Originally this line was called “Padilla Miami 8/11” but at some point it seems to have lost the cross streets. These are made in Pepin Garcia’s Rey de Los Habanos operation in Little Havana, which of course is located near the intersection of 8th street and 11th Ave. This line has gotten a lot of positive feedback in the last couple years, making it one of the best known and most sought after boutique cigars on the market.

Padilla Miami cigars are Nicarguan puros, bunched by hand and rolled by only ten experienced torcedors. The tobaccos used are first-generation cuban seed corojo and criollo grown in Nicaragua. The wrapper is corojo, and the filler is a blend of the two. As noted elsewhere, these particular varieties of tobacco are even more hygroscopic than your average black tobacco — they absorb the humidity more readily and in an excessively humid environment will not draw as well as they should. For this reason these cigars are best stored at a lower relative humidity than the typical 70-75%. The low 60’s is usually recommended.

These are not easy cigars to find. I finally managed to snag a five-pack on an auction site for a reasonable, though still substantial price. It’s a nice looking cigar and I noticed right away how well balanced it feels in the hand. The wrapper is a smooth dry natural color with maybe a touch of colorado. The prelight scent is not as spicy as I expected — simple sweet tobacco with an overtone of cedar.

Construction on these is a little bit questionable, just because they all seem to be rolled pretty tight. Two of the five I had to toss halfway through the cigar because it had become more labor than pleasure. The rest were better, but if held to the highest standard these are going to take a hit in the construction department.

On the other hand, these are some of the best tasting, most flavorful and complex cigars I’ve experienced from Don Pepin. They start out with Pepin’s trademark peppery prelude and slowly grow into a powerful smoke with a woody foundation. The aroma is the best that corojo has to offer — a sweet, lightly spiced caramel that starts out with some edges but then mellows after an inch or so and shows up some cocoa and coffee bean.

After a couple inches I’m ready to buckle up and settle in for the ride. Despite its size, this is a powerful cigar. In strength I’d rate it with the Opus X petite corona, though I think this is a superior smoke in terms of flavor. More than anything the flavor reminded me of a Montecristo No. 4 I was gifted a few weeks back, though not as smooth.

Construction problems aside, this is probably the best cigar I’ve smoked this year. I enjoyed the hell out of these, and even though I ended up paying around 6 dollars a stick (which is a pretty good deal, actually) I’d say they’re worth the standard retail 8 to 10 bucks a stick. It’s not an everyday cigar, but when you want to really concentrate on an intense and complex smoking experience, a Padilla Miami will not disappoint.

I was checking out the EO Cigars Website a few days ago, and after escaping the clutches of the sirens who grace the front page I discovered their “blog” section, which is really more of a place to post comments and questions. Eddie Ortega was kind enough to answer a question I posed about the origin of the “601” name for this series of cigars. I was thinking maybe it was a birthdate, or part of an meaningful address, something like that, but it turns out that 601 was the date that Eddie and Erik first went to visit Pepin’s factory in Nicaragua.

There are now three 601 cigars created by Don Pepin Garcia for EO Cigars — the 601 Connect I reviewed a few days back, a newly released box-pressed maduro, and this one: the Red Label with a Nicaraguan Habano wrapper.

The wrapper on the Red Label is a dark oily rosado that could easily be mistaken for maduro. It has a leathery look to it and is heavily stippled with prominent “teeth” that are much coarser than than the toothiness of most Cameroon wrappers. The head is nicely finished with a classic Cuban cap, of course. This is a Don Pepin production, after all. The final result is a real winner in the looks department.

So with all those teeth it’s appropriate that this smoke should start up with a bite. It’s similar to the 601 Connect in this regard, but overall I think it’s comparatively tame for a full bore Pepin. The base flavor here is leathery, with the wrapper contributing some subtler spices. Cinnamon, maybe. After the mid-point the flavor gets sweeter, taking on a molasses like tang, and the pepper enters for a reprise. It’s similar, but not the same pepper as the Connecticut version — I tasted a lot of black pepper in that one and it had me sneezing pretty good for a while. The Habano is a sweeter rendition — instead of peppercorns I’m thinking hot northern New Mexico chiles.

The construction was good, but not perfect. This one suffered a little from an uneven burn and at one point the wrapper unraveled a little. But neither of these things really affected the performance of the stick.

The 601 Habano is a powerful little puro with a lot of sweet spicy flavor. At around 6 US greenbacks it’s not a cheap date, but ya gotta live a little sometimes. If you’re in the mood for a well-balanced but brawny cigar, check it out. Fill up at the dinner table first though. A big plate of chile rellenos, some black beans and rice, and a couple of Tecates would be a great prelude to this tough guy.

United Tobacco’s “EO Premium Brands” are blended by the team of Erik Espinosa and Eddie Ortega, (the E and the O of the brand name.) Previously they have partnered with Rocky Patel to produce the REO and Vibe Corojo cigars, and they also have a line of flavored smokes called Bluebanana made in the Cojimar factory. But for their most recent project they enlisted the expertise of Jose “Pepin” Garcia and the result is pure Pepin.

The 601 Serie are produced in Pepin’s Tabacalera Cubana in Esteli, and first appeared on the market last year. So far there are two versions, the black label Connect and the red label Habano. (A box pressed maduro is also forthcoming.)

One of the goals of the blenders was to create a full bodied Connecticut cigar, which on the face of it sounds like a contradiction in terms. Connecticut Shade is smooth and creamy, notable for its soft aroma and beautiful texture. It’s not really Pepin’s style, which tends more toward full flavor and vibrant potency. Topping Pepin’s peppery Nicaraguan tobaccos with an Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper sounds a little like experimental cuisine, dipping jalapeños in chocolate or something. It might work, but it’s not exactly intuitive.

There were no construction problems to speak of — the burn was even and the draw perfectly generous. It isn’t the prettiest Ecuadorian Connecticut wrapper, but I’m sure it was picked for other reasons. This wrapper has a big job to do, so aesthetic appeal was probably not the first item on the blenders’ list of desired qualities.

Like many of Pepin’s productions, the 601 Connect opens with a good dose of pepper delivered straight to the sinuses. When you light this cigar, you know you’re smoking. It’s full bodied from start to finish, but it goes through a fair number of changes and shows a lot of complexity. The wrapper imparts a really nice buttery aroma to an otherwise spicy Nicaraguan brew — an unusual combination, but for whatever reason it works. After an inch or so the spice dies down a little and makes way for a citric, dry wood type of taste. It’s not quite astringent, but it’s dry.

After the mid-point the smoke becomes creamier in texture and the flavor takes on a leathery aspect. The spice lightens up a bit, but this cigar never strays too far from the pepper mill. The aroma from the wrapper is a little bit overpowered by the full bodied blend at this point, but it’s still present enough to maintain the balance of the cigar. About half way through the last third my nose was running so much that I couldn’t really enjoy the cigar anymore so I laid it to rest.

For some reason this cigar makes me think of the baptism scene in the Godfather. While the discreet and dignified wrapper is pledging fidelity to God and renouncing Satan, the filler and binder are taking out the family’s enemies in brutal and symbolic fashion. Meanwhile the moviegoer– or the cigar smoker– is enthralled by both at once. And like Michael Corleone, this cigar is a paradox of sorts, a gentleman and loving father and at the same time a killer without remorse. If nothing else, this is a very dramatic cigar!