Padrón Dámaso

Padrón shocked the cigar world at the 2015 IPCPR trade show in New Orleans, debuting a cigar that is quite unlike anything ever released by the prestigious brand. Padrón's cigars have always followed a simple format: natural and maduro; whether it's their baseline cigars or their premium smokes, they all come in natural and maduro. Now, theres a third choice—Connecticut.

But this wasn't the only differentiator, the cigars also arrive sans box-press—a signature of Padrón's premium smokes. The cigars aren't even made in the same factory, rather a new factory that the brand established next door, so as to keep the widely varying tobaccos separate.

The Dámaso line of cigars is for those who seek the quality and consistency of Padrón in a milder taste profile. The cigar is available in four sizes, ranging from 5” to 7”.

This cigar was named in honor of Jose O. Padrón’s grandfather Dámaso, who was the first Padrón to arrive in Cuba from the Canary Islands sometime in the late 1800’s. “isleños”, or Canary Islanders, were serious people who kept their word and tended to work in farming. In this tradition, Dámaso rented a small piece of land in Pinar del Río and started growing tobacco, giving the Padrón family their beginnings in the tobacco industry.

—Piloto Cigars Inc.