The KC/DW Review Series

[King Catfish]

Having reviewed a Perdomo last week, I decided to go back to that well and try the Perdomo Fresco in the Toro vitola, kindly donated by Sammis.

The Perdomo Fresco wears a Connecticut shade grown wrapper. According to another Web site, the wrapper is a Criollo ’98. This may be the same thing, I’m not sure. The binder and fillers are from the Jalapa Valley in Nicaraga. This cigar comes garbed in a wide, modern, funky, dark-but-multicolored festive band. It sort of reminded of something one would see at a Mardi gras party.

The wrapper was dark brown with a nice oily sheen, slightly rough but not coarse, and construction was otherwise good, firm but not hard. There was a slight ridge in the cigar from about the middle to the head end, but it could not be seen, only felt. This stick felt a little light in the hand for its size, and I expected it to have a relatively short burn time even though it was a sizable Toro.

The unlit aroma was dark and rich and reminded me slightly of bitter chocolate. I helped it doff its cap, and the prelight draw was a little tight. The taste was again chocolatey. I toasted the foot, which brought no particular aroma to the room. The cigar lit readily, as if eager to be smoked. Smoke volume was huge, and the mild smoke tasted a bit dry and dusty at first, with not much else going on, except maybe a little nuttiness. The smoke hanging in the room gave it a pleasant aroma. The draw was nice, not as tight as I feared it would be.

In the first third the dustiness faded and the plain tobacco taste was very smooth. The burn line was very sharp and only slightly uneven. The ash was light gray with slightly darker streaks and held firm to the cigar. The nuttiness increased as the cigar continued its journey to the nub. The overall flavor profile included just a shadow of acidity and bitterness. The ash was still holding on as we approached the middle third until I dropped the cigar from mouth height into the ashtray, knocking the ash off and cracking the wrapper from the (nicely cone-shaped) coal to the middle of the cigar, about 1.5 inches. Yes, I know I’m a clumsy fool.

In the middle third the nuttiness of the flavor intensified very nicely and added a tiny bit of chocolate, and despite my fumble I was enjoying this cigar quite a bit. The acidity and bitterness were gone and the flavor was nutty and still a bit dusty in a positive way, and maybe was starting to become leathery; the aftertaste, heretofore unnoticeable, was starting to build and was nutty and perhaps the slightest bit metallic. The volume of the smoke remained quite admirable. The crack in the wrapper did not expand beyond its original dimensions; the Perdomo sailed past it as if allowing me to take a Mulligan, just this time. By the time I had reached the very center of the stick the crack was history; I was quite impressed!
The second ash fell off at a full two inches in length, perhaps a bit more.

The final third was much of the same, with the flavors jelling a bit more and smoothing out a bit. The body climbed well into medium near the nub. I was wrong about the expected short smoke time; this cigar lasted me an hour and 15 minutes.

The Perdomo Fresco is a decent, well constructed mild-to-almost-medium-bodied cigar that’s priced for everyday consumption. The flavor profile, while not terribly complex, did show some nice evolution, even if the flavors were a bit discordant at times. There was a lot of change back and forth between flavors, especially in the middle of the cigar; these changes were not always consonant, and jangled the senses a bit. I likened it to a band of talented musicians that have not quite jelled with each other yet. Much like other Perdomos the flavor profile is on the vegetal side and lacking in leather. Perhaps I was weak this afternoon or this stick has quite a bit of nicotine despite its mostly mild body; my head was swimming a bit at the end.

It’s an enjoyable smoke. I scored this stick: 16.05 (x5) = 80.25, gaining a half point for a very nice unlit aroma and losing a half point for a weak start. I added three-quarters of a point for the way the cigar brushed aside my dropping and cracking it for a final score of 81.

Many thanks to Sammis for this relaxing afternoon.

[sammis]

Hi KC

Nice Review

That cigar has about a year of age on it. I bought two bundles of the Frescos when I was first starting out, one of the Natural wrapper and this one you reviewed which is the Maduro version of it.

I like the Maduro wrapper better. Although the natural wrapper has become my garage cigar while I'm working on my vehicles.

They do seem to smoke better with some age on them.

As you note, it isn't a really complex cigar but it's a good choice for new smokers (the local B&M introduced me to these)

Glad you had a relaxing afternoon. I was doing OK until I started getting calls from work that I had to handle

[Silencei2]

Great review! I'm going to have to pick up some of these and spend some more time reading your reviews. I hope one day I can be as intricate as you when it comes to dissecting the value of the cigars I smoke

[DeeDubya]

Excellent review KC. This is one Perdomo I have not tried, but now I will. I have never been dissapointed with any of the Perdomo's I have tried, that's why I now have five or six boxes in my coolerdor that I picked up at a reasonable price (mostly the Lot 23 series). With a little aging as Sammis did they should always be a good cigar.