Until Greg "Dapper Dan" F arrived at my doorstep on Christmas eve, it had been a pretty lean year for cigar smoking... mainly due to the unholy duality of children and work squeezing it out.
Below is part of the proof that two aficionados on holiday together, if sufficiently dedicated, can bring the order of things back into happy equilibrium.
In any case, the weather is a bit blah today [ed: well a few weeks ago now], warm, cloudy and a bit muggy. Even the cricket is on hold. Eggs, bacon and black pudding washed down with coffee inspired me to dig for a large cigar to spend the afternoon with (my dad has re-trained me well). When it arrived a couple of years ago, this Perdomo was one of the finest examples I'd had of a balanced, medium bodied Nicaraguan (well full bodied relative to Cubans!), pushing out powerful meat and chocolate. Quite similar to that monstrous Liga Privada T52 torp we shared in Gisborne, once upon a time.
A couple of years down the track, I had little to no expectations of it, as poorly as these Nics age. It has definitely lost some of its all-out chocolate appeal, but surprised me with its lighter but still balanced and interesting profile. Cedar, seared steak, and cocoa with a touch of sweetness are now on an even keel. This Perdomo has done well. As my son remarked, it is a pretty big cigar, and it's quite a nice change to get the coolness of smoke that this sort of vitola can provides (well, for the first half at least). Saves having to fetch a drink, for one!
