Padrón Releasing Perfecto To Celebrate 60th Anniversary
For only the second time in its history, Padrón Cigars is coming out with a perfecto. The new cigar is making its public debut Saturday at the PCA trade show in Las Vegas, but shipments to cigar stores aren’t expected to take place until September in conjunction with the company’s 60th anniversary.
“We’ve been working on this for over a year. This has been trial and error,” Jorge Padrón tells Cigar Aficionado. “We always strive to make cigars that are complex, and that changes from cigar to cigar. To get the right blend for a specific size is something we take seriously.”
That specific size is the Padrón 60th, a perfecto that measures 6 1/2 inches by 56 ring gauge at its fattest point. Unlike most higher-end Padróns, which are box pressed, these are round. Only one roller in the factory, a seasoned veteran who has been working for the company for years, makes the shape, which has elements of a Cuban Salomon, with its narrow foot and bulbous bottom. It will come in boxes of 10, in natural and maduro wrapper. Prices remain a mystery and Jorge Padrón says he would sell the cigars at the trade show without revealing the price. You can expect them to be expensive.
While it has tapers on both the head and foot, it’s not the same shape as the Padrón Serie 1926 80 Years, which debuted in 2007. The 60 is round, while the 80 is box pressed, and the 60 has a more prominent taper at the bottom. “We’ve never made it before in that shape,” says Padrón. “It’s not an easy to cigar to make, and at the same time it’s not an easy cigar to blend. We’re looking for the same Padrón profile in the most complex version of it that we can. That’s where we’re at. “
The cigars will be on display at PCA at the Padrón booth, and the company is making a special presentation to retailers on Friday, the day before the trade show floor opens. The cigars will be limited due to having only one roller making them, but Padrón is not capping the production, and says the cigars will be made throughout the year, albeit in small quantities.
The anniversary smoke has a band that’s a throwback to the company’s original logo, with the word “Padrón” in gold type over a golden image of the island of Cuba (where the Padrón story began), and the words “hand crafted” under intertwined tobacco leaves. The rest of the band is brown, encircled by gold, a circle of white with gold dots and another ring of gold. “It’s a new design based on the original brown band,” says Padrón.
To mark six decades of business, the company is also coming out with a line of cigar accessories made by S.T. Dupont. “We’re also doing a launch with Dupont to celebrate the 60th, that will be unveiled Saturday at 4 pm at our booth,” says Padrón.
He hopes to have these on sale for his company’s 60th anniversary. “Our anniversary is on September 8, and that would be ideal,” he says, “but it’s a moving target.”
Padróns have been named Cigar of the Year by Cigar Aficionado magazine a record four times, most recently in 2021.
A Timeline Of Key Padrón Cigars
1964: Padrón Cigars opens for business on September 8 in Miami, with one cigar roller. The cigars retail for 25 cents apiece.
1994: The company releases the Padrón 1964 Anniversary Series, a box-pressed line that takes Padrón into premium territory.
2000: The release of Padrón Millennium, produced with individually numbered cigar bands.
2001: Serie 1926, named in honor of founder José Orlando Padrón’s birthyear, makes its market debut. The pirámide-sized 40th Anniversary will go on to become Cigar Aficionado’s inaugural Cigar of the Year for 2004.
2007: The company adds a special size to Serie 1926 called 80 Years, its first perfecto. Initially only one cigar roller makes the size. The same year, Padrón debuts the Family Reserve line, with a size called No. 44. It starts out as a cigar made only for special events. Eventually, Family Reserve becomes a Padrón line of its own.
2014: The release of the company’s 50th Anniversary Limited Edition, a box-pressed line of smokes that are presented in commemorative humidors. Only 500 humidors were made, each containing 50 cigars, but humidor owners could order refills. The company also offers a commemorative Padrón Family Reserve 50 Years cigar, packed in traditional cigar boxes.
2024: Padrón is scheduled to debut the Padrón 60th at the PCA trade show in Las Vegas, its second-ever perfecto. Shipments to cigar retailers are expected to take place in September, the company’s 60th anniversary.
