tell you that much about how the cigar will be, but if I were forced to make guesses, I’d say that this cigar was going to have a loose draw.
  • Draws on all three cigars were between semi-loose to loose. Padrón figures out a way to make this work, but I wouldn’t mind a tighter draw than what I got.
  • The amount of smoke production for this cigar is plentiful, at times bordering on excessive. It’s not akin to a Liga Privada as the resting smoke production isn’t as much, but when I go to take a puff, it’s as if the smoke machine gets turned on.
  • Cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
  • Final smoking time is right around two hours.
  • Site sponsors Atlantic Cigar Co., Cigars Direct and Corona Cigar Co. carry the Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Natural.
89 Overall Score

Generally, reviewing Padróns is not the most revealing activity. Padróns tend to taste like Padróns. They don’t taste identical to one another, but rarely do they go outside of a well-defined area that the brand has long since established and rarely does a non-Padrón replicate the taste of a Padrón. This is pushing the limits of that established zone, but it’s still a Padrón. The Padrón Family Reserve No. 96 Natural is spicier than pretty much any Padrón Natural I can recall. It’s also a touch or two stronger. Minor construction issues on two cigars will hurt the score, but it’s still a Padrón. It’s good tobacco, I wouldn't mind it rolled a bit firmer, but I won't think twice about smoking another one, unless I'm on an empty stomach.

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Charlie Minato

I am an editor and co-founder of halfwheel.com/Rueda Media, LLC. I previously co-founded and published TheCigarFeed, one of the two predecessors of halfwheel. I have written about the cigar industry for more than a decade, covering everything from product launches to regulation to M&A. In addition, I handle a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff here at halfwheel. I enjoy playing tennis, watching boxing, falling asleep to the Le Mans 24, wearing sweatshirts year-round and eating gyros. echte liebe.