Perdomo Lot 23 Maduro Robusto

Strong and civil

The Cigar

Perdomo
Nicaragua

Robusto 5" X 50
Medium
Nicaraguan Puro - A beautiful dark Nicaraguan maduro wrapper over Cuban seeded binder and filler also Nicaraguan grown.

11.5€ at Cigar World
80 minutes

4.2 / 5

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The Experience

This week I got to try something completely new. A cigar I hadn’t experienced, from a manufacturer I hadn’t tried either - Perdomo. I'm very familiar with the brand via their founder's Nick Perdomo Youtube channel, but this is the first time I'm actually trying one of their cigars. I have a huge 60 gauge toro 20 year anniversary waiting in the humidor, but not for this week. This week I wanted something a bit less heavy handed, so I went for the more reasonable Lot 23 Maduro Robusto.

In a departure from tradition, we shook things up and didn't go for a movie. We're huge fans of the three amigos, Clarkson, Hammond and May, and we hadn't seen the latest Grand Tour yet. It's a two hour show, so it was perfect to fit into our Saturday movie night.

The show was great. The usual clown show, but those of us who watch it know what we're in for. We love those three idiots and will gladly waste two hours of our lives laughing at their banter and over-the-top shenanigans. Some episodes are better than others, this one hit right in the average. They reenacted the African stretch of the old Paris-Dakar, crossing the Sahara desert through Mauritania - in modified old GT cars. Only one last episode after this one, and they'll be hanging their boots for good.
I'm going to miss these guys a lot.

This pleasant evening happened right after going for dinner at the worst Italian restaurant I ever ate at. It was an epic disaster. If anyone ever tries to take you to Massimo in Linda-a-Velha Portugal, give it a pass. They served me a pizza with dollops of ice cold burrata and crunched supermarket potato chips on top. I believe this was the first time in my life that a pizza earned the title of inedible. I was unable to finish it. I'm just glad it didn't make me sick.

With all that behind us, we came home, got The Grand Tour going and I had my weekend cigar. I was planning to have it with a Gin Tonic as a new experiment. But since I had barely eaten, I went for a short bourbon with carbonated water instead.

Let's talk about that cigar then. The Lot 23 was deceiving in more ways than one.

To start with, it's supposed to be a bit of a budget option. It's on the lower side of prices for the cigars I've had so far. The band in brown and blue is fine, but doesn't scream luxury. It's clearly a cigar going for the "daily smoke" market, rather than trying to be an ostentatious or special occasion choice. Of course, this way of presenting itself tempers your expectations.

The look of the wrapper didn't necessarily agree with what the price and band were suggesting though. A good looking, maduro, toothy wrapper.

Something that might catch the unseasoned smoker off guard is how it smells unlit. It smells exactly like a zoo. Or a farm. It smells like large mammals do.

I'm not pulling the reader's leg, this thing had the distinct aroma of a camel.

This might sound unappealing and, to be completely honest, it can be. The internet taught me that smell is called barnyard, and it’s very common among the maduro varieties of wrappers. It’s also not unusual, reportedly, to precede a great smoke. So I got over my prejudices and embraced the pachydermic bouquet.

The Xikar sliced through it like a hot knife through butter giving me a perfect straight cut in the good looking cap. Dry pull was interesting. It didn't offer the super open airflow I'm used to from My Father, but it wasn't plugged by any means either. It provided a nice resistance, without being tight.

Lit it up easily and was greeted by strong black cocoa, which established a theme for the whole cigar. No pepper - just a rich bitterness which I appreciate a lot. After a few puffs, it honestly felt like I had just ate a bunch of 70% chocolate. I don't pretend to be a cigar sommelier, but as far as my palate is concerned, this was a dark chocolate cigar. The elephant notes were either not present at all on the burning leaves or I was completely unable to detect them.

The taste didn't mutate, but it got more and more intense. The last puffs were cocoa bombshells. I very much enjoyed it, but I would obviously advise it exclusively to someone craving a dark tasting cigar. No light woody caramel or zesty freshness here.

The smoke felt full bodied, but with a short finish. It didn't linger. It didn't create huge clouds of smoke, but provided satisfying puffs.

Something that really surprised me was the absolute lack of pepper. And I smoked this guy to a small nub, always expecting the pepper to strike. But it didn't. It just got more and more intense, but never peppery.

Construction was excellent. The dry puff mirrored the rest of the experience - acceptable resistance, never really getting tight. The burn was flawless, I didn't have to retouch it a single time. Perdomo does pride itself in the consistency of their construction and draw quality, and I have to hand it to them, this one didn't disappoint.

It was interesting that it lasted me one hour and twenty minutes - the longest lasting robusto I've had so far. And this isn't an oversized robusto, it has the most normal dimensions for the vitola, five inches of fifty ring gauge.
I guess I also own that longevity to the great construction. The extra smoking time was appreciated.

So they say, that a dark cigar doesn't necessarily mean a strong cigar. That was definitely the case here, again to my surprise. A very strongly flavored dark cigar with a maduro wrapper that will not hit you like a truck. A perfectly manageable smoke.

I can confidently recommend the Lot 23. It's an affordable choice with a lot (please forgive me) to offer. Do make sure you're in the mood for what's on the menu, a no holds barred dark Nicaraguan tobacco experience with a civilized nicotine content.

I would say the "daily smoke" impression I got from the presentation was well warranted. This would make a great daily for those of us who prefer the darker side of the taste palette.

I loved that it kept me on my toes in so many ways - a heavy dark maduro with no pepper or sweetness nor a strong nicotine kick, in a robusto format that lasts 80 minutes.

Interesting to say the least.

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