6. Fuente y Padrón Legends Carlos Fuente Jr. Honoring José O. Padrón
Arturo Fuente & Padrón
- Country of Origin: Dominican Republic
- Factory: Tabacalera A. Fuente y Cia
- Wrapper: Undisclosed
- Binder: Undisclosed
- Filler: Undisclosed
- Length: 7 Inches
- Ring Gauge: 50
- Shape: Round
- MSRP: $177.88 (Box of 40, $7,115)*
- Release Date: March 2024
- Number of Cigars Released: Undisclosed
- Original Score: 91
*The boxes contain 40 cigars, but only 20 of each type.
It has become quite en vogue to have a collaboration titled Something x Something, such as Louis Vuitton x Murakami, KFC x Crocs, or perhaps more recent pop culture-centric, Barbie x Stanley. Whether it’s an artist teaming up with a fashion house or an iconic child’s toy brand teaming up with a drinkware company, the most successful collaborations are when two titans of their industry come together to release something that draws in both fan bases. Carlos “Carlito” Fuente Jr. and Jorge Padrón did just that when they announced an unnamed collaboration in 2020. While details came out here and there, it wasn’t until the 2022 PCA Convention and Trade Show that the project’s name was unveiled.
Fuente y Padrón Legends
The announcement was met with perhaps the biggest hype I have ever witnessed during my time attending the show. The project was a simple, yet wonderful idea: Fuente Jr. would blend a cigar honoring Padrón’s father, José Orlando Padrón, and Padrón would blend a cigar honoring Fuente Jr.’s father, Carlos Fuente Sr., which then would be packaged together in a humidor. That humidor holding 20 of each blend finished #2 on our Packaging Awards for 2024.
This is not about packaging, this is about the Arturo Fuente-made Fuente y Padrón Legends cigar. At the end of his review, Brooks Whittington said, “the profile is clean and rich, with layers of flavors that meld together and change during each third. In addition, the construction was quite good, with effortless draws, thick and plentiful smoke production, and burn lines that needed only a couple of minor corrections.”
The rest of our notes had varying reasons why this cigar impressed us, with Patrick Lagreid finding “the progression of flavor intensity is really enjoyable” and Charlie Minato noting he loved the subtle sweetness of the second half. For me, the first third was the most complex and enjoyable, starting the cigar off on a great track.
Better yet, here’s how Fuente Jr. described the cigar:
I made a cigar that I thought, if I ever run into (José O. Padrón) ever, the cigar in my pocket, that’s the cigar I’d like to hand him and say, ‘this cigar, let me know what you think, this is for you… And knowing (José) Orlando Padrón, he probably wouldn’t have said anything. He would have said, ‘Gracias amigo.’ (Thank you friend.) He would have got the cigar, and maybe a year later, when I ran into him, he would have said, ‘by the way, that cigar wasn’t bad,’ and that would have meant an incredible, great cigar and that’s all I ever wanted from someone like him.
Regardless of the specifics, it’s obvious we all agreed this was a great cigar, and certainly one that honors the memory of José Orlando Padrón well. — Brian Burt.
