After a lifetime spent turning his homegrown cigar business into the world’s most respected manufacturer of smokes, in 2011, late, legendary Padrón founder and patriarch José Orlando Padrón turned 85 years old.
To be sure, José had lived a life practically worthy of a Hollywood movie. After growing up in and then emigrating from Cuba, he’d experienced his offices in Miami being bombed and his factory in Nicaragua burning to the ground; there are many other dramatic stories the Padrón family doesn’t often recount. Nevertheless, to celebrate this momentous occasion, Padrón released this cigar, the Family Reserve 85 Years edition.
For the “puro” Natural variation of this stick, the company took some of the oldest wrapper, binder and filler tobaccos it could find in Nicaragua to craft an exceptional, medium-strength, box-pressed cigar that’s earthy, sweet and savory, with a touch of herbal flavors, black cherry and black truffle notes. Constructed masterfully, drawing beautifully and burning dead-evenly, the Family Reserve 85 Years Natural smokes as finely as it looks.
Cigar Aficionado rated this Robusto-sized, milk-chocolate-toned smoke a 94 in 2012, ranking it fourth in the Top 25 cigars for that year. A rare, delicious cigar, the Family Reserve 85 Years Natural is as gloriously complex, enduring and ambitious as the man it honors.