Ask any experienced cigar smoker anywhere in the world what are the best non-Cuban cigars, and inevitably two brands will make every list: Fuente’s OpusX and Padron’s Anniversary line. And if they don’t make the “best” list, they will certainly make the most-hyped list. Unfortunately, they also make the most expensive list.

But for special occasions, only the best will do.

The Anniversary 1964 line celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Padron cigar company. The Padron family has been in the tobacco farming business since the 1850’s, originally in the famous Vuelta Abajo region of Cuba. Like so many other cigar patriarchs, Jose Orlando Padron came to the United States from Cuba in the early 1960’s with little more than a few dollars and a dream. That dream would germinate in 1964, eventually growing into one of the most successful and highly respected cigar companies in the world.

In speaking of their company, the Padrons are fond of the term “vertically integrated.” By this they mean that their cigars are purely Padron, from bottom to top. They own their own farms, grown their own tobacco, control the fermentation, storage and aging processes, oversee the many stages of rolling the cigars, and finally distribute the cigars themselves. This level of control allows very strict quality management, and quality and consistency is what Padron is all about. Padron makes about 5 million cigars each year, but only about ten percent of those are Anniversary cigars. When a product sells this well at a premium price, it is a mark of honor that Padron does not increase production at the expense of quality. It’s also remarkable that the standard Padron line still sells for less than 5 dollars a stick despite the huge popularity of the brand. That’s integrity.

The Padron 1964 Anniversary, like all Padron cigars, is a Nicaraguan puro. All sun grown tobacco is used. Frequently sun grown tobacco is associated with power, but with the Anniversary it should really suggest great flavor rather than sheer strength. The tobaccos are carefully aged for four years before they are selected for the Anniversary blend.

The Anniversary is square pressed to resemble the Cuban cigars patriarch Jose Orlando remembers smoking in Cuba, the H. Upmann Number 4 in particular. It comes dressed in a double band — the trademark band overlaps a counterfeiting control band bearing a serial number to guarantee authenticity. Yes, this is a highly valued cigar.

At 6 inches in length and a 54 ring gauge, the Imperiales are the toro entry in this line. Padron Anniversary cigars are also available with a maduro wrapper. Aficionados of this dandy cigar often use the acronyms PAN (Padron Anniversary Natural) and PAM (Padron Anniversary Maduro) to refer to the different species.

The construction of this PAN is perfect. An easy draw allows a nice volume of smoke with each pull, and the ash held for as long as I cared to admire it. I had to be careful not to smoke this one too quickly. It’s much milder than I expected, and yet full of delicate flavor, so my natural reaction was to draw on it more often than necessary. Its distinguishing characteristic is superior balance, not strength, so I had to consciously slow down a little when it started to get a bit hot.

A mild but flavorful woody base serves as the 1964’s foundation. Above this floats an elegant aroma that always reminds me of the first days of fall when my neighbors stoke their fireplaces with juniper logs. This is a serene smoke, to be enjoyed without distractions and appreciated like an unexpected holiday.

I wish I could describe with better precision what this cigar tastes like, but in this case my inability might be a good thing. Descriptions of sensual pleasures are often elusive, and always subjective. For various reasons I don’t grade cigars, but I do keep a short list of my favorites, and right now this one is sitting comfortably in the top five.

I’ve been working my way through a couple of Cuban Crafters sampler boxes (which are a steal, by the way, at 20 USD for 12 different cigars) and have worked up to the Tabacalera Esteli toros. So far out of the sampler boxes I’ve really liked La Carolina torpedos, but I’ve felt a little lukewarm about everything else. I was hoping the Tabacalera Esteli would bump up my opinion a little bit.
As usual, the Cuban Crafters website waxes resplendent about their product, but here are the fundamentals:

The Filler is a triple-cured aged Cuban Seed Habano 2000 tobacco. The Binder and Wrapper are aged Cuban Seed Habano Criollo, also harvested from their own fields.

The Vegas de Tabacalera Esteli is a Nicaraguan puro, with all the tobacco coming from Kiki Berger’s farms near Esteli. There is a nice (but way too short) interview with Kiki in the Summer 2006 issue of Smoke magazine, where he explains his philosophy of cigar blending:

Smoke: Why grow tobacco and make cigars in Nicaragua?

Berger: It’s not just Nicaragua; it’s the Esteli area. The volcanic ground is very thick and dark, so you get this flavor that is sweet and strong. A lot of people want to make cigars very strong but they forget about taste. My cigars have full body, but they also have taste. Just making it strong is not enough. I learned that from my friend Orlando Padron, and I learned that from my father. When people try to copy Padron they make the mistake of making a strong cigar without any flavor. That’s the difference between me and other manufacturers. They want to to make a cigar that knocks you on your behind, but that’s not good. You have to give character to a cigar.

The VdTE toro has a rough and dark colorado maduro wrapper, though calling it colorado maduro is cutting it close — it’s nearly dark enough to be a full maduro. The roll is somewhat soft, but the draw is perfect.

It lights with some difficulty. The wrapper seems a little reluctant to burn, and this will be a continuing problem as the cigar progresses to its final destination in the butt bucket.

The first flavor is woody, but sharp. The first inch is fairly harsh, and then it mellows a bit into a rich wood and charcoal combination. I would say this flavor is fairly commonplace for Nicaraguan cigars, but here it seems a little unbalanced. It’s a very forthright full bodied smoke.

I like the aroma though — despite the wrapper’s burning problems it produces a very nice scent of juniper and something slightly floral, which I find unusual for a cigar with a heavy swing. Unfortunately it’s overpowered by the charcoal flavor and an uneven burn that is really distracting.

This stick has been at 65% RH for about a month now, so I can’t blame the burning issue on storage problems. The wrapper has really nice aromatic qualities, but it definitely has some burn issues.

Overall, I liked this cigar. It’s a full bodied, rich tasting cigar with an unusual and great smelling aroma, but the combustion problems would keep me from springing for a box.

The Maria Mancini is an economical cigar from Nestor Plasencia, maker of Mayorga, American Stogies, and a number of other brands including his own Plasencia and Plasencia Organica cigars. Nestor is the main reason I’m not in bankruptcy at the moment — he makes great cigars at a really reasonable price. The Maria Mancini is available for well under 3 dollars, and it’s a fine smoke.

This was the last survivor from a box I bought in the spring of 2005. When I first got the box I thought these Robustos smoked pretty well, but not great. They were a little rough and one dimensional. I let them sit for a few months and they improved tremendously.

The Robusto Larga measures six inches by a 50 ring gauge, and is made in Honduras. The information available online about this stick is conflicting — one site says they’re made in Cofradia, another says Danli. One site says the wrapper is Costa Rican, another says Mexican. Everyone agrees the binder is Honduran, but one site says the filler is Nicaraguan, another Honduran. In this case, I don’t think the specifics matter all that much. The real question: are they worth the 45 USD for a box of 20?

I reckon so, if you can sit on em for a couple months and let them settle down a little. After a few months they smooth out a little, and after a year they’re close to creamy. The primary flavor is wood, accented by the sweetness from the maduro. After a year and half this stick has really mellowed so there is no harshness at all; there’s not much complexity either, but for an econo stick it has plenty of flavor.

The main complaint I have is an uneven burn, which they all seem to suffer from, and a tight roll, which some (but not all) exhibit. The square press of this stick might have something to do with that. A year and a half in the humidor let this particular sample stretch its legs and get comfy, and it most definitely is a better cigar for it.

Aging a box of two dollar cigars might seem a bit extravagant, or ludicrous, but I think it’s the thing to do with Maria Mancinis. At the very least, let them sit for a couple months. And then sit back, open a cold Milwaukee’s Best, fire up a Mancini and laugh at those happy shiny people in Cigar Aficionado.

I’ve been working my way through the previously mentioned MATASA robusto sampler, and I have to say they’re all good smokes. The standard Fonseca is an outstanding mild cigar, but the Serie F and the Habanos Sellecion are excellent as well.

The “F” in “Serie F” is for Fuerte — for you gringos, that means STRONG. But strong is a relative term. Think of this as strong for a Fonseca — compared to the standard Fonseca line, the Serie F is indeed a heavier smoke. But in comparison to other full or heavy bodied cigars, it’s not exactly Godzilla.

Manuel Quesada, the man behind MATASA and Fonseca cigars, is not a fan of strong cigars, and it is only because of the “general trend” toward heavy bodied cigars that he started blending them. (I say “general trend” with some hesitation. It’s well known that the best selling cigars in the United States are still very mild, with Macanudo leading the pack.)

The “F” series was introduced in 2002 in one size only, the Toro. Soon after, the robusto and a smaller breva was added. They are manufactured in the MATASA factory in the Dominican Republic.

What we have here is a cigar that is very similar in many respects to the standard Fonseca — a luscious Connecticut Shade wrapper is the primary similarity. They also share a Mexican binder, so the difference is in the filler. The Serie F uses a brawnier blend of Dominican and Nicaraguan ligero to pump up the volume a bit. These fillers are aged in tercio bales, a process which Quesada says keeps the moisture content in the bale higher over time, resulting in a more flavorful leaf. On the band are pictured little packages which are presumably tercio bales.

The robusto is a plump 5 x 52 with a beautifully golden EMS wrapper. There are a few graceful and unobtrusive veins. The draw is a little bit tight on these, a trait they have in common with the Habanos Sellecion. All the samples burned slowly, forming a solid ash that was gray in color with streaks from dark gray to black. The burn was fairly even, though not perfect. No corrections were required.

The underlying flavor is earth with some shavings of cedar. Floating over this is a wonderfully nutty, lightly spicy aroma. To me this cigar smells remarkably similar to the standard Fonseca, a very good thing indeed, but the flavor is definitely darker. This flavor grows deeper towards the end, culminating in a rich, somewhat graphitic taste. The finish at this point leans toward the long side of the spectrum, and the aftertaste is just a tad tannic.

But I have to agree with Quesada when he says the Serie F is “strong but not overpowering.” I would rate the power of this stick at a solid medium, but the taste as rich. It’s a nicely balanced blend, the earthy filler integrating well with the wrapper’s lighter notes of spice and wood.

Overall I think the Habanos Sellecion is a somewhat better choice, but the Serie F is a nicely nuanced smoke as well.

A couple months ago I had the pleasure of smoking one of the smaller LGC Reservas in maduro, the Felicias. A very fine little smoke. So I couldn’t pass up its big brother, the “Selectos de Lujos,” a handsome looking Salamones style figurado.

This particular size in the Reserva Figurados line was selected by Cigar Aficionado magazine as one of the best cigars of 2004, earning a 93, the top scorer along with other stellar smokes like the Cohiba Siglo VI and Ashton’s VSG Spellbound.

The “Luxury Selection” is a large perfecto measuring 7 1/4 inches with a ring gauge of 54 at its widest point. Before production the tobaccos are aged for four years, including three months in specially designed cedar bins to impart an extra spicy cedar kick.

The Ecuadorian Sumatra seed wrapper on this baby is a beauty. The Nicaraguan binder and the filler blend of Nicaraguan and Dominican leaf work with the wrapper to create a harmoniously mild to medium-bodied cigar, but the wrapper steals the show.

The foot lights up easily with barely a spark from my torch lighter. The draw is excellent and the burn is slow. A nice volume of smoke is produced with every lazy puff.

The first taste is of cedar, soon accompanied by a very pleasant, almost sweet aroma from the wrapper. If I had to guess I would have said this was Cameroon — but no, this is just a very carefully selected and prepared Ecuadorian leaf with a lot of mellow spice.

The smoke from this cigar is extremely smooth, almost creamy. Despite the big flavor I found the finish to be short, leaving a neglible aftertaste.

Toward the mid-way point it builds to about a medium body and picks up just a hint of bitterness. Truth be told, the first quarter of this cigar is brilliant, the next quarter very good, and the rest is just plain good. The only letdown is that there isn’t too much development here — it’s a very tasty cigar, but not terribly complex.

The “Selectos de Lujos” is a fairly pricey cigar, but not over the top at around 7 USD per stick — pretty reasonable for a large figurado of this quality. I’d say it’s worth every nickel if you’re in the mood for a mellow and tasty smoke with top notch construction.