Padrón 1926 Serie 40th Anniversary (Maduro) - Cigar Reviews by HB Cigars
- HB Cigars
- 11 minutes ago
- 4 min read
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.
🔥 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.
🏆 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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