Perdomo Firecracker (2020)

About once a month, I find myself playing a little game regarding cigars, specifically, trying to guess the age of the cigars in my redux humidor. A few days ahead of the monthly redux review I am tasked with writing, I will go to that humidor, open it up, survey the options, and try and recall just when I smoked each cigar before ultimately consulting with our review list to find the best candidate for the review, which I personally like to be as close to the same time of year as the original review.

To say I was surprised to find out that it had been almost three years since I smoked the Perdomo Firecracker would be an understatement, as I would have guessed it had maybe been just over the one-year mark, give or take. I even thought it might have been a typo on the list, but sure enough, it was Aug. 8, 2020 when the review went up.

The Perdomo Firecracker was the 2020 installment of the Firecracker Series, a series of petite robustos generally made by different manufacturers using one of their existing blends but amped up with some strength to play into the Firecracker theme. The series dates back to 2007 and the Don Pepín García Blue Label cigar, which was made for Two Guys Smoke Shop in Nashua, N.H. It measured 3 x 50 and had a cap that was decorated with a long strand of tobacco that resembled a fuse. With a release date around the July 4th holiday, the line was born.

Since that first cigar, the Firecracker line has evolved into its own brand, though it is made at the Tabacalera Leyendas Cubanas, factory in the Dominican Republic. The series is an ongoing offering from United Cigars, which along with Two Guys Smoke Shop, is headed by David Garofalo.

But the line has become best known for being an annual limited edition release announced in the spring ahead of the Independence Day holiday, with the cigars being produced by a number of cigar brands, including All Saints, Dunbarton Tobacco & Trust, E.P. Carrillo, El Artista, Fratello, Kristoff, La Flor Dominicana, My Father, RoMa Craft Tobac, Rojas Cigars, Selected Tobacco and Tatuaje.

 

For the original release, Perdomo produced 1,000 boxes of 20 cigars for the release, a total of 20,000 cigars, which were released in June 2020. It’s a 3 1/2 x 50 short robusto made entirely of Nicaraguan tobacco, including the same wrapper leaf that’s found on Perdomo’s 20th Anniversary Sungrown release. As for the binder and filler, Nick Perdomo Jr. told halfwheel that it contains a good amount of tobacco from the country’s Estelí region to create a full-bodied cigar that is “heavy in flavor.”

Here’s what I said about the Perdomo Firecracker when I reviewed it in August 2020:

If there’s something that the Perdomo Firecracker is likely to be suspected of by a potential consumer, it’s the strength, and it certainly delivers on that. The first cigar probably did so too well, though there is something intriguing and appealing about getting the distinct flavor of ligero to come through to the palate so unabashedly. Of course, that means much greater flavor intensity and nicotine strength, which makes for a debatable tradeoff. The cigar does its best when it shows that added bit of restraint, not necessarily limiting the strength, but not letting it dominate and drive the overall experience. In those instances, the Perdomo Firecracker is a very enjoyable cigar, albeit not the most complex you’ll ever smoke. Given its short length and the rapid introduction of heat to the profile, the final third doesn’t add much to the score or enjoyment, which is a shame as it seems like that is where things really start to come together. Overall I’m impressed and pretty satisfied with the Perdomo Firecracker; if nothing less, it definitely earns its deserved place in the series.

• Cigar Reviewed: Perdomo Firecracker (2020)
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera Perdomo S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicargua
• Binder: Nicargua
• Filler: Nicargua
• Length: 3 1/2 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 50
• Vitola: Petit Robusto
• MSRP: $7 (Box of 20, $140)
• Release Date: June 20, 2020
• Number of Cigars Released: 1,000 Boxes of 20 Cigars (20,000 Total Cigars)*
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Redux: 1

*That number references the original release. There was also a 2021 release.

The Perdomo Firecracker—and let’s be honest, all of the cigars in the Firecracker Series—are so small that they’re almost hard to look at without a bit of a smile. Were it not for the still-intact head, this ultra-petite robusto looks like something that might have been saved after a round of golf by someone who likes to make sure they get every puff out of a cigar. Notes about the length notwithstanding, it’s a very good-looking cigar with an evenly-colored wrapper, very small veins and nothing I would describe as a visual distraction or imperfection. Even the fuse-style cap blends in so well that I didn’t notice it at first. It’s laid flat against the cylinder of the cigar and doesn’t stick up from the cap at all, making it easy to overlook despite the end of it being on the front of the cigar. Roll-wise, the cigar is firm without just the slightest bit of give. The foot has a fairly hearty aroma at first sniff, which causes my nostrils to start tingling due to the pepper, leading to a pair of dry sneezes. It’s a bit of a damp tobacco note, specifically as the tobacco is close to being rolled into a cigar, though without the brightness of younger leaves. The cold draw is just on the firm side of the spectrum, while flavors are dense and hard to pick out, other than to call the sensation thick and without the pepper found on the aroma.

The Perdomo Firecracker doesn’t quite start with a bang of pepper, but it does have an unmistakable underlying strength that tastes like some serious ligero is in the filler. Building off of that base is rich earth, black pepper, and a bit of thick, heavy creaminess that reminds me of the espuma of a Cuban espresso, though without the overt sweetness. The earth gets a bit rockier as the burn line approaches the bottom of the band, but the rest of the earthiness gets cleaner and richer, almost as if its previous expression got distilled into two separate aspects. Meanwhile, retrohales have been fairly pepper-driven and make for a solid complement to the flavor, at times accenting the flavor, while at other times serving as an echo of it. The flavor is a solid medium-full that gets into full territory a few times, while body is medium-full and strength is shy of medium. Construction is fantastic with smooth draws, plenty of smoke and an even burn line.

The second half of the Perdomo Firecracker starts on a creamier note, a change that gives the smoke a lot of thick body as it hits the taste buds, yet doesn’t cost the cigar much, if any, of the fuller flavors and pepper the Firecracker has offered thus far. While the cigar has been full-flavor, it has thus far not imparted much, if any, irritation to my palate, though that changes as the middle inch of the cigar comes to a close. I get a bit of heat and irritation at the top of my throat; nothing overly harsh or off-putting, just a noticeable change to how the smoke hits my senses. It stays manageable, and the cigar closes out quite well, with a bit less pepper but more of the rich, earthy profile with touches of thick creaminess closing things out. Construction is absolutely fantastic with no issues and no need for relights, delivering a smooth draw and tons of smoke throughout the hour and 15 minutes it took to smoke the cigar.