The Perdomo family has a rich history in the cigar and tobacco industry that can be traced back to San Jose de las Lajas, Cuba. Silvio Perdomo, the patriarch of the family, apprenticed with Cuesta y Cia. in the early 1930’s before leaving to practice his art at the H. Upmann factory from 1937 to 1945; and at the famed Partagas factory until 1959. Things took a harsh turn for the family during the Cuban Revolution, and I highly suggest you read about it when you can since those events themselves are quite a story. Eventually Silvio and his son, Nick Sr. would move to the US where they still had struggles, but they overcame them and would eventually found Tabacalera Perdomo.
Photo provided by Luke of aspiringgentleman.com
Today Perdomo produces cigars out of Esteli, Nicaragua in an 88,000 square foot facility. They’re known for numerous highly rated lines and receive accolades from reviewers from Cigar Aficionado and Smoke Magazine. Their blends run the gamut of mild to full bodied, mellow to bold, all offered with a variety of blends and wrappers. Their reputation is that of high quality and excellent flavors. The Exhibicion Sun Grown that I am reviewing only furthers that reputation. The wrapper is Sun Grown Habano leaf grown in Nicaragua, with the binder and filler hailing from Nicaragua as well.
This particular cigar measures in at 5×54 and has a milk chocolate colored wrapper with a mild oily sheen. There is some veining, just more than a mild amount, and tooth that is so minimal that it’s almost unnoticeable unless you really look for it. The texture is quite pleasant, feeling like brushed velvet that has a smooth soft feel. Bringing it up to my nose brings a sweet floral and cedary scent. Soft gentle squeezes yield no soft spots, and shows the cigar is very densely rolled.
Toasting the foot and cutting the cap was very simple and easy with my new trusty lighter and my Xikar cutter. Within the first couple of puffs I get a good volume of medium to full bodied smoke and an easy draw. The flavors are immediate and bold, with red and black pepper spices, leather, wood, and cinnamon. There’s a bit of sweetness that underlies the flavors, and a little bit of earth as well. The core flavors are very sharp, and the underlying tones help give more complexity to it.
As the cigar progresses the peppery spices mix with the cinnamon to wake the tongue up. It leads into a woody mix of charred oak and cedar, which makes up the core flavors. In the background I pick up leather and very mild notes of cream, which seem to chime in without overtaking the other flavors. The finish is a little toasty, earthy, and spicy. The flavor profile remains fairly consistent throughout the cigar, not really changing or shifting too much. That doesn’t mean a lack of complexity, only that it’s consistent. The mix of flavors is complex enough, with sharp bold flavors at the front with underlying tones of others to think about mixed in as well.
Overall I found this to be an excellent cigar. The construction was excellent, with a slow, cool, and even burn. The flavor profile was very enjoyable, and it more than satisfied me for the two hours I was smoking it. Even more pleasing is the price point that I can find these for, at roughly $6.45 per cigar at my local tobacconist. That’s on par with the Padrons I enjoy so much, and while it doesn’t replace them, it is certainly a contender. I will happily suggest this cigar to you to try out if you get a chance and will be looking for them myself to keep around as well.
I’d like to give a special thank you to Eddie Atalla at Tobacco Country USA for providing me with this cigar. I’ve said it once, and I’ll say it again, he and his staff are exemplary in what I feel a good tobacconist should be.