Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Belicoso

The best way to deliver some lightly undesirable news is to bundle it with some good news. Perdomo did just that with their price increase announcement at the beginning of the year by also announcing the upcoming release of three new lines. One of those lines is the Small Batch Series, which features three different blends each with four sizes. Each blend uses Nicaraguan tobacco for the filler and binder that has been aged 10 years and then three different wrappers that have all been aged in bourbon barrels.

The first to be released was the Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, which Charlie Minato reviewed here. The second release features a Nicaraguan sun grown wrapper, while the third release will be a Nicaraguan maduro wrapper. Today I’ll be taking a look at the Nicaraguan sun grown version. The four sizes each version will be released in are:

• Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Half Corona (4 x 46) — $4.99 (Boxes of 30, $149.70) — 3,000 Boxes of 30 Cigars Annually (90,000 Total Cigars)
• Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Rothschild (4 1/2 x 50) — $5.99 (Boxes of 30, $179.70) — 3,000 Boxes of 30 Cigars Annually (90,000 Total Cigars)
• Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Belicoso (5 x 54) — $6.50 (Boxes of 30, $195) — 3,000 Boxes of 30 Cigars Annually (90,000 Total Cigars)
• Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Toro Especial (5 1/2 x 54) — $6.99 (Boxes of 30, $209.70) — 3,000 Boxes of 30 Cigars Annually (90,000 Total Cigars)

• Cigar Reviewed: Perdomo Small Batch 2005 Sun Grown Belicoso
• Country of Origin: Nicaragua
• Factory: Tabacalera Perdomo S.A.
• Wrapper: Nicaraguan Sun Grown
• Binder: Nicaragua
• Filler: Nicaragua
• Size: 5 Inches
• Ring Gauge: 54
• Vitola: Belicoso
• MSRP: $6.50 (Boxes of 30, $195.00)
• Date Released: April 27, 2015
• Number of Cigars Released: 3,000 Boxes of 30 Cigars (90,000 Total Cigars)
• Number of Cigars Smoked For Review: 3

The sun grown wrapper seems to be a little fragile and is very soft and oily to the touch. The cigar is nicely firm without being hard — just a slight bit of give. Light hay, graham cracker and leather make up the delicate aroma off the wrapper while vanilla, light licorice, dried fruits and a touch of spice create a nice, but light cold draw.

The first third starts out with plenty of flavorful smoke that has a nutty aroma to it with some cedar and spice thrown into the mix. The draw is more towards the open side of ideal and each draw brings plenty of that flavorful smoke with it. The burn needs a touch up pretty early on to get it burning straight despite what seemed to be an even light. A bit of white pepper is added to the mix not too far into the cigar, and unfortunately a bit of a sour note has developed as well. The burn seems to be doing much better after the touch up. Another half an inch in and the sour note has faded, allowing the pepper, cedar, spice and nuttiness to shine nicely.

The second third continues with much of the same profile, with the nuttiness and pepper up front for the most part. The burn has gone off track again, but not enough yet to warrant a touch up. While the ash holds on firmly to around the inch mark, it’s quite flaky, sprinkling bits of ash here and there. In the background the cedar and spice are joined with a very light vanilla note and just a touch of the sourness from earlier. With enough of one side lagging behind, I finally concede and perform another minor touch up.

Moving into the final third I’m not seeing much more development in new flavors, but the pepper and cedar have moved to the forefront while the nuttiness isn’t nearly as strong, joining the spice and light vanilla note in the background. The burn has continued to be mostly even, but the delicate wrapper has started to develop some small cracks around the middle of what remains to the cigar. They don’t seem to affect the burn line or smoking experience too much however, and the cigar finishes mostly smooth with just a slight harshness developing in the final little bit.

Final Notes

• The cigar has the tendency to smoke fast, but will suffer for it. Pace yourself and the good flavors come out nicely.
• I really love the belicoso shape. It allows the ring gauge to exceed what I normally would prefer while still maintaining a nice mouthfeel.
• Each size is limited to 90,000 cigars, but that’s annually. If Perdomo is working with 10-year-old tobacco, the assumption is we’ll see it as a regular release, but next year’s being Small Batch 2006.
• Each line features the same four sizes as mentioned above, but each line is also priced exactly the same.
• The pricing structure on these blends is quite nice, really for any cigar release, but especially nice when you consider each of these blends use tobacco that has been aged for a considerable amount of time. Perdomo could have easily gone with the “special tobacco – special pricing” technique, but I’m glad to see they didn’t.
• The cigars for this review were purchased by halfwheel.
• Final smoking time averaged around a little over an hour and 45 minutes.
• Site sponsor Serious Cigars lists the Small Batch Sun Grown Belicoso in stock.