avantgrade purchased this cigar on 2010-03-15.
It has 3.5 months of additional aging.
It's almost a shame to light such a beautiful cigar, but that is the glorious fate of any good smoke. It lights up easily, and right away puffs start to generate plenty of white, almost bluish, smoke. There is a good amount of black pepper spice to start with, and right away I can feel mellow undertones of cocoa. A pleasant sweetness seems to cleanse the palate and prepare it for another wave of spice in between puffs.
The entire first 1/3 of the cigar is the thickest part of this Salomon vitola. Barely giving it a puff, I'm creating more smoke than I have ever experience. Along with the extra smoke, the flavors intensify. About 20 minutes into the burn, I start noticing bursts of warm caramel-like flavors, with a nutty nuance thrown in here and there.
The body is strong on this one, inching slowly but surely into the full-body range. However, the flavor profile is so smooth, that the strong body complements it very well.
I have been smoking for a good 45 minutes at this point, and the cigar has quite a ways to go until the nub (and trust me, I am not complaining). I light up a few more fireworks, sit back down in front of the fire pit, and puff away at an increasingly complex smoke. The flavor profile now includes distinct notes of hazelnut, and a very faint creaminess appears and stays until the final puff of the cigar.
As for the ash, it is tight and displays nice dark-gray striations on a whitish base. Plenty of smoke still billows out, even as the gauge begins to shrink from the mammoth 57/64".
To finish this stick, I spent a solid two hours, and savored every moment of them. I can really feel the fuller body that the cigar carried, and sitting in a comfortable chair is a far better way of enjoying it than, say, going for a walk would be. It concluded with a wonderful smoothness that did not fail from the very first draw, full of rich peppery spice, complemented by a growing creaminess and sweetness.
I recall smoking a 5 Vegas Miami last month, and along with Padilla's version, both had influences from Pepin Garcia. I can say that the Vegas did have more spice to it, but the smoothness was unparalleled from Padilla's blend.
This is a cigar that is worth a special occasion, and I have stored it for a few months since my wife got it for me in the spring. It was well worth lighting up for the 4th of July.