November of last year Ernesto Padilla contact me out of the blue and told me about some cigars he was working on for 2011. He seemed pretty excited about the Artemis, and discussed it at length. Before we finished emailing he mentioned in passing another, budget-friendly line called La Terraza. Which, as it turns out, is the first of the two to hit cigar shop shelves. Here’s what he said about it then:
“I have a new brand coming out called Padilla La Terazza it comes in a maduro and habano wrapper with all Nicaraguan fillers. It will be 20 count boxes. Retailing for $5 dollars a stick.
The Padilla La Terazza is named after one of the most famous fishing villages in Cuba, Cojimar. That[‘s] where Ernest Hemingway a friend of our father kept his boat. La Terazza is a famous bar and restaurant in town where the fisherman and locals would gather after their catch of the day.”
Ernesto was true to his word, the La Terraza was released in both natural and maduro wrappers, and is actually slightly cheaper than he expected. The maduro robustos I purchased for this review cost $4.45, and that includes Georgia’s 23% tobacco tax. You’ll find the La Terraza in boxes of 20, in most of the familiar sizes: Robusto (5 x 54), Toro (6 x 52), Torpedo (6 1/4 x 52), Toro Gordo (6 x 60) and Churchill (7 x 50).
I selected the maduro to review this week in part because it’s such a striking looking cigar, and because it was available in enough quantity for a proper review. I just hope it’s striking on the palate as it is to the eyes. Let’s find out.
Cigar Stats:
Size: 5 x 54
Wrapper: Nicaragua
Binder: Nicaragua
Filler: Nicaragua
Smoking Time: 1 1/2 hours
Beverage: Water
Source: Purchased by reviewer
Price: ~$4.50
The Pre-Smoke
That’s one dark wrapper on the La Terraza Maduro. “Maduro” just doesn’t do it justice, it’s as black as a darkroom at midnight. And oily too. If it weren’t for the oscuro tone, you could probably see your reflection in that sheen. Focusing on those factors, I almost missed the crack in the foot of one cigar, and the unusual lighter brown splotching near the cap on several sticks. (Which did make me say “hmmm…” whilst stroking my goatee thoughtfully.) Also easy to overlook were the veins. There were plenty of them, but they were pretty fine, and hard to see through the glare.
The wrapper was also pretty striking to the nose. In short, it had more funk than Parliament. The unusually pungent aroma was like a combination of compost and barbecue sauce. Fortunately the cold draw was a less unsettling sweet chocolate and raisin flavor.
The Burn
There was some irregularity in the draw from cigar to cigar, with half of the sticks noticeably firmer than the rest. All of them perfectly smoke-able, but worth noting, as it did seem to have an impact on the flavor profile. Aside from that, and a some minor wrapper cracking, the La Terraza performed well. Long solid ashes, mostly even burn lines and decent smoke volume.
The Flavor
A pronounced, rich leather was the first flavor I encountered in the La Terraza Maduro. Variations in the draw firmness made the most significant impact on this third, with looser sticks tending to be a little sweeter and more peppery. But generally, this portion was a transition from the initial leather to chocolate with a raisin-like sweetness and little espresso.
In the second third, a savory, smoky quality appeared. A growing charred wood, chocolate and pepper kept things moving along with leather playing a faint supporting role.
By the time the final third started to burn, the wood and pepper had taken over the profile, with chocolate popping up occasionally just to make sure you weren’t missing it. Nearing the end, there was return of the espresso I noted earlier.
The Price
Padilla priced it perfectly.
The Verdict
Ernesto got it right when he tweeted that this is an “everyday value smoke”, though he probably should have tacked “good” onto that statement. The La Terraza Maduro oozed with straightforward but enjoyable flavors, burned well, and held my interest nicely. It doesn’t hurt that it’s a good looking smoke either. For less than five bucks, I don’t even mind the minor inconsistency in draw. If you’re trying to keep costs down, and you enjoy a good maduro, head out to your local shop and pick up a few.
Liked It: Yes
Buy It Again: Yes
Recommend It: Yes
Tower of Burn
Here for your viewing pleasure is my trademark Tower of Burn.
“Hmmm”…. Nice tan (or dye?) line under that band. I actually prefer the look of the wrapper closer to the cap. Still, as long as it tastes great and doesn’t turn my lips black, I really don’t care. And a pretty stunning look with the contrast of the white band. Damn! Another stick to put onto the to-do list.
Nice review, espescially with that understated bit of innuendo :).
Do you think that time in the humidor will help out with the draw inconsistencies? Lower RH?
Though there was some color transfer, it didn’t seem excessive.
Lower RH would probably help, however, all sticks were came from the same box and were kept in the same environment, so there does appear to be some variation. The lower humidity might result in too free a draw in the looser sticks. It’s something to try, or you could probably leave them out for a while if the cold draw seems snug. In any case, they were all perfectly smoke-able.
Thanks for the info, Brian. And, of course, the always awesome Tower of Burn.
Nice review once again! Too bad that only the Churchill has a ring to my liking… Anything over 50 and not a Figurado is out of my comfort zone.
Brian,
This sounds like an interesting cigar. I’ll have to try and track down a couple to try.
Well done on the review.
Well done on the review. I’ll pick one of these up if I see it in a B&M.
Great review, Brian.
Padilla seems to have a lot more hits than misses, and this looks like another hit. I’ll probably be more interested in trying the habano-wrapped variety, but I’ll certainly try them both. Thanks for the heads up.
$5,000,000 question. Is it dyed?
The folks at Casa Fernandez, who I believe made this (or it came from he same factory, anyway), have denied any doctoring of the color of this and other similarly darkly hued sticks. There was some color transfer, but not enough to prove it was dyed. I’m taking them at their word, and assuming it isn’t.
this is a great stick i bought a box of robustos and may smoke them all in a week. spot on with the review a great tasting great looking value stick from padilla. i doubt padilla would be involved in the dying of wrappers id take there word for it to.
Where can I get the Padilla La Terazza , Maduro? Great review Brain’s.
I haven’t checked around online, not sure if you’ll find them there. I found these in a local cigar shop.
Brian thanks for the review of another affordable cigar for us all
That appears to be a fine looking smoke! Gonna have to pick one up at the B&M! Thanks for the review!
I looked for Padilla Cigars online, and the La Terrazas are not online, so I went to my local cigar shop and had them contact Padilla to place an order for them. I got their toro grandes and churchill sizes in both habano and moduro because the boxes were pretty cheap! And Man what a smoke! I gotta go back soon and order more, all my friends are smoking them up!
I just picked up 2 boxes of Maduro 5x 54 at CI. For the price these are some damn fine sticks!
Great Review… I have smoked over one hundred of these cigars and they are my favorite to date in the price range. one of the nice things about this cigar is that it is consistent in the flavor and burn. I have had far more expensive cigars that don’t have the characteristics of these gems..
I received one capa maduro in one of the weekend blitz samplers at Cigar dot com, however it is not nearly as dark as this, it is a Colorado Maduro at most, dark brown. You may confirm from the picture on their website if you search for this cigar. Also I saw other reviews online and they show a much lighter colored cigar but still with the band “capa-maduro”, proving it is not another (habano?) version. I am confused…
I’ve seen this happen over time in a variety of cigar lines. Could be a difference in the tobacco from one crop to the next, or possibly an indication of some after market color enhancement, if you know what I mean. There are also rumors of certain lines being made more cheaply (lower grade tobacco, less aging, etc) for some catalog/online retailers. Not saying that’s what’s happening here, I’ve just heard that it does take place.
Thanks for the response, Brian.
Well, I contacted Cigar dot com and they confirmed there are only two versions, Habano with a red band and Maduro with the white band, however all of their current Maduros are not as dark as say a Montecristo Media Noche, confirming I received what they normally sell, but leaving the question unanswered (bump!).
I agree it could be a different batch, lack of ink etc. But I smoked it and I liked it very much, although I feel it was very different from the one reviewed herein: great burn, soft pepper start, oak and some floral taste, followed by subtle coffee and ending up with cream and chocolate.
I guess I will buy them again, maybe in different places to compare 😉
I got a box of these in Robusto yesterday – having tried one a year or so ago – from FAMOUS SMOKE. The box price works out to @ &2.80 a stick! WELL worth it. And then some.
With regards to the raisin note you mentioned, I perceived it rather as molasses. But I see your point also.
The final third, IMO, is not such a pleasurable experience, as it begins to develop “ashtray”-type flavors. But overall, it’s a very nice budget smoke, with some complexity.
Today is the day before St. Paddy’s’, 2013, and I had one last night, AND DID NOT see any color transfer, though I had happen to me around ten years ago with a different cigar, AND HOW!
The wrapper is dark enough they could call it Oscuro, but maybe they feared it would scare off too many noobs who are unfamiliar with the term – like Foster’s changed the name of their Bitters in the US. market. As soon as they did, I noticed my Kroger started having trouble keeping them stocked. To my dismay. American consumers can be SO stupid!
I’m having one tonight. It’s now ten years old. It’s very good.