Quick Update: More Coming Soon!

Well hello there, cigar degenerates. A really quick update here for all. I've recently relocated to the Pacific Northwest. I assure you it was not by choice and barely consensual. The land of sacred geometry tattoos, unviable businesses subsidized by generational wealth, and people who describe their personality using mushroom foraging. Every third person here has a podcast about either true crime or "intentional living," which as far as I can tell means buying a $900 rain jacket to walk to a farmers market.

As you know, moving sucks. Half my humidor is still in a box somewhere between here and civilization. I haven't unpacked my cutter yet but I did find my Birkenstocks, so I'm assimilating on schedule.

Rest assured I will be back soon with better reviews — is that even possible? Probably not, but the altitude and persistent drizzle have me feeling like a cigar that's been left in a damp garage: a little rough around the edges but still capable of producing smoke. Stay tuned for more exciting reviews, assuming I don't get absorbed into the REI transplant collective first.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em. I'll be out here trying to find a B&M that isn't also a CBD dispensary.

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Padrón 1926 Serie 40th Anniversary (Maduro) - Cigar Reviews by HB Cigars

Oh baby, the Padrón. The Apple Computer of cigars. Meticulously engineered, vertically integrated, and priced just high enough to make you feel like you're making a lifestyle choice rather than a purchase. José O. Padrón started this company in 1964 with $600 and a hammer he affectionately named "El Martillito." The man was mowing lawns and doing carpentry by day, rolling tobacco by night. Sixty-one years later, his family has built a dynasty so consistent that Cigar Aficionado has basically run out of ways to say "this is really, really good" across their portfolio of 90+ ratings. The 1926 Serie premiered in 2002 to commemorate José's 75th birthday, and the 40th Anniversary Maduro edition — released in 2005 — was named Cigar of the Year. Every leaf in this stick is aged a minimum of five years. The original run shipped in 400 hand-painted, hand-carved boxes of 40. This is the kind of cigar that makes you sit up straighter.

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🔥 THE VITALS 🔥

Cigar: Padrón 1926 Serie 40th Anniversary (Maduro)

Master Blender: Padrón Family

Size: Box-Pressed Torpedo (6.5" x 54)

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Wrapper: Nicaraguan Habano (Maduro)

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Nicaraguan (100% Nicaraguan Puro)

Price: ~$28–32 per stick

Aging: Minimum 5 years on all tobaccos

Factory: Tabacos Cubanica S.A., Estelí, Nicaragua

Production: Limited to approximately 100,000 cigars annually across the entire 1926 Serie

🚀 WE ARE LIT!

Draw: Effortless.

Burn: Razor sharp from foot to nub. No corrections needed.

Smoke Output: Billowing, dense, creamy clouds that linger in the air like a cologne sample you didn't ask for but don't hate.

Ash: Sturdy. Holds past an inch

That dark, oily Nicaraguan Habano Maduro wrapper practically glistens under the light — rich ebony with an almost obscene amount of tooth. The box-press is perfectly executed with seams so tight they could pass a home inspection in a market where the appraiser actually cares. Every Padrón 1926 comes with an individually numbered guarantee band as an anti-counterfeiting measure, because when you're this good, people will absolutely try to catfish your wrapper. Construction is flawless across the board. This is what happens when a family controls every step from seed to box — the tobacco equivalent of farm-to-table dining, except no one is posting it to Instagram with a "grateful" caption.

🎢 FLAVOR JOURNEY

FIRST THIRD: The Opening Statement

Right out of the gate, this cigar announces itself with a wave of dark chocolate so rich it feels like Willy Wonka finally got his act together and stopped exploiting Oompa Loompas. A creamy espresso note immediately layers underneath, smooth and rounded with zero bitterness — the kind of coffee that costs $7 and comes in a cup with your name misspelled. Through the retrohale, a measured white pepper crackles across the sinuses with enough authority to get your attention without overstaying its welcome. Leather rounds out the first third, supple and warm, grounding the sweetness of the chocolate and espresso into something substantial. The smoke is immediately full-bodied but carries itself with a refinement that belies its strength. This cigar doesn't shout. It doesn't need to.

SECOND THIRD: The Crescendo

The dark chocolate persists but deepens, less confectionary now and more cacao-forward, like the difference between a Hershey bar and whatever single-origin 80% bar your coworker who just got back from Peru won't shut up about. Leather takes a more prominent seat at the table as an earthy complexity begins to emerge — damp soil, mineral, the grounded terroir of Nicaraguan volcanic farmland pushing through. The espresso migrates to the retrohale, delivering a roasted warmth that blooms behind the eyes. The transitions here are seamless. There's no jarring shift, no awkward middle-child energy. It's a steady escalation of depth, like watching a director's cut where the extra twenty minutes actually improve the film instead of just padding the runtime.

FINAL THIRD: The Encore

This is where I stopped taking notes and just smoked. When you find yourself physically unable to put pen to paper because interrupting the experience feels disrespectful, the cigar has won. Earth takes full command now, rich and deep with a minerality that anchors the entire profile. Roasted nuts — almond, walnut — materialize alongside cedar and an intensifying leather that has gone from supple to well-worn. The pepper from the first third returns on the retrohale as a parting handshake, firm and warm. The finish stretches out impossibly long, creamy and smooth with lingering cocoa and a whisper of aged tobacco sweetness. The nub is cool, firm, and flavorful right down to the last half inch. This is the cigar equivalent of a standing ovation where nobody leaves early to beat traffic.

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🏆 THE VERDICT:

A- TIER

Flavor: A-

Construction: A

Availability: B-

Price: B

Final Rating:

What an unbelievable stick. From the first draw to the last, the Padrón 1926 40th Anniversary delivers a masterclass in what a Nicaraguan puro can achieve when every variable is controlled by people who have been doing this longer than most craft cigar brands have existed. The five-year minimum aging on all tobaccos isn't marketing copy — you taste it in every transition, every seamless note that melts into the next. At roughly $30 a stick it's not an impulse buy, but it's also not asking you to remortgage anything. The only thing keeping this from a straight A is that at this price point, you're comparing it against some of the finest cigars on the planet — including Padrón's own catalog. When your biggest competition is yourself, that's a flex most brands would kill for.

📊 BOTTOM LINE

The Padrón 1926 40th Anniversary is the benchmark. It's the stick other premium cigars have been quietly measuring themselves against for two decades. Cigar Aficionado named it Cigar of the Year in 2005 and honestly, it could win again tomorrow and nobody would argue. José O. Padrón built this legacy with $600 and a hammer. His family turned it into the most consistently excellent cigar brand on the planet. Every puff of this stick is a reminder that vertical integration, patience, and Nicaraguan volcanic soil are an unbeatable combination. If you've never had one, clear your schedule, because you're going to want to sit with this for a while. And if you've had one before, you already know.

TLDR: Very good, but not the best in padrón's own catalogue. Don't need to try now, but one day you should.

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Pioneer EX by ChiMolly - Cigar Reviews by HB Cigars

Holy ChiMolly. Every single time I see the name, I have to say it. Holy ChiMolly. I don't know why - it just doesn't feel right not to. Like how you can't eat a single Pringle or resist pressing the crosswalk button even though it clearly doesn't do anything. Some compulsions exist beyond rational explanation. And after smoking this stick? The exclamation feels justified. ChiMolly burst onto the scene in 2024 under founder Zhuofeng Weng, initially peddling handmade porcelain ashtrays before someone apparently told him "hey, maybe make the thing that goes IN the ashtray." The company operates under the slogan "It's all about texture," which sounds like marketing speak until you actually smoke one of their cigars and realize they weren't kidding. The Pioneer is their third release, following the Pangu and Dynasty lines, and it might be the best thing to come out of a company with Chinese characters on the band since fortune cookies started including lottery numbers.

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🔥 THE VITALS 🔥

Cigar: ChiMolly Pioneer EX (Robusto Extra)

Master Blender: Zhuofeng Weng

Size: 6" x 52 (Robusto Extra)

Country of Origin: Nicaragua

Factory: Mi Havana Factory, Estelí

Wrapper: USA Connecticut Broadleaf

Binder: Nicaraguan

Filler: Dominican & Nicaraguan

Price: ~$16-18 MSRP

Release Date: April 2025

🚀 WE ARE LIT!

Draw: Effortless perfection

Burn: Even and consistent throughout

Smoke Output: Luxuriously thick plumes

Ash: Compact grey, holds with dignity

The Connecticut Broadleaf wrapper presents in that gorgeous medium-dark coffee bean shade that photographs so well it should have its own agent. The dual-band presentation features purple and gold with Chinese characters that reportedly translate to something poetic about green ink and jade - the kind of thoughtful branding that makes American cigar companies naming things "BEAST MODE TORPEDO" look like they're trying too hard. Construction from Mi Havana is exceptional here, with tight seams and a cap that actually looks like someone cared about geometry. The secondary band sits three-quarters down the cigar in an unconventional position, which is either an artistic statement or someone at the factory decided to get creative on a Friday afternoon. Either way, I respect the commitment to being different.

🎢 FLAVOR JOURNEY

FIRST THIRD: The Velvet Introduction

sweet cream, espresso, dark chocolate, slight pepper

Sweet cream greets you immediately with the warmth of a grandmother who actually likes you, not just the one who gives you socks for Christmas. Espresso develops alongside it - not the bitter dregs from an office Keurig but the real stuff, the kind served by a barista who judges you for ordering anything with more than three syllables. Dark chocolate emerges next, rich and unapologetic, the sort that comes in bars with cacao percentages printed on them like SAT scores. A slight pepper whisper keeps things interesting without being aggressive, just enough spice to remind you this is still tobacco and not an artisanal dessert. The texture the company obsesses over? It's real. This smoke coats your palate like cashmere, assuming cashmere had flavor and you weren't a psychopath who eats fabric.

SECOND THIRD: The Silk Highway

cream, cacao, slight pepper

Cream continues to dominate, proving that ChiMolly's "texture" philosophy isn't just LinkedIn buzzwords made flesh. Or made smoke. You know what I mean. The cacao note shifts from dark chocolate toward something slightly earthier, more raw cacao powder than finished truffle, like you're watching the chocolate-making process in real time. The pepper remains present but polite, the kind of guest who knows how to make conversation without monopolizing the entire dinner party. There's a subtle sweetness threading through everything that prevents the earthier elements from taking over - it's balanced in a way that suggests Weng actually thought about this blend rather than just throwing priming grades at a dartboard. The smoke remains impossibly smooth, each draw feeling like you're inhaling something expensive.

FINAL THIRD: The Crematorium of Flavor

cream, espresso, pepper

Cream persists to the nub because apparently this cigar doesn't believe in third-act letdowns. Espresso reasserts itself with authority now, deeper and more intense, the caffeinated backbone that keeps the profile from floating away on its own smoothness. Pepper finally steps forward to claim its inheritance, building progressively but never overwhelming the established creaminess - think assertive rather than aggressive, like a middle manager who finally got promoted and now walks with purpose. The transitions throughout this cigar have been so seamless that you barely notice you've been smoking for over an hour. This is the kind of finale that makes you immediately want to buy a box rather than just admiring your good taste in singles.

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🏆 THE VERDICT:

S TIER

Flavor: S

Construction: A

Availability: B

Price: A+

Final Rating:

From the first draw to the last, this thing is unbelievable. Absolutely unbelievable. I don't throw S-tier ratings around like candy at a parade - this cigar earned every letter.

📊 BOTTOM LINE

ChiMolly came out of nowhere and started producing cigars that have no business being this good from a brand most people still can't pronounce correctly. The Pioneer EX delivers a masterclass in Connecticut Broadleaf execution, leveraging that wrapper's natural sweetness and earthy richness while the Nicaraguan and Dominican fillers provide depth without muddying the profile. At $16-18 per stick, the price-to-performance ratio enters genuinely absurd territory - this smokes like something that should cost twice as much and come with a waiting list and a condescending tobacconist. The B availability rating reflects the simple reality that ChiMolly is still building distribution and you might have to actually look for these rather than tripping over them at every B&M. Do the legwork. The company's obsession with texture translates into one of the smoothest smoking experiences I've had this year, and the flavor complexity proves that "smooth" doesn't have to mean "boring." Weng clearly knows what he's doing, and if this is what the Pioneer line delivers, I'm genuinely curious what happens when he really starts showing off.

TLDR: Holy ChiMolly indeed - this Connecticut Broadleaf beauty delivers S-tier cream, chocolate, and espresso in a package so smooth it should come with a warning label for your expectations.

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