Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro Epicure

For a company known for having a stalwart consistency throughout its portfolio, the last few years have seen a surprising amount of change for Perdomo Cigars. This includes a new website (going from one of the industry’s most dated to arguably one of the most efficient), a fresh coat of paint for certain lines (Perdomo Lot 23), and even new additions to the core portfolio with the ESV series. The trend continued in 2020, as the company officially announced the Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro and Sun Grown cigars in July.

With the introduction of these two cigars, Perdomo did away with the former Champagne Sun Grown and Champagne Noir blends, offering two new accompaniments to the hugely successful Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Champagne Connecticut cigar.

Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro Epicure Breakdown

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Maduro and Sun Grown cigars each boast Cuban-seed Nicaraguan puro recipes, sourcing tobaccos from Nicaragua’s three major growing regions. The Sun Grown uses a Cuban-seed Nicaraguan sun-grown wrapper that has been aged in spent bourbon barrels for 10 months. Meanwhile, the Maduro’s Cuban-seed Nicaraguan maduro wrapper undergoes 14 months in bourbon barrels. Each cigar features six-year-aged tobaccos throughout the wrapper, binder, and filler components.

Coming as a welcomed surprise, the entire line saw no price increase for 2020, with the Sun Grown and Maduro falling in line with pricing set forth by the original Champagne cigar. As noted in the cigars’ titles, the new offerings differ from the Champagne in that they are both box-pressed, being rolled in six of the nine sizes available with the Champagne Connecticut.

Appearance

What a refreshing makeover this is. The bands are similar in structure, retaining the same shape and design cues from before, but the script-style font (formerly reading “Noir” or “Sun Grown”) has been removed. There is also now a more regal finish to the the paper, and each line has been given easily recognizable color schemes (orange/champagne for the Connecticut, red for the Sun Grown, and Blue for the Maduro).

The Perdomo Reserve 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro Epicure has a solid look and feel to it, seemingly bunched with a fair bit of tobacco within the filler. The cigar’s maduro wrapper has a very apparent tooth to it, with the leaf showing consistent coloring (which is on the light side for maduro) from head to toe. The wrapper seams are visible but with no separation, leading to a well-placed head that appears to be either double or triple capped. The cigar feels solid, weighty, and well-made.

The wrapper has a nose of leather, fresh rain, and touches of terrarium. On the foot there are more pronounced notes of chocolate, earth, and basil. With a straight cut, the pre-light draw seems to be on the firm side, showing additional notes of wet wood, mineral, and basil.

Smoking Experience

The Maduro lights up with a fair bit of zestiness, not letting the opportunity to grab your attention go to waste. Raw peppercorn is dry on the palate and cinnamon zips through the nostrils. There is a bitter baking cocoa on the center of the palate, and mineral-rich soil shines through on the finish.

The profile holds largely similar within the first two-plus inches, having a solid flavor foundation and impressing in the construction department as well. This includes a straight medium-gray ash (holding for at least two inches) and an unwavering burn line. As the pre-light draw hinted, the smoking draw is slightly firm, though only in the most scrupulous of standards. This also translates to a medium-light smoke output, with the overall profile landing at medium on all fronts.

Consistency and balance seem to be the cigar’s sum and substance, hitting the palate first in the bitterness region, followed by sweet and salty. With further development, the smoke adds a welcomed creaminess through finish, sometimes venturing into sweet toffee candy territory. When describing a complex cigar, progression is often a desired attribute. This is typically referring to the overall profile from the cigar’s start to finish, but the Maduro Epicure takes this in a different direction, evolving from the start to finish of each individual puff. This begins with bitter espresso and baker’s cocoa, sweetening into milk chocolate, and finishing with semi-sweet table cream.

The profile never leans too far in any one direction—hitting the palate on nearly every region—though mineral-rich soil seems to be at the forefront. The retrohale is spicy up front, led by black pepper, but the smoke lingers and mellows into mocha and chocolate soufflé. Aside from a slight increase in saltiness, the profile does not change further; instead, it concentrates the flavors further and further until the finale.

Would I Smoke This Cigar Again?

I’d have to be nuts not to. Like the ESV Maduro, the 10th Anniversary Box-Pressed Maduro just feels like everything a maduro cigar should be. There aren’t any strikingly unique flavor notes, per se, but you won’t find yourself searching for any either, as the experience is fully satisfying. It’s extremely well-balanced and has enough depth to keep your attention throughout. This is all before taking the price into account, which is so low I feel it would’ve been a bargain 10 years ago. It is easily the best value buy for 2020 (in my opinion, of course), perhaps even being one of the best I’ve seen in the last five years.

• This update to the Perdomo portfolio was exactly what they needed, in my opinion. The Noir and Champagne Sun Grown cigars always felt out of place in Perdomo’s well-manicured lineup, being more like derivatives of the Champagne cigar rather than bringing their own unique experiences to the table. Even the Champagne name, which was clearly intended for the Connecticut blend, didn’t make sense on the former two blends. Was it the 10th anniversary for Perdomo or for the Champagne itself? There is now peace within the Perdomo lineup, as each cigar has a clear purpose within the overarching collection. There is now the 10th Anniversary and the 20th Anniversary, each containing a Connecticut, Sun Grown, and Maduro offering. And in case you’re wondering which of those I prefer, it’s now the 10th Anniversary series.

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