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IT’S GOOD TO BE PADRON . . . FINALLY!

Plus: Padron Serie 1926 Humidor Draws Heavy Bids in Online Auction

Los Angeles, December 14 – “Padron” is now one of the top names in cigars. It’s 30th Anniversary Series is widely sought after and its standard series is one of the top values in the industry. But it wasn’t always so.

The Miami Herald featured the Padron success story in its Monday editions in an excellent article by Daniel Shoer-Roth. The focus was as much on the road traveled by Jose Padron from humble beginnings to its present success as on its current status as a leader in the trade.

Among the highlights:

> The Padron family got into the tobacco trade in the 1880s when Jose’s grandfather, Damaso Padron, moved from the Canary Islands of Spain to Cuba and began growing tobacco in the Pinar del Rio region.

> Jose left Cuba in 1961 and began manufacturing cigars in Miami in 1964 to try to capture the Cuban taste for the thousands of expatriates than living in Florida.

> His business was alternately boycotted and bombed four times between 1979 and 1983 by local anti-Castro extremists who saw a picture of Padron handing one of his cigars to the Cuban president during a trip where Padron was negotiating for the release of political prisoners held in Cuba.

> Political unrest in Nicaragua in the 1980s resulted in all of the company’s holdings being moved to Honduras. Padron now maintains facilities in both countries.

> In 1981, the Padron brand sold about 4.5 million cigars. Today’s total is about the same, but the revenue has increased to $16 million, allowing a new, sparkling headquarters to be opened this year at 1575 Southwest 1st Street, across from its old factory on Flagler Street.

The 78-year-old Padron to the Herald, “We’ve never fallen on the trap like other manufacturers that produce, produce and produce to respond to the growing demand, as if we were making churros.”

The quality of Padron’s cigars is well known and much appreciated. It’s the only manufacturer to have all of its brands – three total – earn rankings in our lists of the top mild, medium and full-bodied cigars. The original Padron line – one of the best values on the market today – ranked no. 17 in our list of the top medium-bodied cigars and the celebrated 30th Anniversary Series and Serie 1926 earned rankings of 14th and 23rd, respectively, in our rankings of full-bodied cigars. (Our complete set of rankings, along with an exclusive list of street prices on more than 500 brands, is available only to our CigarWire subscribers.)

With quality and fair pricing came a loyal following, one which has made the Padron name a cherished one in the industry and a sought-after brand . . . if you can find it!

Padron 40th Anniversary Humidor . . . Going Once, Twice, Sold!
The inventive Cigar Auctioneer site from Famous Smoke Shop drew a lot of interest for its auction of a special Padron Serie 1926 40th Anniversary Humidor.

The bidding started at only $1 for the specially-carved box featuring 40 of the Padron Serie 1926 40th Anniversary torpedoes (6 1/2 inches by 54 ring). A total of 400 humidors were made and the retail price of the box and cigars is $1,600.

By the end of the five-day auction period, the final total shows 120 bids (!) and a winning price of $2,055, more than $50 per stick if you discount the cost of the humidor (which almost all of the bidders most assuredly did).

The Twisted World of Arturo Fuente:
If you try to keep up with everything that’s out there in the world of cigars like we do, following the Arturo Fuente folks can become discouraging.

In addition to putting out some of the world’s finest cigars, the Fuentes also produce numerous oddball cigars for special occasions, or just to show that they can do it.

Football-shaped cigars, cigars with multi-colored wrappers that look like English club ties, special head and foot arrangements, curved cigars . . . you name it. Our interest was piqued by the inclusion of a unique “Chili Pepper” shape in the Cigar Family Charitable Foundation sampler box of 22 now on sale for $750 each. What size is it?

Thanks to Karl Herzog of the Fuente & Newman Cigar Co., it turns out that the answer is available at a unique website – Ambrosiasw.com – that offers a gallery of obscure Fuente makes. This gallery shows off some 82 strange shapes photographed by enthusiast Andrew Welch.

Check out the Hemingway “Never Ending Lines” . . . the Opus X “Chili Pepper” . . . the Opus X “Sammy Sosa Bat” . . . Opus X “Hummer” . . . Hemingway “In Between the Lines” . . . Fuente Anejo “Shark” . . . the Opus X “Troll’s Revenge” . . . the Hemingway “Mint Julip” . . . the Opus X “Brain Hemorrhage” . . . the Opus X “Tricolor Culebras” and of course, the Hemingway “Nom de Plume.” They are all there.

If you’ve ever wondered what the Opus X “BBMF “looks like (and what the initials mean!) . . . well, here’s your chance to see it in living color!
~ Rich Perelman

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